Dirty Little Secret
Another one…
Marian Keyes - yep, never read her. I know, I know. It’s a violation of all things chick lit not to have read her. Let’s just say I’m behind. She moves on and off my radar screen. Right now she’s more “on” at this moment thanks to this article about her upcoming release, Anybody Out There?. This the part that caught my attention:
Keyes is a well-established voice in Irish contemporary popular fiction. She takes risks and writes about sex and Generation Xers better than the doyenne of Irish female storytelling, Maeve Binchy. But, like Binchy, Sharon Owens and Sheila O’Flanagan, Keyes’s stories are affectionately and warmly told. The difference is that Keyes writes with bite. Pain is never far from her characters and their relationships.
Part of this may be due to the life experiences Keyes has faced. She is a reformed alcoholic and, consequently, she understands the damage and power of addiction. Her books are published in 29 languages and end with a sense of optimism. These are not happy endings just for the sake of it. Having known despair, her fiction, as much as it is unashamed chick lit, is ultimately upbeat. But Keyes also has another agenda.
The article is pretty positive. It even suggests that chick lit heroines, as a whole, may have a deeper purpose than cosmetics and shoes.
While Keyes has a faithful audience that wants to be entertained and satisfied with chatty fiction, Anybody Out There? will not disappoint. But it is also a tenderly written, insightful exploration of human emotions. Chick lit it undoubtedly is but, as the title hints, chicks who wear Porn Star lipstick are not immune from emotional darkness and may reach out in hope towards others.
Someone gets it! How often do you see the phrase “insightful exploration of human emotions” in relation to a chick lit title? Probably not as often as you should. I’m ready to give her a try.
March 30th, 2006 at 7:27 am
Once my father-in-law was visiting and I guess he was bored. Although with three kids in this house, I’m not sure why he was bored. Anyway, he was sitting in my rocker and he picked up the book next to the window and started to read it. This is a man who never reads. And he liked the book. He even commented on it to me. The book was Watermelon (I hope that’s the title) by Marian Keyes!
March 30th, 2006 at 10:21 am
I’ve read a few of hers — but all of them ones published before she became a “name” in chick-lit. Pleasant and enjoyable and while some of the heroines started out with serious TSTL vibes, part of their journey was learning to overcome that.
Once they started putting her into hardback, I stopped picking her up because of the cost.
March 30th, 2006 at 11:10 am
I would like to send the writer of this article flowers. I’m beyond sick of hearing the genre of chick lit dismissed wholesale.
April 1st, 2006 at 12:00 am
Okay, I’m stopping with the commenting on every post. In fact, I was all ready to go pretend to be nice to the husband, but, oh, HK, we need to have one of those talks. Marian Keyes may be my most favorite non-JAK author. Ever. I don’t even know where to begin.
Wait, I do. “Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married”. Then you may read “Watermelon”, etc. Pause for a long, long time with “Rachel’s Holiday”. Keep going. I have (almost) never steered you wrong.