Kevin Kwan stopped by Good Morning America to discuss his latest book, Lies and Weddings.
The new novel from the Crazy Rich Asians author, set for publication Tuesday by Doubleday, follows Rufus Gresham, a British viscount whose mother urges him to seduce a rich woman in order to replenish his parents’ dwindling trust. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “Still more brilliant escapism among Kwan’s 1 percenters. Too much is never enough.”
GMA co-host George Stephanopoulos asked Kwan, “What’s the story?”
“Twenty-first century Bridgerton but with a big twist,” Kwan responded. “Really flipping the script and upending the narrative of that traditional woman must marry rich man. This time it’s the boy who has to go after a rich girl.”
Co-host Robin Roberts noted that Kwan had teased details from the book on social media, including one post that was a picture of a pasta dish. Roberts asked about the significance of the photograph.
Kwan explained that the dish was from a restaurant he enjoyed that is mentioned in the new novel. “For me, I love reading books that made me hungry, so I want to try to do the same thing,” he said. “If you don’t raid the fridge at 2 a.m. when reading my books, then it’s not working.”
Co-host Michael Strahan noted that Kwan’s characters “live lavishly,” and he asked the author which character he’d most like to hang out or go on vacation with.
“For vacation, I think Kitty Pong from my Crazy Rich Asians series would be really fun to travel with, because she would get me into all the secret VIP places,” Kwan replied. “I’d meet crazy people that I never thought I would.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
