NYC Novelist Claims Hoover Sister Stole Manuscript

New York socialite and writer sues sister over authorship of new book.

ByABC News
October 28, 2008, 11:35 AM

Oct. 28, 2008— -- A New York City novelist and wife of one of the Hoover vacuum cleaner heirs is suing her sister, saying she stole credit for her upcoming novel, "Hedge Fund Wives."

Tatiana Boncompagni Hoover, a freelance writer and New York City socialite who is married to Max Hoover, claims her older sister, Natasha Boncompagni, hacked into her computer and downloaded portions of the novel, which she then posted on the Internet.

The federal lawsuit claims that Natasha Boncompagni misrepresented herself as the co-author of the novel, which is scheduled to be released next year by HarperCollins.

An "exclusive excerpt" of the novel, described as an exploration of the "unspoken quid pro quos and hidden pitfalls of life among the newly minted rich," was available on hedgefundwives.com, which lists both sisters as co-authors.

The novel has two active copyrights, according to the U.S. Copyright Office. Natasha Boncompagni filed a copyright for both sisters in September. In October, Hoover filed for an exclusive copyright.

Neither sister could be immediately reached for comment and it was unclear if Natasha Boncompagni had a lawyer.

"Our client deeply regrets having to underake this action, but the defendant left her with no other alternative," said Hoover's lawyer, Alan Fisch of the law firm Kaye Scholer.

Natasha Boncompagni told The Wall Street Journal, "This was a private family matter that my sister has decided to make public. Our entire family is deeply saddened by her decision to willfully misrepresent herself as the sole author of 'Hedge Fund Wives,' a book that we co-wrote together."

Hoover said in the lawsuit that the book is entirely her own work, though she admits her sister provided some input. At one point, according to the complaint, Natasha Boncompagni offered to do research and share her personal experiences for $500, an offer Hoover allegedly rejected.

"I know my place," Natasha Boncompagni wrote her sister in a September e-mail, according to the complaint. "I totally defer to your ability to craft the story; my experience is the ideas and the technical finance knowledge."

The lawsuit claims that Natasha is currently unemployed and living with her family in Milwaukee. An online biography at hedgefundwives.com says she has worked for UBS and in the hedge fund industry.