Sex and Vanity: A Novel

While on one of the little boats, Lucie remembers sailing with her father when she was a child. She dismisses the memories when they arrive at the estate for the tour. Mordecai leads the guests around the villa grounds, speaking at length about its history. Meanwhile, the women complain about Mordecai and comment on Lucie’s appearance. The Ortiz sisters particularly pester her about her heritage. Suddenly, Rosemary and George appear in pajamas. Rosemary says that they were having breakfast there since they know the owner, Tom. Lucie greets George uncomfortably.

The group has lunch on the terrace after the tour. Charlotte, Olivia, Rosemary, and the Ortiz sisters remark on each other’s clothes and talk about Hong Kong. Lucie notices how they scoff at Rosemary’s clothing but don’t say anything about the Sultanah’s appearance.

Afterward, Charlotte, Olivia, and Lucie sit on the terrace sun beds and chat. Charlotte starts talking about a “hot summer romance” she had as a young woman (99). Her parents and grandmother refused to let her keep seeing the man because he was Jewish. Charlotte and Olivia send Lucie to get drinks, but she gets distracted wandering around the gardens and thinking about the day. She thinks about George, too, and she’s upset with herself for how she behaves around him. Then, she runs into George in the garden and finds herself kissing him. Suddenly, Charlotte appears, calling for Lucie to come to the dock to return to Capri.

Lucie shows Auden some of her paintings. He remarks on her skill, insisting that she has real talent. Afterward, Lucie’s mind returns to George. She still can’t figure out what happened and who kissed whom. In her room, she stalks him online. His social media only confuses her more. Charlotte knocks, interrupting Lucie. She insists that they have to hurry and prepare for the night’s concert. Her annoyance with Lucie’s unpreparedness reminds Lucie of a childhood memory. She tells Charlotte that she has to shower but then finds a piece of paper with a Pablo Neruda line written on it slipped under the door.

Lucie and Charlotte arrive late for the concert. Charlotte blames Lucie for washing her hair. Lucie didn’t wash her hair but spent a half hour trying to find something to wear and calm down after finding the Neruda poem. She thinks about the note throughout the concert and guesses that George must have left it. She struggles to focus on the event as her mind keeps wandering. Afterward, she decides that she’ll have to give George a Neruda line in exchange, but she can’t find a good one when she googles Neruda on her phone. She considers approaching him at the cocktail hour, but Auden engages her about painting. She looks up and discovers that George is playing the piano. She decides what she should say to him once they finally talk. However, at dinner, George is seated near two other attractive women. Lucie sits near Mordecai, who rants about Lucie’s appearance, the wedding, old money, and wealthy Chinese families.

Lucie decides to get drunk to endure the evening. The night goes on, and she remembers it only in snatches. At one point, she wanders back into the chapel and studies an image of Jesus on the ceiling. Jesus’ body morphs into George’s, and she kisses him again.

Over lunch, Charlotte and Olivia demand details from Lucie about the night prior. Lucie still can’t remember everything but thinks that something has happened between her and George. Rosemary arrives, and the women remark on her outfit. Other guests also arrive at the poolside café and tell stories from the night before. Lucie tries to put the details together.

The guests attend the wedding ceremony. Many of the women think Isabel’s dress is unflattering, but Lucie admires her simple elegance. The couple exchanges vows, and Dolfi announces that everyone will now party.

The guests take golf carts up to Villa Jovis, a palace at the apex of Capri, for the reception. Lucie and Charlotte wander around the cliff and study the view. Olivia and Rosemary join them, and they discuss the ceremony. They notice drones flying overhead, taking footage of the event.

In the hall, Lucie studies the place cards to see if she and George are seated together. His card is gone, and she misses the opportunity to put them at the same table. When she sits down, she’s shocked to see George. They’re seated near a German woman named Petra. George gets up to talk to other women, and Petra reveals that she switched the cards so that Lucie and George could be together. She’s noticed their energy and thinks that they’re made for each other. Lucie considers if this is true throughout the lengthy dinner.

Lucie excuses herself to take a walk and study the view. Still unable to understand her feelings, she thinks about George. Then, she bumps into him, and he leans in and kisses her. The kiss intensifies until they’re lying on a bench and George lifts Lucie’s dress to perform oral sex. A scream interrupts them. Lucie is horrified to open her eyes and see Charlotte, who’s screaming that a drone is filming them and that everyone can see what they’re doing.

Lucie closes herself in the bathroom and takes a bath. She knows that she made a mistake and replays everything that happened. Several guys were controlling the drone and found George and Lucie together on camera. Charlotte caught them watching the footage and realized that it was Lucie and George. She searched for help, terrified that Lucie’s name would be ruined. She believed that the incident would disallow Lucie from being in The Social Register and taint the family reputation. She told Lucie that she hadn’t told anyone what she’d seen but had been frantic when she discovered what happened.

While Lucie and Charlotte argue in the hotel, George knocks on the door. He says that he bribed the men to give him the drone. He then destroyed the hard drive, smashed the equipment, and hurled it into the sea.