This month’s guilty pleasure is the very The Devil Wears Prada-esque Because She Can by Bridie Clark.
This month’s guilty pleasure is the very The Devil Wears Prada-esque Because She Can by Bridie Clark. The devil in the first novel, which was set in a magazine suspiciously like Vogue, was reputed to be Anna Wintour. In this case, the hellish workplace is a publishing house, and the over-the-top lunatic boss, Vivian Grant, is supposedly based on Judith Regan, the recently fired eponymous editor of ReganBooks. (You may remember the recent scandal about OJ Simpson’s book, If I Did It, which was pulled from the marketplace due to intense public outcry – that was the brainchild of Judith Regan, an editor not known for her good taste.) Bridie Clark, the author, has worked at several publishing houses and is keeping mum about her inspiration, but imagining Judith Regan as Vivian Grant is very easy. On with the book—Claire Truman, a mild-mannered assistant editor at a staid, respectable publishing house, has her life turned upside-down when she is offered a high-paying job as an editor working for Vivian Grant. The new title and the salary draw her in, but soon she is working non-stop, attending book release parties in strip clubs and catering to her boss’s every insane whim. As if her work life isn’t crazy enough, she is also planning a wedding to her long-term crush and short-term boyfriend and editing the manuscript of an attractive author whose interest in her seems more than businesslike. What’s a poor girl to do? This is an ideal book for a spring break read on the beach and you’ll have fun mentally casting the movie. All in all, it’s an entertaining confection, and if Judith Regan was anything like Vivian Grant, her former employees are doubtless chortling with glee.
Novels based on classics are always a gamble. The basics are there in the original—the characters, the setting, the style of writing—but most sequels range from mediocre (The Wind Done Gone by Alice Randall) to abysmal (Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley). In happy contrast, we now have Pamela Aidan’s new trilogy, a companion piece to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Aidan places Mr. Darcy at the center of the action and retells the whole story. An Assembly Such as This begins with Darcy’s arrival in Meryton and ends with his and Bingley’s departure for London. Duty and Desire: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman illuminates the events that occurred off camera in Pride and Prejudice; Elizabeth Bennett doesn’t make an appearance at all, but Darcy’s background and family are explored at length. These Three Remain resumes with Darcy’s next encounter with Elizabeth during his visit to Lady Catherine and concludes with their engagement and wedding. Without deviating from Jane Austen’s restrained, almost prim style, Aidan gives us a fuller picture of Fitzwilliam Darcy, gentleman. His relationships with his sister, Georgiana; his valet, Fletcher; and Mr. Bingley and his sisters are brought to life. New characters are so seamlessly introduced as to seem a natural part of the original story. This is a wonderful trilogy and would be perfect for book groups who have read Pride and Prejudice. I read the trilogy with the original by my side, and while the conversations between Elizabeth and Darcy are straight from the original, how different they appear in the minds of each character! Jane Austen fans will not be disappointed.
For fans of Philippa Gregory and Jean Plaidy, there’s a new historical novelist on the block. Alison Weir is a longtime historian who has published many non-fiction books on English history. Innocent Traitor is her first work of fiction. It is based on the life of Lady Jane Grey, the ill-fated queen who was on the throne for nine days between the death of Edward VI and the ascension to the throne of Mary I, also known as “Bloody Mary”. Weir’s sympathetic view of Jane’s loveless childhood dominated by her ruthlessly ambitious parents, illustrate the fertile ground in which her fervent religious faith flourished. Jane, an intelligent and well-educated girl has lessons with the boy king and she soon becomes as single-minded in her Protestant convictions as he. While this is going on, her parents are laying the groundwork for her to take over the throne after Edward’s death. Weir does an excellent job of depicting the power struggles behind the throne when a sickly child is king and religious turmoil threatens a nation. The tapestry of the Tudor court is vividly portrayed, as is the cruelty of religious intolerance made law. Jane’s attempts to remain true to herself while being forced to acquiesce to her parents’ schemes make this an affecting and gripping story. Alison Weir has every chance of being as popular as Philippa Gregory—I hope this won’t be her last novel!
Susan Taylor has been in the book business, in one aspect or another, since 1982. She recently returned to the Capital District after 14 years in the Boston area (which included stints at the Harvard Bookstore and the Wellesley Booksmith), and is happily re-employed at the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza. Stop by the store if you are looking for a good book—she’s read a lot more than she can talk about here!