Eat the Wealthy By Reading These Great Books About Rich People Behaving Badly
These novels about rich girls with IDGAF energy—for better or worse—are total page-turners.
When you're looking to get lost in a book, sometimes you need your reading material to match your mood. With Marie Claire's series "Buy the Book," we do the heavy lifting for you. We're offering curated, highly specific recommendations for whatever you're looking for—whether you're in your feels or hooked on a subgenre trending on #BookTok.
Rich girls like the Blair Waldorfs of the world might not be the most relatable of characters, but that’s what makes them all the more delightful. While we’re saving up for a Dyson Airwrap, fictional gals from the upper echelons of society are busy globetrotting and buying themselves another Birkin. Fortunate for us readers, when books feature girlies of a certain tax bracket, they don’t shy away from a little drama, either. Between shouldering the burden of their wealth, dodging freeloaders, and keeping an eye out for rare clothes/homes/cars/whatever to buy, rich girls literally give main character energy, making them the perfect protagonist (or let’s be real, villain) in a novel.
Which brings us to these uproarious novels in which rich girls are immersed in conflicts and comebacks—some of their own making. After all, these women are used to getting what they want. Why should anything—a partner, job, or reputation—be any different? From ambitious lawyers to famous film producers and a few socialites to boot, these books are all about rich women who find themselves tangled in maddening webs of deceit, gossip, and plenty of danger. But with their refined manners and social know-how, these heroines are forces who know how to play the game—and win.
Below, check out the 11 best novels to read about rich girls with IDGAF energy.
Did you stay up late bingeing Inventing Anna? Well, great news, there’s more to the story. Cover Story is another take on the Anna Delvey case—this time fictionalized, but still giving readers a front row seat to the debauchery unleashed by the notorious scammer.
In the novel, Lora, an NYU student, is struggling. Strapped for cash and time to work on her writing, Lora sees a bright light in Cat Wolff, a contributing editor at the magazine where she’s interning. Cat takes an immediate interest in Lora, urging her to work on side hustles that showcase her talents. When Lora reveals she’s drowning, having lost her scholarship, Cat steps in for the rescue...or so Lora thinks.
While at first enamored by Cat’s lifestyle—lots of parties, a place at the Plaza—she begins to wonder if some things are actually too good to be true. Propulsive and, at times, funny, Cover Story is a fresh take on the outlandish con artist who fooled N.Y.C.'s downtown elite.
Franca is hosting the dinner party from hell. Tasked with cooking for her fiancé, Andrew, an aristocratic tech bro, and his colleagues ahead of an exciting launch, Franca works hard to keep it together, even when the fridge breaks down in the middle of summer. With her main course melting and dessert yet to be made, Franca doesn’t have time to think about her relationship and what happened just before guests started arriving. Instead, Franca is fighting to stay sane, even while a table of tech bros patronizes her. Then, the guest of Andrew’s partner arrives, and a diabolical twist is delivered on a silver platter.
In conversation with Ottessa Moshfegh, Mona Awad, and Han Kang, Viola Van de Sandt's The Dinner Party is an interrogation of class, consent, and gender roles that’ll have you asking for seconds.
Money can’t buy you class, but it can cause burnout. Enter Discontent, perhaps the most accurate portrayal of millennial apathy of recent times. Marisa is a successful creative executive at a marketing agency who frequently pawns off her work onto junior colleagues so she can pop an Ativan and chill in her office. The truth: She hates her job.
Capturing the existential crisis that plagues many a millennial, Marisa is fully aware of the irrelevance of her work. But where does that leave her? There’s only so much dread a girl can handle without needing to blow off some steam. Fortunately, she has her hot AF neighbor for that, but even if this relationship feels hollow and flat. As she prepares for a company retreat, Marisa fears that she’ll blow her cover on how much she’s relied on others for her success, and what may happen to her job if her colleagues find out. Though she’s not entirely sure she’ll care.
A meditation on the millennial experience, Discontent thrusts the reader into Marisa’s perspective, illuminating her meandering motivations and nostalgia for a life that’s never happened. Maybe not a read for anyone prepping for their annual performance reviews, but still a comfort (in a way) to know that, if you’re feeling like garbage going to work every day, you’re so not alone. Fortunately, with a good book in tow, you'll get through it.
