Authors A

BOOK PUBLISHING	CLUBS	FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD
HOLLYWOOD	INFIDELITY	LIFE SWAP
REALITY TV	TRANSFORMATIONS

There are certain topics, settings or types of characters that keep cropping up throughout the chick lit genre. If you want to read a series of books based around a similar theme, then this is the section for you.

INFIDELITY

Affairs are obviously rampant in the world of chick lit books. But are they ever justified? Take a look from the perspective of the cheater, the mistress or the victim . . .

In The Favours and Fortunes of Katie Castle, by Rebecca Campbell, Katie becomes jobless, homeless and single when her boyfriend dumps her after she has a one-night stand with a company employee.
Magazine editor-in-chief Nico has an affair with an underwear model in Candace Bushnell's Lipstick Jungle.
Sadie gets caught living a lie in Any Way You Want Me, by Lucy Diamond.
Julia is tempted to break all the rules in Debra Kent's Wife Living Dangerously.
In Catherine Alliott's Going Too Far, does Polly do just that with a sexy film director? And is Imogen right to suspect her husband is up to no good in A Crowded Marriage?
Carol Mason's The Secrets of Married Women sees one friend admit to an affair.
It's a case of swapping partners when Polly goes on a teachers' exchange to the US in Freya North's Polly.
In Emily Giffin's Something Borrowed, Rachel sleeps with her best friend's fiancé.
The Secret Desires of a Soccer Mom, by Robyn Harding, sees neighbour Karen die just days after revealing she was having an affair with a Spanish barista.
TV producer Lucy is tempted to have a fling with the host of her TV pilot in The Botox Diaries, by Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnurnberger.
Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez's Make Him Look Good sees Latin singers Ricky and Jill keep up their relationship even after he got married.
Nancy Chan's boyfriend doesn't know she works as a high-class call girl in Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, by Tracy Quan.
In Jane Fallon's Getting Rid of Matthew, Helen decides she doesn't want her married man once he leaves his wife.
Elliot's mistress arrives on his holiday island in The Three-Day Rule, by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees.
Kamryn discovers her boyfriend cheated on her with her best friend Adele - and Adele's daughter is the result in Dorothy Koomson's My Best Friend's Girl.
Bridget quits her job after catching her womanising boss Daniel with another woman in Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding, while in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, she suspects boyfriend Mark of being unfaithful.
In Lucy Dawson's His Other Lover, Mia tries to uncover why a woman called Liz keeps calling her live-in boyfriend's mobile.
And does the text message that Lucy, from Paige Toon's Lucy in the Sky, gets just as she boards a plane to Australia prove her boyfriend is cheating?
In Marian Keyes' Watermelon, Claire's husband decides it's a good time to leave her for another woman just after she gives birth. In Angels, Maggie heads to LA after her husband inadvertently reveals he's been seeing another woman.
Aisling suspects her husband of having an affair after she finds a lingerie receipt in his pocket, in Cathy Kelly's Woman to Woman.
In Backward in High Heels, by Judith Kelman, Maggie finds out her husband was with another woman when he isn't found burnt to a cinder in his office fire.
In Mad About the Boy, by Maggie Alderson, Antonia discovers her husband is gay when he moves in with his boyfriend.

