Short Synopsis
This delicious, decadent, and addictive tale explores the relationship between Babs Ballentyne, an impossibly rich chocolate heiress, and her sensitive, bookish young daughter, Bettina.

Full Synopsis
Set in 1980s Chicago and on the East Coast, this electric debut chronicles the relationship between an impossibly rich chocolate heiress, Babs Ballentyne, and her sensitive and bookish young daughter, Bettina. Babs plays by no one's rules: naked Christmas cards, lavish theme parties with lewd installations at her Lake Shore Drive penthouse, nocturnal visits from her married lover, who "admires her centerfold" while his wife sleeps at their nearby home.

Bettina wants nothing more than to win her mother's affection and approval, both of which prove elusive. When she escapes to an elite New Hampshire prep school, Bettina finds that her unorthodox upbringing makes it difficult to fit in with her peers, one of whom happens to be the son of Babs's lover. As she struggles to forge an identity apart from her mother, Bettina walks a fine line between self-preservation and self-destruction.

As funny as it is scandalous, The Chocolate Money is Mommie Dearest, Prep, and 50 Shades of Gray all rolled into one entertaining listen.

"A novel to make you laugh, cringe, and appreciate your mother." ---O, the Oprah Magazine

"[Norton] writes fearlessly, and the results are compelling. [Listening to] this novel is like watching a train speed toward you, and you're paralyzed on the tracks." ---Booklist

"A dark tale of maternal sadism, twisted sex, and self-destruction. Norton is a fearless writer." ---James Frey, author of Bright Shiny Morning

"Not since Mommy Dearest has there been a transcription of a complex mother-daughter relationship as powerful." ---Isabel Gillies, author of A Year and Six Seconds