House of Cards

Magnolia Stanson should have the world on a string. She is 19 years old and about to enter her junior year of college. And she is the only child of Steven and Carolyn Stanson, society elites whose vast fortune lets them live a lavish life. But Maggie, although attractive, is shy and socially inept, having spent her life in her magnificently beautiful and vivacious mother’s shadow. Afraid of never measuring up, Maggie always refused to even try, even to the point of insisting on going to all-girl schools, including college. She has preferred to spend time with her father and pursue his interests, even though she doesn’t really enjoy his favorite activities – sports and camping and hiking. Her life is primarily that of a bookworm and a romance novel junkie. But in July of 1996 her world is shattered when her parents are both killed in a plane crash. She has no living relatives, but her parents’ best friends, Frank and Gloria, try to help and guide her, especially since she is the now sole heiress of the Stanson fortune. Andrea Jergens is a senior at Maggie’s college and lives in the same dorm, but is really just an acquaintance. Andrea has been trouble practically since the day she was born. Her parents have routinely had to bail Andrea out of scrapes, including drug dealing and other criminal activities, as well as inappropriate sexual activity. At one point they insisted she see a psychologist. They believed he had helped, although he had mainly just helped to re-channel Andrea’s efforts to become independently wealthy, and then been drawn into a sexual relationship with her himself. Andrea’s new goal was to go to an Ivy League type college to network with bluebloods. Her parents agreed to pay her way, but only if she went to an all-girl school, which is why she ended up at the same college as Maggie. When Andrea hears the news about Maggie’s parents, she decides to befriend Maggie and find a way to get her hands on some of Maggie’s money. She does so by contacting her old psychologist to ask what Maggie would be experiencing and what advice to give her. She then tells Maggie that her own parents died in a car crash when she was in high school, and passes on the advice the grief counselor she supposedly saw had given to her. Maggie responds to Andrea’s apparent sympathy and kindness and is quickly drawn into a close friendship. Ben Garrett is a Boy Scout – literally (he went through Eagle Scout) and figuratively. His one and only mistake thus far in life was to fall for Andrea when they were in high school together in Pittsburgh. For Ben, it was more like an addiction. He did finally break up with her just before he went off to college after she caused trouble with his family. But he would have gotten back together when he came home on vacation if Andrea hadn’t moved on already. After college graduation, he got a job in New York. Andrea routinely went to NYC from her college in Connecticut. Toward the end of her junior year she ran into Ben and they started up their relationship again. Ben was like a junkie who’d gone back on the stuff, quickly becoming addicted again. Andrea enjoyed her relationship with the handsome young man, but even more, she loved how addicted he was to her and how easy he was for her to control. And that’s why Andrea decides to draw Ben into her plans to get a chunk of money out of Maggie. She figures that tall, dark and handsome Ben is the perfect partner considering Maggie is a romance novel junkie who pines for a real relationship. Ben is reluctant even though Andrea presents it as just getting a nice business loan out of Maggie. But as she learns more about how Maggie’s trust works, Andrea’s plans change and she draws Ben deeper and deeper into the con, all the while Maggie is falling deeper and deeper in love with Ben. The book details the twists and turns of the con game Andrea weaves, as well as Maggie and Ben’s relationship and the dramatic events that punctuate it.