In Handbags and Gladrags, fashion stylist Emily tries to keep her affair with a photographer secret.
Matt is juggling two women in Emily Barr's Plan B.
Mac is also keeping a secret from his wife in Dianne Blacklock's Almost Perfect.
Lizzy breaks up with David after his brother Miles tells her he'd cheated on her in Going Home, by Harriet Evans.
In Spinning Around, by Catherine Jinks, Helen starts investigating her husband Matt after he is seen meeting a girl with purple hair.
Indian bride Kareena is unaware her new husband has been seeing another woman for six years, in Nisha Minhas' Sari & Sins.
Flight attendant Hailey catches her pilot boyfriend out in Alyson Noel's Fly Me to the Moon.
Why does her husband smell of perfume, asks Ayinde on her labour bed in Jennifer Weiner's Little Earthquakes.
Tess' husband leaves her for his pregnant girlfriend in Kate Harrison's The Starter Marriage.
Sarah's husband has an affair with his leading lady from the dramatic society in The Ex-Wife Survival Guide, by Debby Holt.
In Jane Green's Straight Talking, TV producer Tasha's ex-boyfriend rings up her Love Betrayals segment to reveal he did indeed cheat on her.
Kristin Harmel's How to Sleep with a Movie Star opens with magazine entertainment editor Claire heading out to drown her sorrows after finding her boyfriend in bed with another woman.
Spurned partners Stevie and Adam team up to make their exes jealous in Milly Johnson's The Birds & The Bees.
Grace is a honeytrapper who tests men to see if they are unfaithful in Faith Bleasdale's Agent Provocateur.

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

Whether there is a love or hate relationship with it, food appears as a constant theme in women's books. For chocolate to chefs, diets to cooking programs, tuck into these food-related books.

In Carole Matthews' The Chocolate Lovers' Club and The Chocolate Lovers' Diet, we meet four women who bond over chocolate.
Better than Chocolate by Susan Waggoner sees food writer Annie Wilkins' life change overnight when her research scientist husband Tom invents a fat-free, calorie-free chocolate.
Four women start a dieting club in Anita Notaro's The WWW Club.
In The Matzo Ball Heiress, by Laurie Gwen Shapiro, Heather Greenblotz, gets in a bit of a pickle when the Food Channel decides it wants to film her family seder.
In Jennifer Weiner's Little Earthquakes, one of the central characters, Becky, is a chef.
Liza Palmer's Seeing Me Naked is centred around pastry chef Elisabeth Page.
In Sleeping Over, by Stacey Ballis, Robin is a chef who has a crush on the restaurant owner.
Carmen Reid's Up All Night sees reporter Jo Randall's love life heat up thanks to a hunky younger chef.
And in Deborah Schoeneman's 4% Famous, gossip columnist Kate Simon falls for the latest celebrity chef.

BOOK PUBLISHING

It's not hard to see what draws many authors to set their novels in the world of books - from publishing companies to bookshops; with their characters including book lovers, authors and editors. Turn the page on some of these . . .

In Bridget Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding, Bridget and her short skirts start out in publishing before she walks out on her job because of a soured affair with womanising boss Daniel Cleaver.

In The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Bank, narrator Jane becomes a book editor.

Claudia Parr also works as an editor in Emily Giffin's Baby Proof.
In Lauren Baratz-Logsted's series, The Thin Pink Line and Crossing the Line, Jane Taylor is an assistant editor at a publishing firm who is talked into writing a book about her fake pregnancy.
Clare Truman lands an editor's position at Grant Books, whose past employees have a support group to swap stories about the boss from hell, Vivian Grant, in Bridie Clark's Because She Can.
Emily Hilton escapes her small town for the bright lights of New York when she becomes an editorial assistant at publisher Morrow & Sons, in Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt's Emily Ever After.
In The Pink Ghetto, by Liz Ireland, Rebecca starts a job at romance publisher Candlelight Books.
Book publicist Grace Armiger is sent to Paris to liaise with a movie star over his book in Wendy Holden's Gossip Hound.
Blind Submission, by Debra Ginsberg, sees Angel Robinson became an assistant to a demanding literary agent and be the target of a manuscript from an anonymous author.
The Other Side of the Story, by Marian Keyes, features literary agent JoJo who represents ex-best friends Lily and Gemma.
Georgia and her sister-in-law Louise run The Reading Room bookshop in Dianne Blacklock's Almost Perfect.
In Alexandra Potter’s Me and Mr Darcy, book shop assistant heads to Jane Austen country where she bumps into Mr Darcy.
Molly Harper is manager of Ireland's only romance bookstore, Happily Ever After, in Sarah Webb's It Had to Be You.
Book Lover, by Jennifer Kaufmann and Karen Mack, sees Dora, who retreats from the world with book binges, start a relationship with Fred who works in her favourite bookstore.

