This book has been a pleasure to read and I am so impressed with how exquisitely the author re-invented the story of Becky Sharp for contemporary times. I liked how she kept all the names and traits of the characters but infused the storyline with elements of the modern world - Big Brother, social media, influencers - they are all there, while Becky Sharp remains the same shrewd and manipulative character as the original one was. And yet everything fits so perfectly in this world we live in.

Thank you to the editor and Netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest and impartial review.

An absolute joy of a novel!

It's been many years since I read Vanity Fair and all I can really remember about it is that I enjoyed it, all the men are hopeless (it's called a novel without a hero for a reason) and I had a huge crush on Becky Sharp.

So don't expect clever and insightful comparisons to the source novel for this modern retelling. But I can confirm that I enjoyed it, all the men are hopeless and I have an absolutely huge crush on Becky Sharp!

Orphaned at a young age, Becky has no money, no education, no real prospects in life. All she has are her wits, her charm and a great pair of boobs. Making great use of all of these natural assets, she fights her way up in a society seemingly designed to keep people like her down. She is, after all, female, working class and ambitious, a combination to inspire fear and distrust.

One of the most effective things about this novel is the way it takes each of these elements and examines their place in today's society. There are strongly feminist angles, generally seen in the way Becky is perceived for her looks and how these are commodisied, and often abused by the men around her, and definitely in Amelia's behaviour and attitude in the later stages. There is certainly a lot to say here about class and how it's just as much a deciding factor in success today as it was in Thackeray's day, with the Eton privilege looming large at times. But it's also a book about ambition. Becky has big plans and bundles of ambition. She's prepared to work for her success and to sacrifice anything for her success but ultimately she believes that she deserves it. Her attitude is so refreshing and powerful, as far too often ambition is seen as a vice or a failing, especially in women. This is portrayed in the attitudes of several of the other characters who see Becky as conniving, jumped up and grasping, while George's plans to become Prime Minister or Jos' expansion plans in California are accepted as perfectly natural. I particularly liked the way she justified her own behaviour to herself. If she took something, it's because she felt she'd earned it, whether or not the former owner was even aware.

This is a book that encapsulates Thackeray's novel's themes in a way that is wholly rooted in the now. It is packed with contemporary figures, many of them actual celebrities, others thinly veiled references to actual people. It's vibrant, fun and thoroughly modern. I also loved a lot of the little joke references, from the law firm William, Makepeace and Thackeray to Sir Pitt living in a house, a very big house, in the country.

The Rise and Fall of Becky Sharp is smart, sexy, funny and very relevant. A fantastic read.

I love Sarra Manning and everything she writes is so well done, this book is no exception. I didn't realise this would be a retelling of Vanity Fair and have too be honest I don't enjoy retellings. This book was not for me

In Thackaray's original Vanity Fair Becky Sharp is dealt a rough deal so uses her beauty along with the stupidity of men to climb her way into society.
In this new version exactly the same happens. And what's more, it's just as funny.
Whereas Becky I had to utilise the military Becky II uses Big Brother to get her foot o the ladder. She the builds a career via social media as an influencer. Her salon suppers could be
This is such a clever book, yet it manages to be so funny and stands alone if you haven't read the original.
The wannabe Tory MP who stands for the village of Crushmore is a composite of many who are really in power. It reminded me a little of Dickens apposite names like Gradgrind the factory owner
As in the first volume all of Becky's machinations couldn't take place without greed and avarice of others

I hadn’t realised this was a retelling when I first read it but it’s brilliant and really runs with the contemporary update!

Hilarious and maddening - this was a brilliant book. A total romp of book, I thought it was the perfect summer reading. A great retelling of Vanity Fair, as well as a commentary on modern life.

I finally got round to reading this modern retelling of Vanity Fair. I have to admit, I have not read the original. It is one of those classics that has been sat on my TBR and I have just not got round to picking up, so I went in to this book with no preconceptions and no comparisons to Thackeray’s novel and my review will be of this novel in its own right, not as a retelling.

I absolutely loved the opening chapter of the book, which sets Becky up immediately as a modern woman seeking fame in a way that has become most popular in the twenty-first century. I don’t want to say too much more and spoil the beginning of the book for anyone who has not read it but, as a member of Generation X, the events that open this book played an important part in my life. In fact, I was at school with the very first person to emerge from this experience – one of my claims to fame – and I’ll say no more than that! As soon as I started reading it, i knew this book was something different, smart and relevant.

The main character of the book, Becky Sharp, is determined and ruthless in her pursuit of a better life for herself and, as we hear the beginnings of the story, we have a lot of sympathy for her, because she has not had it easy. However, as the book carries on and she becomes more and more careless with other people in her eagerness for advancement, that sympathy begins to evaporate and, by the end, she is fairly detestable. It is a fascinating story arc, the opposite of the way most books and characters develop and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The book has many interesting and fun supporting characters as well, and the strong streak of humour running through the novel was really well done. I alternating between willing Becky on, and praying for her downfall, largely depending on how I felt about the supporting character she was taking advantage of at the time. This is the genius behind the plot, the constant conflict between the self-serving behaviour of Becky and the nature of the supporting characters leading to the reader sometimes having to choose to support the lesser of two evils.

