The Adventuress

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Becky Sharp has nothing on Cath Fox. In this clever retelling of Vanity Fair, the Condé Nast head honcho’s latest protagonist is a ruthless social climber with no qualms about shedding her name, her identity and, occasionally, her offspring, in the pursuit of money, fame and power.

Spanning four decades from the Eighties to the present day, Coleridge gives Thackeray’s model a modern-day re-tweaking, replacing the aristocratic gents with a smattering of footballers and media moguls, and arming Cath with a brief but vertical foray into the world of publishing, as she sets about standing on men’s shoulders — and women’s toes — to reach the pinnacle of society.

Before she gets there, however, you become as fascinated by this tattooed, amoral girl from a council flat in Portsmouth as the characters who encounter her are. Why? Because she has good sex (the use-it-as-a weapon, porking variety, not the love-making variety), she soaks up the lessons of her increasingly affluent lifestyle like a sponge and when she falls, she gets back up before she’s even hit the ground.

It’s the ultimate rags to riches story — and you can’t help but want to be a little bit more like Cath Fox.

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