The Rise and Fall of Becky Sharp

A contemporary retelling of Thackeray's Vanity Fair, The Rise & Fall Of Becky Sharp is the most perfect summer read: light, frothy, and always entertaining. I found myself rooting for the frankly sociopathic anti-heroine, Becky, as she encounters everything from upper class nice-but-dim types, to acting dynasties, sleazy Tory MPs, and Murdoch-esque media barons on her ascent to success.

This modern updating of Vanity Fair is huge fun. Manning follows Thackeray’s plot exactly even keeping the same names for her characters: Becky and Amelia now meet on Big Brother; George is a Tory MP, the Pitt Crawleys are an acting dynasty, and Steyne is a Murdoch-alike media mogul. Funniest is Jos Sedley, re-located to California and owner of a power ball company (“How are your balls, Jos?”), his bulk now due to being over-muscled.

Manning skewers contemporary life through Becky’s Instagram fame-for-being-famous, and no-one really comes off well. All the same, it’s hard not to cheer on Becky, as we do with the original, as she schemes, manipulates and claws her way through life, ever irrepressible, no matter what life throws at her. Thackeray’s plotting seems more relevant and contemporary than ever in this amusing, scathing update.

A very timely novel. Becky Sharp is perfectly written into The 21st century, from selling diet lollipops on Instagram to hosting boujie, ironic 'bangers and mash' salons on a Sunday evening. I raced through this fun, smart read.

Such fun! Becky Sharp is an upward-climbing status-seeker in this 21st-century retelling of Vanity Fair. She's pretty much exactly like the original, but she has a much wider audience these days due to her TV and social media presence.

I enjoy retellings, and I loved the imaginative way this classic was brought up-to-date. Right from the start we find that Becky and Amelia (who in the original met at school, where Becky was an impoverished scholarship pupil) now meet on a reality TV show. I love those and I can totally see it being a major opportunity for the Becky Sharp type. Becky clings on like a leech and soon overtakes Amelia, although the reader can see her downfall coming (no spoiler, as it's in the title!)

I think this book will appeal most to people who have read the original or who at least like the kind of books where the humor comes from having a whole cast of unlikable characters who stab each other in the back all of the time.

I loved this!
My hazy recollections of a BBC drama adaptation of the original Vanity Fair novel are somewhere there in my distant memory, but that is as far as my knowledge of the original “Becky Sharp” went. However any knowledge of the original, the inspiration for this modern retelling is irrelevant as this is a stand alone joy. A rip roaring rollicking read. Truly contemporary in all its social and cultural references and a great gutsy heroine that people will love!

What a gem of a book! The hilarious tale of the rise and fall and rise of Becky, with acute observations, and characters we love to hate. A league above your average chick lit. This would make a great holiday read, but will equally entertain you at home.

I wasn't at all sure of what this would be like - I've never read the original Vanity Fair. It was brilliant! Yes, Becky Sharp is a conniving little madam, but you want her to succeed. I also enjoyed seeing Amelia get a backbone as the story went on. Social media, reality TV, the nature of celebrity were all very neatly worked in as part of Becky's rise, and it's a good commentary on that as much as it is an entertaining story. And it is really entertaining - I'd definitely recommend this.

An absolute riot! I galloped through it, hooting all the way. Brilliant, super smart writing by Sarra Manning.

It had been a while since I last read a book by Sarra Manning but this book has certainly reminded my why I enjoy her books - even when I wasn't reading it my mind was on the characters and wondering just what they would get up to next.

I'm not sure how much I can say I particularly liked the characters or Becky herself but I was intrigued by them and with the authors clever writing, I certainly wanted to continue seeing how the story would play out. I love books where there is scandal, rich people behaving badly, at least one person out for revenge, and a large cast of storylines and character. I was never sure exactly how this story would end and i'm grateful as it made it so much more enjoyable.

I am under the impression this is a modern re-telling of Vanity Fair, having never read it I have no idea how it matches up and was judging this as a book on its own merits.

Despite my feelings towards some of the characters what they are though is memorable, and right from the first few pages I was enthralled by what was happening and the so called friendship between Becky and Emmy in the Big Brother house.

Becky Sharp is a master of disguising her true self, depending who she is with depends just how she will treat a situation, and what level of sincerity she exhibits. What you do get the impression of is the only person she cares about is herself and is using all of her wiles to improve her situation in all walks of life.

To me this is a perfect poolside read, and worked just as well as an entertainingly gripping story to be read in my garden over two hot sunny afternoons. A delightful way to spend some time and I'm really glad I read this.

Thanks to Harper and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Becky Sharp is a wonderful anti-hero - I'm not sure if I love her or hate her, but I certainly want to know what she gets up to next! A resourceful minx, she is out only for herself, yet occasionally endears herself to the reader by helping someone else along the way. This was a deliciously frothy tale that kept me entertained right to the end.

Brilliant! A perfect weekend read and positively unputdownable!

I read Vanity Fair some years ago and have but hazy memories of the storyline, so i can't claim any knowledge of just how clever a re-working this is, but it's somewhat irrelevant, as this is a brilliant read in its own right. A standalone story easy to enjoy regardless of any prior knowledge of the central themes.

To summarise: Becky Sharp had a very, very tough start in life, but she's beautiful, bold, clever and hard as the diamonds she so craves so it only takes one crack in the doorway to fame and fortune and she's through it, and lord help anyone who gets in her way. Through various ups and downs she claws her way to the top, but her position is precarious...and the fall precipitous...and can she really hang on to her position of Global It Girl when all around her want to see her plunge?

Peppered with characters both loathsome and lovely, this story will take you from rooting for the plucky Ms Sharp to plotting her demise yourself. She's everything we're supposed to dislike - self-centred, merciless, uncaring and even cruel - but she's also brilliantly smart and has a laser-like focus on the end goal, which she pursues with a dedication we could wish to see in all our daughters.

As in the original, Becky Sharp must make her way in a world owned by men and with nothing more than a pretty face, a hot bod and a sharp mind to offer, her options look somewhat limited. But you'd be a fool to underestimate our Becky...and many, many men do, to their own downfall and to our delight.

While she's pretty unpleasant in many respects, it's hard to dislike a woman who plays hard in a man's world, and wins, against seemingly overwhelming odds and by the close of the novel it's quite clear exactly who's side you choose to be on...

Author Sarra Manning has created a whole collection of brilliantly drawn characters, taking inspiration from Vanity Fair, but delivering an entirely twenty-first century cast fully rounded out, just waiting to be met and liked, or disliked, by the reader.

My best book so far this summer!

I loved Vanity Fair and did not expect to enjoy this reworking of a real classic. Boy was I wrong! Exceptional writing and brings the story bang up to date with the pursuit of money & celebrities who are simply famous for promoting themselves so well. A cracking good read, couldn't put it down.

Absolutely brilliant. How can a girl with nothing end up the toast of the tabloids? Becky is selfish and self centred, but i could not help but like her tenacity and enterprise . After a life of knock-backs and with those she comes into contact realising she is a fraud and trickster, she still comes out on top. An excellent re telling of the original story, bringing it bang up to date.

This is a very tongue-in-cheek humour type of book. It had a good few giggles in it and I really enjoyed reading it. Highly recommended.

Sarra Manning is one of my favourite authors ever. She absolutely made my teenage years with her “Diary of a Crush” series and have followed her books ever since.

Whilst this book wasn’t my favourite of Sarra’s, this was still a fantastic read. I enjoyed it very much.

It is fantastically over the top, and a wonderful piece of escapism and realism.

Can’t wait for more of Sarra Manning’s books!!!