The book in pacy and entertaining and provided a thoroughly enjoyable reading experience. I really ended up caring about the characters and wanting to know if they got what they deserved by the end. It has made me want to pick up that copy of Vanity Fair that has been languishing on my shelf for far too long and see how well this author has interpreted the book into its modern setting. I know this is an odd way round to read them, but it is a great plaudit for the efficacy of this novel.

I wasn't able to finish this - the plot was repetitive which made it quite dull after about a quarter of the way through.

I usually enjoy sara mannings book but I think this one was good but not as romancey as I thought it would be . still enjoyed it though

I love a good retelling. Sarah Manning stays true to Thackeray's brilliant novel (Vanity Fair) and sets it in a time when Becky could be any one of us. The writing is clever, the story is sensational, and it's just good fun!

Despite a really good start I just could not finish it. It became a bit boring. The best bit was when Becky was the nanny for the Crawley children.

This was a fun read - I liked how the author moved the story into modern day, and I love the character of Becky Sharp so much, this was super enjoyable. Would recommend, a great read for a holiday.

I loved this book, I was rooting for becky all the way through, which I guess is down to how the author wrote it.
I found this book easy to read and liked the characters

A modern rewrite of Vanity Fair with some genius touches (Becky and Amelia meet on Big Brother!) but it doesn't really take it forward from the original.

A genuinely fun book, retelling the story of Becky Sharp from Vanity Fair as a social climber with big dreams and zero connections.

I've read the original and watched several TV/film adaptations without really being overly bothered, but this version made the story a lot more accessible, and really enjoyable. The modern backdrop makes everything seem less serious than the original and for that reason, it's a great read.

I'd love to see this book as a TV series, as it's really crying out for an adaptation.

This is a fun take on the classic Vanity Fair. It takes Betty Sharp and thrusts her into the world of reality tv, social media act where someone can be famous for nothing at all with the right amount of manipulation. And of course whether in the 19th or 21at century manipulation is Becky Sharps area of expertise. I've read a few books set around this kind of world recently but this is the first one I've really enjoyed. It's smart and sassy and very current. It's a very undemanding read so will be a perfect summer read, if summer ever arrives!

'She was a sweet girl, but you got sick of sweet after a while; started to crave something tart, acidic…'

It probably won’t surprise you from the title, but this is a modern retelling of ‘Vanity Fair’ and a rather excellent retelling it is, too. Fresh from the Big Brother house, Becky is keen to keep her star burning brightly, chasing riches, status and fame.

Of course, it is not only Becky who receives an updated storyline and the changes are genius - George a Tory MP, the Pitt Crawleys as an acting family (with the dowager aunt playing the part of, well, the dowager aunt on a fictionalised Downton Abbey) and Jos Sedley, quite hilariously, as a bulked up owner of a power balls company, which leads to many double entendres throughout. No one is safe from the cutting satire and, as with the original, Manning lets neither the characters nor society come off looking good.

Becky is the most deliciously unlikeable character or, rather, she should be seeing as she lies and schemes and flirts her way through the book to get what she wants, and is often quite cruel along the way. But, it is hard not to cheer for her and, in some ways, to like her. She is, at the very least, upfront about what she wants.

I am a sucker for a modern retelling, especially when it is done with a spirit of fun, and this is a very, very fun book.

A fun, immersive, well-realised retelling of a classic. I wanted to like this a bit more than I did - it didn't have the depth and scope of the original, and actually I think people who haven't read Vanity Fair might get on with it better - but an enjoyable read all the same.

A hysterical update of Vanity Fair for the Instagram generation. I inhaled this book in a day and could have spent longer in Manning's prose.

Having never read Vanity Fair I cannot tell you if The Rise and Fall of Becky Sharp stays true to it or not. One thing I can tell you if that this retelling of the classic book was both witty and interesting to read.

Let me start by saying that Becky Sharp is most definitely an unlikeable character. However, she is a character whose motivations are clear. I don’t agree with the way she goes about it sometimes but wanting to attain social mobility is not enough to condemn her in and of itself.

What I like about The Rise and Fall of Becky Sharp is that whilst Becky is clearly condemned the author makes it clear several times that she is using the only weapon available to her – her sexuality. She also makes it clear that the behaviour of the men in Becky’s life is often as reprehensible, or more so, than hers.

Becky Sharp’s childhood was characterised by dire poverty and the lack of a parental figure so when Becky ends up on Big Brother, she used the chance to try to improve her situation. She befriends naïve Amelia whilst in the house and plays on her background to get Amelia to feel sorry for her and invite her into her home.

Once she is in Amelia’s home, she gets a glimpse of the life she thinks she should be leading and determines to get it by any means.

The Rise and Fall of Becky Sharp contains a lot of annoying characters. Becky is shallow, greedy and untrustworthy but so is George. George is Amelia’s boyfriend and I detested him. He is entitled, shallow and only looks after number one but because of the family he was born into nobody bats an eyelid at his behaviour.

Amelia is a cloying character throughout much of the novel, but I did like her more towards the end of the book.

My favourite character was Matilda and I could easily picture her. In my head she looked a lot like Dame Judy Dench.

As I said earlier, I can’t say if this is a true retelling of Vanity Fair, but I can say that I enjoyed reading it.