Kwan moves on with ‘Sex and Vanity,’ but characters still crazy rich

The wedding of the summer is still on — and you’d have to be crazy rich not to squeal in vicarious wonder at its opulence. Kevin Kwan’s new stand-alone novel, “Sex and Vanity” — following his wildly popular “Crazy Rich Asians” trilogy — opens at this over-the-top affair in Capri, Italy, before whisking readers off to the Hamptons. That’s a change of scenery for the author, whose previous books were largely set in Singapore and Hong Kong. But Kwan again delivers a set of ridiculously rich characters who are mostly Asian or Asian American.

“Sex and Vanity,” a play on E.M. Forster’s 1908 novel “A Room With a View,” begins at the nuptials of two

“international oohla-las.” Among the attendees: 19-year-old protagonist Lucie

Churchill and her cousin Charlotte, who’s chaperoning her so she doesn’t tarnish the family name. Lucie is a “hapa” — half Chinese, half WASP — and is instantly both drawn to and repelled by another guest, George Zao. By the end of the wedding reception, the two have accidentally consummated their attraction in public.

Fast-forward five years, and Lucie is engaged to Cecil Pike. He’s unbearable, a nouveau riche who clashes with Lucie’s old-money family. Still, she’s wearing a $26.5 million ring on her finger when George appears in New York, stirring up long-suppressed desires.

Kwan excels at satirizing the uberrich. He’s also an Olympic-level namedropper. If I had a dollar for every reference to an A-list designer or brand mentioned here, I’d be — well, still not a fraction as wealthy as these characters.

Kwan’s trademark snark, which hooked “Crazy Rich Asians” fans, remains on display in this new offering. As in his earlier novels, his flippant footnotes are at times more enticing than the story line itself. When one wealthy woman remarks, “It’s because of my Chinese blood that I haven’t needed a facelift yet,” Kwan follows up with an aside: “She’s lying, of course. She had a facelift and necklift back in 2000.”

Though Kwan hints at the complexities of being mixed-race, there’s no deep, meaningful takeaway buried in the story. The relationship between Cecil and Lucie never makes sense, and Lucie’s aversion to admitting her feelings for George isn’t convincing. While the luxurious scenery helps overshadow some of these shortcomings, the novel lacks the pizazz that made “Crazy Rich” so successful.

Still, come for vacuous entertainment, and “Sex and Vanity” delivers.

It’s all style and little substance — unfathomably expensive style, which can be gratifying for those with an appetite for rich-people problems. It’s like a bubbly glass of expensive champagne: It goes down easy, but don’t expect to remember it the next day.