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LIFE SWAP

Sometime you just want to get away from your life. Some choose to walk in someone else's shoes for a while; others have a glimpse of themselves as a different self. But what do they say about the grass not always being greener? . . .

Jane Green's Life Swap sees British magazine writer Vicky swap lives with competition winner Amber, an American, for a month.
In Ilsa Evans' Each Way Bet, two fed-up sisters trade places for a day.
Polly, the heroine of the title of Freya North's book, goes on a teacher exchange to the US and gets a crush on the boyfriend of her replacement in England.
In Lou Wakefield's Sleeping Partners, the Watkins family use a holiday home swap scheme to trade their council estate semi in Leicester for a palatial Melbourne abode with BMW and yacht.
Ally's neighbour, Juno, signs up for a TV show where two mums swap homes in Kate Long's Queen Mum.
In Me vs Me, by Sarah Mlynowski, Gabby alternates between two separate lives - one in which she is planning her wedding to Cam in Phoenix; the other where she's pursuing her career in New York.
In Do You Remember the First Time, by Jenny Colgan, Flora becomes 16 again after making a wish at her best friend's wedding.
Pamela Drury finds out what her life would have been like if she married Robert 13 years ago in Me Myself I, by Pip Karmel.

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HOLLYWOOD

From the viewpoint of personal assistants and celebrity journalists to movie stars and producers, this collection will get you right amid the glitz and glamour of the movie industry - and expose its sometimes seedy side.

In How to be Famous, by Alison Bond, talent agent Lynsey discovers beautiful runaway Serena, while helping movie actress Melanie adjust to the small screen.
Her other novel, The Truth about Ruby Valentine, shows that in Hollywood it's never too late for a comeback, as Kelly Coltrane investigates the death of the mother she never knew.
Playing with Boys, by Alisa Valdes Rodriguez, is about three women who work together to get their movie made.
Gigi Levangie's The Starter Wife is about Gracie Pollock, who is dumped by her movie studio executive husband.
One of the sisters in The Truth and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters, by Elisabeth Robinson, is a film producer trying to get Don Quixote to screen.
Sophie Lee's Alice in La La Land sees the Australian actress struggling to get cast in any role.
All the women of Applewood have George Clooney in their sights in Ellen Meister's Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA.
Everyone thinks Mod entertainment editor Claire Reilly got too up close and personal with Hollywood heart-throb Cole Brannon in Kristin Harmel's How to Sleep with a Movie Star.
And in Jane Heller's Some Nerve, journalist Ann Roth is under pressure to get the big interview with a media-shy actor.
Book publicist Grace Armiger is sent to Paris to liaise with film star Red Campion over his mystery book in Wendy Holden's Gossip Hound.
In The Village Bride of Beverly Hills, by Kavita Daswani, new Indian bride Priya makes an impression on movie star Rex Hauser while working for Hollywood Insider magazine.
Charlize Edwards is the personal assistant to one of Hollywood's sexiest but most insecure stars in Kim Gruenenfelder's A Total Waste of Make-up.
Clare Naylor's The Second Assistant is about a woman finding her way in a new job at a talent management company.
Karen Jacobs is a publicity assistant at Glorious Pictures in Rachel Pine's The Twins of Tribeca.
PR agent Julia Einstein has to promote a screen diva's perfume in Laura Zigman's Piece of Work.

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CLUBS

It is a natural instinct for women to band together and bond over shared experiences and passions. In chick lit, there are clubs for all sorts of purposes - formal ones for school mothers and society women. There are groups to share hobbies or dieting dilemmas; cliques of former colleagues or classmates; even ones that focus on the key essentials of chocolate and men. Join in the fun of chick lit's clubs.