Nina is a sophomore at The University, doing everything in her power to put her flop of a freshman year behind her. The best way to do that? Rush The House, the most exclusive sorority on campus. Their alumni boast successful careers, beautiful homes, and more. But getting accepted into The House is anything but simple. So, as Nina slowly moves from one stage of recruitment to the next, she not only begins a secret relationship with one of The House’s most influential sisters but must decide how much she’s willing to put on the line to embody the values of The House.
Meanwhile, Sloane is new(ish) to The University, having foregone her tenure-track job for an adjunct role teaching sociology at the college where her husband has landed a new position. Still in the sweet, exhausted haze of caring for her baby daughter, Sloane juggles an absent partner and an unfulfilling job. But when she's suddenly asked to be the faculty advisor of The House, she becomes surrounded by highly intellectual women and finds her spark again. Still, she can't help but have questions about their annual dinner that allegedly holds the key to the women's success, inspiring her to investigate.
Haunting yet quippy, Girl Dinner serves up a propulsive read that’s both stomach-turning and intoxicating. Read this if you’ve fallen down a #RushTok rabbit hole or if you’re looking for something like Yellowjackets marinated in The Secret History, seasoned with notes of The Valley of the Dolls.
Sophie has some regrets after moving her family from Chicago to small-town Texas. First of all, she’s bored. But what's more is that she's stranded, away from her thriving career and busy city life. Sophie is straining to see the vision she had originally drawn her there: becoming a famous influencer, one of those mom/home/lifestyle gals. But it's not as easy as she imagined.
Plus, it’s more fun to lurk on Margot, a mutual friend who’s at the core of a small group of socialites in town. As Sophie and Margot begin to get to know each other, Margot invites Sophie to join her and the gals for one of their outings, which is very different from a girls’s night in Chicago.
In Texas, these evenings include shooting guns, outdrinking one another, and casually flirting with men who aren’t their husbands. That all comes to a dramatic head, however, when Sophie becomes embroiled in the homicide investigation of a teenage girl discovered where the ladies often meet for their escapades. Suddenly, Sophie begins to wonder if her friendship with Margot wasn’t just a big game—or worse. (And if you're a fan of the Netflix series adaptation, don't worry if you know all the twists and turns: the source material is just as much of a bullseye hit.)
Couldn’t get enough of the Didion & Babitz tell-all? You’re in luck. Ella Berman’s latest, L.A. Women, carries whiffs of the infamous frenemies, but even more intense. (We didn't think it was possible, but here we are!)
It’s 1975 in L.A., and Lane, respected writer and journalist, is stuck. While on paper—husband, adorable twin girls, important friends—seems incredible, she’s in a rut after her latest book was a dud. Meanwhile, her free-spirited friend, Gala, is flitting around with her rockstar boyfriend, being the same unreliable, but deeply inspiring enigma that she’s always been. Which is why, though endlessly irritating, Lane has continued her friendship with Gala: She is Lane’s muse (and pain in the ass). So, with her next book on the horizon, Lane decides to base the novel on Gala, so she can finally understand what makes her so magnetic.
But all is not so simple: Gala has gone missing. Lane works to help find her by revisiting key moments of their friendship, from their whirlwind first meeting to supporting one another’s dreams of being writers. L.A. Women features dual timelines and perspectives in sunny, breezy prose, making it an ideal read for a dreary day stuck inside.
From the author of Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan’s novel Lies and Weddings is begging to be brought on your next vacation. Henry Tong belongs to a wealthy family in England, where he lives next to Eden, a girl from a less affluent background. But Henry doesn’t mind; in fact, he’s smitten with her down-to-earth values and dedication to her work as a doctor. As Henry nurtures his feelings for Eden, his mother is on his back to marry up and save the family from destitution. (Woof.)
Henry, torn between honoring his family duty and the woman he loves, must decide before he loses everything he holds dear. As the cast of characters hops from one country to another like they’re on a bar crawl, not a plane, Lies and Weddings sings with the charm of Kwan’s other novels, and a shocking ending that will have you buzzing—and checking your airline miles.
