Judith Krantz Books In Order

Publication Order of Scruples Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Judith Krantz is an American author of fiction. She was born Judith Tarcher in New York City on January 9, 1928. She likes to write novels that fall into the genre of Romance. She currently resides in Bel Air as well as Newport Beach, California.

Judith Krantz is the author of the Scruples series, which has a total of three books in it. The first book, Scruples, was published in 1978. This book made publishing history as a widely-read and popular smut novel. It was so popular that it became an international bestseller, eventually being translated into over twenty languages. It was a smash hit and its basis in the swanky zip code of Beverly Hills, all about the life of the rich and shopping on Rodeo Drive, only added to the glamour and the appeal.

The New York Post said that the success of Scruples was destined and it’s all about high fashion and Hollywood and has more content about that than would be found “in a dozen manuals”. There were two books that came after- Scruples Two and Lovers– were published in the nineties (1992 and 1994).

Scruples was also turned into a mini-series that aired on CBS network television produced by Warner Bros. Television. It aired in 1980 and starred Lindsay Wagner. It was based on the novel by Judith Krantz. When it debuted, it did hugely well in the ratings for the network. The public had developed a taste for melodramas that were glossy and ritzy played out on television, and that medium turned out to do well for most of the decade. It also became a 1981 made-for-television movie on ABC shortly after.

Scruples came out for home video ownership in the nineties by Warner Home Video, who released it on a double home cassette. It came out on DVD in 2008 but was only available in Australia. However, Warner Bros. made it available in the United States as part of a 3-disc set in January 2010 as part of the online service, the Warner Archive Collection. This allows customers to purchase classic Warner Bros. movies on a made to order basis.

Judith Krantz is the author of many novels that include the 1980 book Princess Daisy, Mistral’s Daughter, and a number of other standalone novels including the 1998 book, The Jewels of Tessa Kent. She has two omnibus collections of her work, each with three novels. She has contributed to the 1999 collection Selected from Dazzle. She also has a non-fiction book under her belt, titled Sex and Shopping, that was published in 2000.

If there were ever a romance novel to pick up in the late seventies and beyond, Scruples is it! This glamorous romance novel is the most classic, escapist, and exciting romance novel that defined the genre at the time. The reader is whisked way into the exclusive world of Beverly Hills. This is a place where you are either rich or ultra-rich, and the fashionable women sip champagne while shopping it up in luxury boutiques among some of the best clothes money can buy.

Wilhelmina Winthrop was a poor relative of the richer Boston Winthrops. She was a homely and overweight girl who was awkward in school, but when she graduates she is given some money by an aunt. She goes to stay with some family friends in Paris to come into her own. There she goes through a complete transformation of her body and spirit. She loses weight, she is guided in the ways of Parisian style by her French hostess, and she is introduced to her nephew Edouard who deems her “Billy”.

She has a brief love affair with Edouard but when he finds out that she is not a member of the wealthy side of the Winthrop family, he ends the relationship. Billy returns to America, going to New York to secretarial school to learn a trade at Ikehorn Enterprises. But while she’s there, she falls for an older man who happens to be the founder of the company, Ellis Ikehorn, suddenly she is wealthier than even her wealthy relatives.

They get married and are happy for a while. But when her husband goes through a series of strokes, he becomes a virtual invalid and they move from Manhattan and must spend a lot of time at their home in Bel Air as the air is better for him. Bill hires a male nurse to look after him and lives alone in the house with her husband. But Billy is a restless soul and decides to start her own fashion boutique (Scruples). When Ellis dies and leaves Billy his fortune, the male nurse tries to blackmail her but fails.

The luxury boutique needs a designer, so Billy hires a French designer called Valentine O’Neil that can design couture clothing for the customers, as well as photographer Spider Elliot, to become Creative Director. Her boutique is a hit and she ends up marrying director Vito Orsini. As part owner of a studio, she finances his new film Mirrors. While there are challenges along the way such as the studio boss trying to sabotage them at every turn, and the film being stolen at one point as well as the male nurse making later appearances after failing to blackmail her, the story ends happily for Billy, Vito, Spider, and Valentine– a classic glamorous conclusion to a tale set in one of the most affluent areas in the world.

The sequel to Scruples is called (of course) Scruples Two. While it was published a bit later, Spider and Valentine are back and so is the glamorous boutique owner and wealthy woman about town, Billy Ikehorn. Spider rules over the boutique when Billy isn’t ruling the roost, and we are back in their lives once more. This story is set the day after the first story ended when Billy’s husband finally won his Oscar for Best Picture.

Billy is still incredibly rich and still spending money like it’s going out of style. Billy Ikehorn Orsini loves to travel and to shop, and while she has a fortune at home she cannot seem to find the same fortune when it comes to love. She thought she had true love for her husband, but it turns out that being an artist doesn’t mean that you’re too sensitive to lie and cheat. Unexpectedly a step-daughter comes into her life that she doesn’t see coming but accepts and beings to love, and all of a sudden they are a family and Billy has what she’s been missing. What will happen with Billy and her step-daughter? Pick up this sequel to the hit book Scruples and find out!