‘BLACK TIE ONLY’ BY JULIA FENTON

Read this one the minute I purchased the mass market paperback novel. It was around 1991. I was still living in the gay village, working evening shifts but partying all night. What time I had left was concentrated on my reading. My life was in shambles but I barely cared. All I wanted was to escape and BLACK TIE ONLY (Jove) by Julia Fenton gave me that opportunity. And thank god for that, for I couldn’t imagine going on without any trashy novel by my side. That’s how passionate I was—and still am to some degree. I may be in a much better place right now, not to mention well-read, but deep down I still am that little insecure fellow who needs that same fix every now and again. 

Hence, BLACK TIE ONLY which I recently re-read. It is written by a pseudonym, a male pseudonym. I used to know his real identity but for the life of me I cannot find it anywhere online. I remember him being an agent or something. He wrote other novels under many aliases. He even released one or two under his own name, but the Julia Fenton pen name is his most successful one.  

BLACK TIE ONLY tells the tale of three private American school chums—all grown up and successful—who hide a deep dark secret that threatens to unravel just as another former schoolmate, Princess Diana herself, asks one of the trio to arrange a gala in her honor. What follows is a series of scandalous situations by a bloated cast of characters, many end-of-the-chapter grabbers, flashbacks, and a somewhat unsatisfying conclusion that still pack a punch despite its verging on implausibility. The three main protagonists (a songwriter, an actress, an author) are fun to follow. Notwithstanding a lack of focus on characterization, they are still fleshed-out enough. 

All in all, I had a ball re-reading this flawed gem; sort of like picking up anything by Sidney Sheldon. It was silly. It was over-the-top. The dialogue a little off-base, but I wasn’t bored for one second. And in the end, that’s all that matters, doesn’t it? I don’t know when my next trash and glam itch will beckons—probably sooner than I think—but once it does show itself up you’ll be the first to know.

Until next post—Martin  

HC edition