Author and Vogue writer Plum Sykes is reportedly causing a stir with her new novel set in the Cotswolds, as locals try to guess who the main characters are based on.
The book, Wives Like Us, sees the bored wives of super-rich men “fight for social supremacy”, according to the times.
According to the outlet, the novel’s setting in the Cotswolds is “certainly of the moment,” as fascination with the area has increased in recent years.
This, he explains, is largely due to the “stream of wealthy Londoners [who] Started moving there during Covid.’
Those who own property in the area include Jeremy Clarkson, the Camerons, Richard Hammond, Dom Joly, Tony Adams, the Beckhas and Jilly Cooper, among others.
Author Plum Skyes (pictured June 2023) has reportedly caused a stir with her new novel Wives Like Us, based in the Cotswolds.
The Cotswolds are fascinating to many people, largely due to the many prolific residents, including the Camerons who have a home in the area (pictured left to right: Plum Sykes; Samantha Cameron).
Plum Sykes with another of her glamorous acquaintances, editor and journalist Anna Wintour (pictured in New York in 2017)
Plum Sykes’ new novel Wives Like Us (pictured) has caused quite a stir in the Cotswolds where it is set.
Additionally, King Charles’ niece Zara Tindall and her husband Mike have lived in Cheltenham and Princess Anne’s Gatcombe Estate in the heart of the Cotswolds.
Originally from Kent, Plum moved to London and then the Cotswolds in 2013 with her then-husband Toby Rowland.
As someone who liked to ride horses, Plum says she noticed that, in contrast to the traditional country style of wellies and Barbour jackets, she noticed more and more “overdressed women” going to the stables.
This, he describes, was like a “satire waiting to happen,” with everyone consumed by social anxiety and staring at each other.
Wives Like Us is based in a fictional area called Bottoms, focuses on four female friends, and is told from the perspective of friendly gay butler Ian.
The main character, Tata Hawkins, described as a footballer’s wife (dressed “deadly sexy in a Bottega Veneta calfskin jacket, gold platform heels and diamonds”) has just separated from her husband Bryan, after to find a receipt for a diamond necklace. , moving out of her shared house.
Other characters include American heiress and divorcee Selby Fairfax, who lives on the Bottoms’ finest estate and whom everyone wants to befriend.
Aristocrat Sophie Thompson (with her husband MP) and half-Venezuelan, half-Swedish heiress Fernanda Ovington-Williams complete the main cast.
Winston Churchill’s great-granddaughter Clementine Fraser is among Plum’s Cotswold neighbors and friends
American Amanda Brooks is the owner of the Cutter Brooks retail chain and a resident of the Cotswolds.
Plum describes Carole Bamford, founder of the Daylesford Organic Farmshop chain, as the “absolute queen” of the Cotswolds
Amid “outrageous antics and Jilly Cooperesque histrionics”, Tata tries to get back together with Bryan and return to their big old house, while trying to groom Selby with a “mysterious oligarch” persona.
Plum herself lives about an hour from an area known as Tews.
She is friends with many prolific Cotswolds locals, all of whom, according to the Times, “are named after those their fictitious wives set their eyes on.”
Among this list is the founder of the Daylesford Organic Farmshop chain, Carole Bamford, who Plum describes as the “absolute queen” of the area.
Among the Cotswolds group, and Plum Sykes’ friends, is Jemima Khan (pictured February 2023).
Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece is among those who have allegedly been ‘name verified’ as an inspiration for a character in the novel.
Vogue stylist Tabitha Simmons has also been included among those who could have inspired a character in the novel.
Others include Jemima Khan, Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece and Winston Churchill’s great-granddaughter Clementine Fraser, among others.
And finally, on the list of possible inspirations for the characters are American Amanda Brooks, owner of the Cutter Brooks retail chain, and Vogue stylist Tabitha Simmons.
Described as “a perfectly placed social observer in this world,” Plum has remained tight-lipped about who Tata and the others are specifically based on.
But this has not stopped speculation on the issue.
According to the Times, a Chipping Norton resident said everyone is trying to figure out who Tata is based on, adding that “he’s creating quite a scandal, you know?”
