Everybody has a guilty pleasure
when it comes to reading. For some, it’s fantasy novels, comic strips, or even
the likes of Fifty Shades of Grey.
For me, it’s the generic chick lit novel: girl is lonely, girl meets unlikely
match of a boy, girl and boy fall in love (surprise, surprise). The simple and
near-identical structure of these novels appeals to my willingness to remain
right in the centre of my literary comfort zone. However, recently it’s come to
my attention that this style of book isn’t quite as superficial as it first
appears to be.
A few years ago, a large
proportion of this genre of literature was centred on female body image.
Obesity was a hot topic in the UK and USA at this point as shocking statistics
were being poured out over the media concerning the 61% of the population
deemed to be within this category (statistics as of the NHS’ report concerning
obesity in 2010). At this time, and for a couple of years preceding it, chick
lit authors positioned this issue at the forefront of their novels. This
encouraged people, especially young women, to love their bodies even if they
are technically overweight. This body-beautiful campaign as such was taken up
by many authors worldwide, including one of my personal favourites, Meg Cabot
(Princess Diaries anyone?). Her range of adult novels includes the Heather
Wells mystery series, which tracks the progress of a young woman who has been
criticised because of her large size. The books explore the idea that being
overweight does not make a person unattractive, or unsuccessful. Thus, they
serve to work against the “fat shaming” that goes on in the media: critiques of
celebrities gaining a few pounds and the endless advocation of (unhealthy) fad
diets in seemingly every magazine with a female target market.
Recently however, as the issue of
obesity has become a less pressing issue in the media, chick lit authors have
turned their attention elsewhere. Recent figures in mental health statistics
have becoming increasingly alarming, to the extent that 1 in every 4 people
experiences some form of mental health issue every year; the most common being
depression and anxiety disorders. Again, as the media has begun to focus on
these issues, so have chick lit authors. The two novels which I have read so
far this summer as part of this genre have adhered to this. Both feature
mentally unstable female protagonists who have undergone some form of trauma in
their lives and thus (unfortunately) need to be rescued by the loving, handsome
boy-next-door as it were.
After a hectic period of second year
English Lit exams and getting a new kindle for my birthday I really wanted to
chill out with a simple chick-flick on holiday. As a student I obviously
instantly started scrolling through the reams of (largely awful-looking) free
books in this style on Amazon. Coming across "Twenty Eight-and-a-Half
Wishes" I didn't expect much and the opening chapters held out to this
expectation.
The book is set in a modern Southern
style landscape. The protagonist is an anxious 24-year-old girl who finds it
hard to feel appropriate emotions towards events. She lost her father at a
young age and is controlled by a wicked mother. This Cinderella-esque storyline
was waiting for a Prince Charming to arrive, but, akin to most other romantic
novels of our era, Joe McAllister is a rugged, mysterious figure. This generic
outset initially jars with the magic realism that Rose's visions imbibe the
plot with. Her blunt reaction to (not giving any spoilers) certain tragic
incidents in the novel heightens this; in my opinion making this protagonist
and the book itself too unrealistic.
However, after the disappointment of
these first few chapters the novel improves greatly. It develops into a
mystery-romance novel rather than a mere romance one, which allows it to offer
much more to the reader in terms of plot and interest. Moreover, Rose's visions
no longer seem to jar with the main plot, but cohere with it and enhance it,
allowing the reader as well as Rose to have a stronger grasp of the mystery at
hand than most other characters in the text. Rose’s visions as well as her
social anxiety arguably hint at deeper mental issues within her character.
However, the fact that the visions save Rose’s life portrays an important
message to the reader: mental illnesses do not have to destroy your life. This
is something which Rose learns as she develops as a character.
Similarly, Natasha Preston’s first book
in her (appropriately named) “Silence” series raises a great number of
important issues surrounding the moving issue of childhood sexual abuse.
Despite a pretty good (albeit clichéd) romantic back story to the plot, the
traumatic effects of this type of abuse upon a teenage girl remained the key
focus of the novel. Silence follows
the story of 15-year-old Oakley who hasn’t uttered a single syllable since the
age of 5. Her overwhelming love for her 17-year-old best
friend/neighbour/all-round good guy Cole encourages her to consider the impact
of her silence on others, including her family. Oakley, her loving parents and
sex-obsessed older brother make up the Farrell family unit. But as the novel
rapidly makes clear, Oakley’s silence isn’t the only aspect of the family’s
problems which doesn’t immediately meet the eye …
Set in England, the social issues which
this novel raises really struck home for me. Moreover, with the recent numerous
allegations of child sexual abuse by famous men in the media business, the concerns this novel raises
are at the heart of heated discussions in the UK: can we really trust our
children with anyone? How does this kind of abuse affect the mental health of
the victim as they reach puberty and beyond?
I believe that the most important
aspect of this novel is the exploration of the ways in which sexual predators
transform their victims in order to cover up their horrendous acts against
human decency. Oakley has her voice physically and metaphorically removed in a
hyperbolic symbolization of the fear in which these victims live.
Once you get past the slightly bad writing that characterises
the initial chapters of both the books discussed above, they really do expose
some harsh realities about the state of modern life. Women are statistically
more likely to suffer from depression than men, which perhaps explains why
these authors have chosen for their female protagonists to be portrayed as
fragile, imperfect creatures. Perhaps they want to suggest that if you really
get to know a person (as the reader does with the narrative voice) everyone is
broken. However, there may be a greater issue at hand: are these modern chick
lit authors falling into the fallacy of creating almost 19th century
female protagonists who can’t survive without swooning into the arms of a
life-giving, life-saving man?
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