THE BULGARI CONNECTION (2001)

A middle-aged divorcee must contend with her millionaire ex-husband and his new witchy, bitchy younger wife. Weldon has always had a gift for satire, but her normally sharp wit seems blunted in this predictable tale of a woman scorned. The only real amusements here are the booming hiccups of advertising for her corporate patron, Bulgari, a transaction that drew boos from the shocked publishing world. Weldon, who champions her sponsor with embarrassing gusto, writes there's ''nothing more soothing than the soft-carpeted opulence of Bulgari, and the attentive staff, and the hushed reverence with which they attended to the whims of their customers....'' Interestingly, that's the book's shallow villain cooing over Bulgari's charms. Perhaps the clever author is having the last laugh after all.

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