This 2025 novel marked bestselling YA author Renée Ahdieh's adult fiction debut. If Succession and Crazy Rich Asians had a baby, it would be Park Avenue. In the novel, Ahdieh digs into ambition, the immigrant experience, corruption, and toxic families. Sounds heavy, we know, but trust: It’s enchanting (in an unhinged kind of way).
Meet Jia, the daughter of Korean immigrants who's determined to become successful, support her aging parents, and buy herself a Birkin (relatable!). A junior partner at a high-powered law firm, Jia is presented with the opportunity to make senior partner. All she has to do is manage a very high-profile, very fraught divorce between Seven and Jenny Park. Yep, those Parks. As in the billionaire Korean beauty magnate, Parks. Jia is asked by the managing director of her firm to investigate the family’s finances to ensure that the inheritance and settlement are fair and accounted for.
Inevitably, Jia finds herself at the center of a swirling (albeit luxurious) dumpster fire. She’s up for it, though, throwing herself into the assignment. But, with a leak in her midst, Jia encounters roadblock after roadblock, making her life anything but easy. The murder of a key family member only complicates her job further. A passport to the world of the ultra-wealthy, Park Avenue delivers a wild romp brimming with scandal and surprises.
Walk into just about any bookstore, and chances are you’ll find this novel (still!) on the Staff Favorites table—and for good reason. This bestseller offers a snapshot into how the 1 percent live. Meet the Stocktons, wealthy New Yorkers who have long held a foothold in the fruit streets of Brooklyn Heights, including the family manse on Pineapple Street, currently occupied by Cord and his new wife, Sasha.
Sasha has her hands full fitting into the family and getting to know her sisters-in-law, Darley and Georgina, who think Sasha is a gold digger. Told in a kaleidoscope of voices, the three women—Sasha, Darley, and Georgina—unspool the minutiae of managing family dysfunction and Big Moments (pregnancy, unemployment, self-harm) against a backdrop of profound advantages.
Significantly character-driven, don’t expect a zombie to jump out from a bodega. Instead, this story steeps you in its glorious, slow-drip drama that’ll have you gasping until the last page.
What would you sacrifice to work with your dream mentor? Well, for Maggie Wang, a struggling writer trying to make it in L.A., the question isn’t hypothetical. It’s real—and turns out, she’d give up a lot.
After suffering a humiliating blow from her boyfriend and creative writing teacher, Maggie responds to a job ad to work as an assistant for Ingrid Parker, a famous film producer who seemingly has it all. (If only people knew the lengths she’d taken for her life—and career—to seem so flawless.)
But Maggie and Ingrid embark on possibly the most toxic workplace dynamic ever to be imagined—and not even by entertainment industry standards. After Ingrid learns at a doctor's appointment that she could fall ill in the future, depending on her genes and fate, she puts her trust in a new procedure that could reverse the chances of her cells mutating into something deadly. All she needs is someone willing to part with their youth—and who better than her ambitious assistant?
One part The Substance, another part The Devil Wears Prada, The Take is a juicy, twisty take on aging, success, and race. Told in a sharp and hilarious voice, The Take is sure to be one of the hottest books of spring.
When Lian’s best friend, Wenyu, returns to Beijing after 10 years in California, everything that she’d considered stable (and enviable) goes out the window. While Lian has been nurturing a life based on her parents’s expectations, Wenyu jetted off to the U.S., making a fortune as an influencer called Vivian. Now reunited, Lian begins to view her life from Wenyu’s perspective—and doesn’t love it. The two revisit their stomping grounds as Wenyu prepares for a party celebrating her engagement to an American finance bro. But despite her forthcoming nuptials, Wenyu is harboring a major secret—one that floors even Lian, who's known her forever.
And then there's Song Chen, who throws their lives in sharp relief. He is past the age of wishful dreaming, having accepted the reality of remaining in China, though he’d once hoped to move to the U.S. While Lian and Wenyu cycle through drama, Song Chen low-key steals the show with astounding character development. A perfect read for a long plane ride, this book probes into the validity of viewing success through financial earnings and how relationships can be formed—and destroyed—by wealth.
Same but different, Wanting harkens back to cult classics like Thirteen (or more recently, Euphoria), about two friends who can’t get out of their way, tripping over their relationship on the path to self-actualization.
