PINK WITH PURPLE SPOTS LIT

“Of all things upon earth that bleed and grow, A herb most bruised is woman.” – Euripides, ‘Medea’

I have blogged before about “Chick Lit” or “Pink Lit”, a genre of fiction aimed at a predominantly female market and whose plots often feature a plucky heroine searching for her place in a big city while holding down a trendy job and possibly juggling a bit of romance. "Bridget Jones's Diary" by Helen Fielding is a typical example, "The Bachelorette Party" by Karen Lutz, "Family Trust" by Amanda Brown, "Man Eater" by Gigi Levangie Grazer, "The Devil Wears Prada" by Lauren Weisberger, "The Nanny Diaries" by co-authors Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, Sophie Kinsella's "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and "Bergdorf Blondes" by Plum Sykes are all other notable examples. What started it all, I guess, was Helen Gurley Brown’s "Sex and the Single Girl" published in 1962 and was representative of the newly-found power of the independent young woman making it on her own in the big city. Here is how some authors of “Chick Lit” define their genre. Chick Lit of course has its opponents, and this article by Elisabeth Sheffield is worth reading.

Having read a few of these novels upon recommendation, I can say that I have enjoyed some, have disliked many, have been neutral about quite a few. If nothing else, this type of fiction presents an interesting perspective of the female mind, and is quite revealing of the place many women see themselves as occupying in these post-feminist days of equal opportunity, affirmative and life-changing legislation, and supposed endless prospects for success in the professional and personal fields of women’s lives.

I have recently finished reading Wendy Holden’s “Bad Heir Day”, a typically British “Chick Lit” novel, although I would tend to describe it as “Pink with purple spots lit” rather than “pink lit’. Why? It is quite funny (especially if puns and sometimes quite wry and dry humour amuse you) but there is also a sense of the tragic in some of its comedy, in the sense of what hurts most we tend to trivialise or joke about in order that we survive it.

In a nutshell the plot revolves around Anna, who is an aspiring writer and whose gorgeous boyfriend, Sebastian, is an unfaithful, snobbish, priggish, thoroughly nasty piece of work. Dumped by him, Anna jumps from the frying pan into fire when she takes a job with Cassandra Knight, a romance writer with writers’ block whose gin consumption far exceeds her written output. Anna thinks that being Cassandra’s assistant will be a marvellous opportunity to learn from a published writer. Cassandra thinks that Anna’s job (regardless of what they agreed on) is to do all the housework and take care of her spawn of Satan son, Zak, all the while dodging her lecherous, has-been rock star husband.
Anna works like a slave simply because she has no choice, but this does have its advantages; she finally drops that lasts 10 pounds and learns all about the exotic nanny subculture. Eventually, she meets handsome Jamie, Laird of Skul, who whisks her away to his ancestral castle in Scotland. Its just like a fairy tale but all is not well in Skul… Here is Wendy Holden talking about her book:



Overall, this book was amusing and light and tongue-in-cheek. I don’t know whether I’d want to read many more such books, especially after having read another such novel by Wendy Holden, “Pastures Nouveaux”. Pastures Nouveaux is described on the cover as "A Comedy of Country Manors" and this heralds a collection of other cringe-worthy puns and wordplays that can get tiring. Although neither book taxed my grey matter too much in the reading (hmmmm, rather like junk food for the brain, maybe?), such novels can become repetitive and too much dependent on formulaic plot development and stock characterisation.

As far as the plot outline for “Pastures Nouveaux” is concerned: Cash-strapped Rosie and her boyfriend Mark are city people longing for a country cottage and the romance of country living. At the same time, dreadfully nouveaux-riches Samantha and Guy are also searching for rustic bliss - a mansion complete with mile-long drive, manicured lawns, upstairs maids and gardeners. The village of Eight Mile Bottom seems quiet enough, despite a nosy postman, a reclusive rock star, a glamorous Bond Girl and a ghost with a knife in its back. But there are unexpected thrills in the hills. The local siren seduces Guy while a “farmer fatal-e” rocks Rosie's relationship. Then a mysterious millionaire makes an offer she can’t refuse. But should she? Once again, here is Wendy Holden talking about her book:



What do you think of “Chick Lit”?