Reader's Diary #539- Sophie King: Who's Speaking Please?

According to her website "Sophie King's books are aimed at teenagers, mums and grans or anyone else who can identify with a chaotic family life."

Okay so I'm not a teen, a mum, or a gran, but I can identify with a chaotic family life. In fact, so chaotic were things today that I stumbled upon an audio version of Sophie King's "Who's Speaking Please?" that I thought would be perfect to listen to while I cleaned the kitchen.

I'm not sure if this is what they mean by chick-lit, but it's what I imagine it to be. The protagonist tries to get over a man, thinks about shopping, and comforts herself with chocolate. And please don't let me be misunderstood, I'm sure plenty of women have nursed a broken heart, eaten chocolate and gone shopping, but-- and I'm trying to tread carefully here-- if that's all there is, aren't they reduced to cliché? Everybody has at least something, some little idiosyncrasy to set them apart and keep them interesting, don't they?

At first I enjoyed the mundanity: a woman listening to a silly radio contest in the morning, interrupted by a moody shower head. But I kept waiting for the hook, the break in the woman's character that set her apart. It never came.

I can't help but feel that King was simultaneously pandering and condescending to an audience that I don't belong.

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