I recently had the pleasure of reviewing Nina Bell’s new title Lovers and Liars which covers the touch subject of domestic abuse, and is therefore a little different to the usual chick-lit subject you might expect from such a book. Nina has kindly offered to write us an article on the change in direction of chick lit, and so we present ‘Chick Lit Gets Serious’. Enjoy, and do let us know your opinions in the comments!
Chick Lit Gets Serious by Nina Bell:
“I recently heard a snatch of a Radio 4 literary programme, criticising Chick Lit because ‘it didn’t address the real issues in women’s lives.’ Hello? How can a genre that tackles alcoholism, anorexia, adultery, adoption and acne (and that’s just the ‘A’s) not address the real issues in women’s lives? Bridget Jones lifted the lid on young women’s drinking, but a decade on, Veronica Henry’s The Beach Hut, in spite of its pretty, summery cover, shows where that drinking can lead. Sam Baker’s The Stepmother’s Support Group, also packaged in pastels, was written after a deluge of heart-felt communications from struggling stepmothers. Blockbuster-style foil-blocked covers on Dorothy Koomson’s The Ice Cream Girls, Marian Keyes This Charming Man and my own Lovers & Liars (I hope!) conceal unflinching portrayals of physical and psychological abuse, all the more effectively conveyed via storytelling rather than in an information leaflet that will never be read. My daughter will be better equipped for life if she reads these books rather than any Booker-Shortlisted novel. Today’s Chick Lit has morphed from the search for The One to the search for yourself, tackling dark issues in a light, informative, enjoyable way.
And layers of research often go into these apparently frothy confections – while writing Lovers & Liars, my desk piled up with psychology books and interviews with experts in treating psychological abuse. My notebook is always thick with interviews: for my previous book, Sisters In Law, about how divorce impacts on wider family relationships, I talked to top divorce lawyers. And for The Inheritance, set in the world of horses, I immersed myself in the world of horses for two years, asking riders everything from obscure technical questions to whether they preferred jelly babies or Smarties.
The frivolity of chicklit makes it quite subversive - it’s a way of women talking to women about serious issues while no-one else notices. For example, the ‘sex and shopping’ novels of the 1980s and 90s were part of women beginning to earn –and spend - their own money and own their own sexuality. No wonder some people found them threatening.
I think the Radio 4 literati were probably referring to the classic ‘Cinderella’ chick-lit plot, where the storyline suggests that provided you are good, sweet, self-effacing and hard-working, your prince will rescue you. I think an evil witch - or, more probably, wizard - devised this myth to keep young girls in line (or in the kitchen), but few chicklit heroines are now just waiting to be rescued.
They’re getting on with their lives: if you think Chick Lit doesn’t connect with reality, then consider the way many other novels rarely feature children. Or animals. Or proper jobs. There’s a kind of ascetic unreality about an Iris Murdoch novel, for example. Chick lit heroines juggle careers, children, friends, colleagues, a boss, parents, even pets or horses. And that’s not easy – when I was writing The Inheritance, the need to make sure the horses were fed or transported to the right place was as demanding on the plot as it is in real life. And as for fictional babysitters….just don’t go there. Write like Iris Murdoch. It’s easier.
I once overheard a middle-aged man ask a young female book reviewer what ‘chick lit’ was. ‘If a book has a pink cover,’ she replied. ‘It’s chick lit, so you throw it away.’ I hope – for her sake - that when she has a real problem in her life, she stops, hand halfway to the wastepaper basket, and thinks ‘Maybe I should try this….’”
Thanks so much, Nina!
Chick Lit Classics is a regular feature on Chick Lit Reviews where we highlight the books we feel are classics of the chick lit genre. Feel free to discuss our choices in the comments section!
I noticed today on Twitter that Carmen Reid’s fictional character Annie Valentine, star of the ‘Personal Shopper’ series has her own blog! The latest installment, 
