All in Monte Carlo: Inspired by True Events
SynopsisPlot
Wedged between Southern France and the Mediterranean Sea, the miniature principality of Monaco is a place for aspiration, for comic extremes and for outrageous personalities. Where a businesswoman gets her favourite Chanel suit flown in by private jet. Where Hôtel de Paris serves breakfast to a drunken socialite in a prison cell. Where two Gucci-clad women are behind a string of burglaries. Against a backdrop of cocktails on superyachts, looking fabulous and feeling empty, this tongue-in-cheek tale revolves around four relatable women who meet by chance in Monte Carlo. After sharing their tales of betrayal, they set up a book club as a cover while they settle each other’s scores. But revenge, like life, doesn’t always go to plan…
Story
About this book
Monaco covers roughly two square kilometers between the French Riviera and the Mediterranean, making it one of the smallest sovereign states on Earth. It is also among the wealthiest per capita, a place where extremes of fortune sit close together in a very compact space. Anna Shilling's novel uses this setting as both stage and subject, drawing on real-life anecdotes from the principality to build a story described as inspired by true events.
Four women meet by chance in Monte Carlo. Each carries a story of betrayal, and after comparing notes they form a book club that serves as a front for something less literary: helping one another settle personal scores. The plans involve the social machinery of Monaco itself, from superyacht cocktail parties to the lobbies of the Hôtel de Paris. Shilling plays the situation for dark comedy, presenting revenge plots that do not unfold as neatly as the characters expect.
The book leans on specific details of Monaco life, including private-jet wardrobe deliveries, socialites behaving badly enough to end up in local police cells, and designer-clad criminals operating in plain sight. These episodes sketch a community where appearance and status govern daily life, and where the gap between surface glamour and private reality is a reliable source of trouble.
