Claiming to offer "extreme etiquette for the stickiest, trickiest, most outrageous situations", this is a mixture of factual advice on how to be socially desirable through manners, charm and wit, interspersed with the social gaffes of one fictional "Fabulous Girl" and her FG friends.

The chapters cover work, money, friendship, courtship, socialising and family, suggesting how to handle potentially tricky situations with manners and decorum.

The whirlwind of fine dining and fancy parties which Izzo and Marsh advise on will be unfamiliar to most readers. Nevertheless, most of the suggestions could be applied by those of us with slightly more mundane existences, and it's an entertaining glimpse into a true party girl's world.

MEGAN CRAIG