Jill Kargman: The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund
Book Club Favorites

Book Club Favorites: Interview with Jill Kargman

Forgive my naiveté: does the hedgefund job and life really exist in NYC as you portray in your novel? How do you know so much about it?

Sadly while my book is fiction it is based on real over-the-top behavior I witnessed in NYC these last few years. The economy was so strong (allegedly-- we now know it was all a house of cards) and people were spending like crazy. I'm no economist but I knew something had to give when I saw two-year-old birthday parties nicer than my wedding! I'm sort of half immersed in it just by virtue of living on the Upper East Side but my family isn't in finance so while we were exposed to some of the excess we never lived that way and kind of had humor about it.

Book Club Favorites: Interview with Jill Kargman

In my opinion, the hedgefund husbands were just the cover story for what is really a commentary on the NYC female society. There are parts of the novel where I actually got a little angry at the extravagance some of these women's demands. Do mothers really do things like fly live lobsters in from Maine for a Preschool show-and-tell class? If it was like this in New York, is it still even now, with the economy the way it's been?

Some of the elements were hyperbolized for humor's sake but honestly and scarily, they were not far off. I've heard of women sending their private jets to pick-up steaks and things like that-- horrifying. Those days are over! A lot has changed and it's no longer "impressive" to name-drop your labels or homes or jets or any status-symbol. Even the people who have remained unscathed by the plummeting Dow are far less showy than they once were.

Book Club Favorites: Interview with Jill Kargman

It was interesting that you referenced Sex and the City a few times. I'm glad you did as post-S&C NYC has definitely been affected by the show's popularity. The girls on the show seemed to live an over the top single lifestyle. After reading your book, I felt like married women living on the Upper East Side live an over the top life too - just with different objects of attention (kids, husbands, jewelry, etc). Did you purposely set the story up to be a "real life" version of what Sex and the City illustrated as life in the city for a woman?

I love Sex and The City. I think a lot of us identified with the characters on the show and part of me always wonders what the women would be like as mothers. MOMZILLAS, my first solo novel explored that scene of urban educated women who stop working and funnel their ambition into the children. THE EX MRS. HEDGEFUND is sort of the next phase, where the kids are older, and some marriages are getting crushed under the seven year itch coupled with the economic boom that resulted in some bad boy behavior from guys whose egos grew along with their net worth, followed by their libidos (Eliot Spitzer-style). I interviewed about 10 divorcees who told me stories about infidelity on all these hedgefund boondoggles and it broke my heart....

Book Club Favorites: Interview with Jill Kargman

Thirty-four is so young! Yet all these women seemed so old. Kiki and Holly actually, married and divorced, didn't fit the mold of cashmere and pearls. Do you think there are many wives in this predicament - who love their lives but also have a personality caged inside, dying to get out?

Scarily enough I know tons of women are are in their 30s who seem SO OLD-- but honestly they were that way in their 20s! Think of the Penelope character in Trading Places-- some uberpreppy type try and emulate their mothers by their Deb ball! On the flip side, I think some march down the same paths that their parents did but that doesn't mean they aren't bursting inside, particularly if their marriage was more of a parent-sponsored "Union" or merger rather than true love.

Book Club Favorites: Interview with Jill Kargman

Tim seemed like a good guy and there wasn't anything noticeably wrong with their marriage. There wasn't much commentary on bed business, but I got the feeling they shared a somewhat active sex life. The fact that he still cheated on her is scary. Do you think all men can become cheaters or does there have to be something wrong with the marriage? If so, what was wrong with Tim and Holly?

I don't think there is any way to forecast who will cheat and who won't but in my experience and in talking a lot with my parents about which couples lasted and which didn't, it really seems that if you marry your best friend, you have a better chance of making it. So many women, especially in NYC, lead separate lives-- the husband has sports events 3 nights a week or goes out "with the guys" and the wives are home watching reality TV or getting wine with friends-- all of which is fine once in a while. But I see a lot of people who truly lead separate lives. And I think travel exacerbates this a lot; one can get anesthetized to missing someone and grow apart. That is what happens with Tim and Holly I think initially, and then he, like many guys, simply wanted variety, sadly. But all in all, seeing all the people who have split both in my generation and in my parents', I haven't really been shocked. Okay maybe once-- the guy seemed like a gem but had a double life and a mistress for 2 years. People can be great actors without being on a Paramount lot!

Book Club Favorites: Interview with Jill Kargman

Can you tell us anything about your current writing projects and/or upcoming plans?

Working on the next book, and spending lots of time with my 3 kiddies :) Not in that order!