Marian Keyes spoke brilliantly at the Hay Festival recently about ‘chick lit’ being used as a derogatory term and we wholeheartedly agreed. But we still love beach reads, and these are some of the very best, old and new.
1. Nothing But Trouble - Matt Cain
Matt Cain worked in the TV and entertainment industries for years before becoming an author and it shows - he has a perfect ear for that pseudo-sincerity that celebs lavish their interviews with, as well as an insight into the real drama that’s usually going on behind the scenes. This, his second novel, is set in the music industry and comes complete with a south London singing superstar who’s falling apart, a manager who’s battling his own demons and a cast of very credible journos, fans and bad boys. Nashville meets X Factor, without having to listen to the music. Heaven.
(PanMacmillan)
2. Killing Monica - Candace Bushnell
Candace Bushnell brought us Sex & the City and for this we are forever grateful, so it’s a little disappointing when her new novels don’t just update us on how Carrie & co are dealing with the life post 2010. However, Killing Monica is still a lot of fun. Heroine PJ Wallis is a once-loaded superstar author who has hit on hard times and decides to kill off Monica, the character who ‘made’ her. Yeah, it’s a pretty trashy premise. But Bushnell is so great on the detail - private jets, Martha’s Vineyard, Page Six gossip - as well as the constant hum of predatory sexiness that it’s easy to wallow in this with very few cares about what’s actually going on. Good news all round.
(LittleBrown)
3. Finding Audrey - Sophie Kinsella
A young adult novel about anxiety may not strike you as dreamy holiday reading, never underestimate Kinsella. The author of the Shopaholic series (which dealt with issues around the credit crunch better than most ‘serious’ fiction) has created a fantastic new heroine in Audrey. Crippled by panic attacks and anxiety disorder, she’s dealing with a mum who believes every page of the Daily Mail and two brothers who don’t ‘get’ her issues. Then, obvs, she meets a guy… This novel works because of Audrey’s chatty and honest voice. She confides about her therapy sessions, moans about her mum and dwells on boy stuff but remains charming and proactive. There are echoes of classic Judy Blume here and it’s all just lovely.
(Doubleday)
4. Lace - Shirley Conran
As well as having one of the most iconic lines in Bonkbuster history ('Which one of you bitches is my mother?') Lace opened the floodgates for a fresh world of sexy, dirty and erm, ballsy, female fiction. The plot is all finishing schools, inappropriate dalliances and mystery parents, but the tone is pure defiance. Rules are there to be broken not obeyed, men are there to be played with not ensnared, and work is there to provide a sense of self and satisfaction, not just cash to buy stuff. There’s as much about fantastic underwear as there is about a woman’s right to work and the recent reissue does Conran proud.
(Canongate)
5. Me Before You - Jojo Moyes
Jojo Moyes transformed expectations of what a ‘romantic women’s read’ could be with this love story between a charismatic twenty-something quadriplegic and the cautious, unconfident young woman who tries to persuade him that his life still has value. It’s a buttery soft read that leaves you hanging on every page, conned into believing you’re flicking through lightweight ‘chick lit’. In fact, it takes in assault, identity, euthanasia, parental relationships, the ghastliness of middle-aged triathletes, and of course finding the love of your life. Only a fool would sneer at women’s fiction after reading this. And a sequel and a movie are on the way…
(Penguin)
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.