In The Jane Austen Book Club, by Karen Joy Fowler, six people - including a man - meet every month to discuss one of the writer's books.
Kate Jacobs' The Friday Night Knitting Club is about Georgia Walker and the regulars who gather at her yarn shop.
The Chocolate Lovers' Club, by Carole Matthews, is about a group of four chocolate addicts.
Then there are those trying to fight the battle with the bulge in The WWW Club, by Anita Notaro.
The Dirty Girls Social Club, by Alisa Valdes Rodriguez, is about six Latina women who met in college and now catch up every six months.
The exclusive Willow Creek Junior Leaguers who dislike outsiders - particularly trashy nouveau riche types - are the Ladies Who Lunch in Linda Francis Lee's novel.
The Applewood PTA mothers have their sights set on George Clooney in Ellen Meister's Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA.
Women learning to deal with marrying someone else's husband form The Second Wives Club in Jane Moore's book.
In Man of the Month Club, by Jackie Clune, one woman decides to try out 12 men over the next year to see if she can conceive.
For the women of Milly Johnson's The Yorkshire Pudding Club, picnicking on top of an ancient fertility symbol sees all three fall pregnant within months.

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TRANSFORMATIONS

Most chicklit characters undergo a transformation from start to finish of the book but for some a physical change is the crux of the story. A makeover takes place, where the character chooses - or is forced - to look different. Just like the fairytale of the ugly duckling becoming a swan, the characters may go from fat to fabulous, from shy to assertive, from nerdy to trendy. And usually along the way they boost their self-confidence so they get their man, their job . . . whatever it is that they think they want.

My favourite novel with this theme has to be Jemima J, by Jane Green. Local newspaper reporter Jemima Jones sends an altered photo of herself thin to her online crush Brad but when the LA gym owner decides he wants to meet her in the flesh, Jemima has to lose the weight - or lose face.
In another top read, The Cinderella Pact, by Sarah Strohmeyer, Nola Devlin makes a pact with her friends to lose weight to see if it will help transform their lives.
The heroine of The Double Life of Anna Day, by Louise Candlish, is prepared to go to any lengths to impress her future mother-in-law.
The Thing About Jane Spring, by Sharon Krum, sees the disciplined lawyer reinvent herself as a Doris Day clone to help find her a man.
Louise Canova transforms her appearance using a style bible from the 1960s in Kathleen Tessaro's Elegance.
In The Next Big Thing, by Johanna Edwards, overweight PR agent Kat Larson goes on reality TV show From Fat to Fabulous.
Fashion victim Lily Traywich, of Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt's Consider Lily, gets a makeover which helps her enter the world of dating.
Unattractive office cleaner Allison Penny wakes up as a gorgeous blonde one day in Waking Beauty, by Elyse Friedman, and finds everyone treats her better - even her mother.
Someone else waking up to find herself blonde is store assistant Patricia Stillwell in Suzanne Macpherson's Hysterical Blondeness.
In He Loves Lucy, by Susan Donovan, Lucy has one year and around-the-clock access to gorgeous personal trainer Theo to help her lose 100 pounds and earn $100,000.

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REALITY TV

From Australian Idol to Big Brother, Survivor to The Biggest Loser, reality TV shows have dominated the box this decade. Love it or hate it, the world of “anyone can be a star” is a natural fit for chicklit characters.

It's not hard to guess which TV show inspired Alesia Holliday's American Idle, where production coordinator Jules Vernon has to babysit a group of pop star wannabes.
In Carole Matthews' Welcome to the Real World, struggling bar singer Fern Kendal chases her dream on the Fame Game.
Reality TV Bites, by Shane Bolks, and Room for Improvement, by Stacey Ballis, explore the world of home decorating shows.
Weight loss aspirations get an airing in Johanna Edwards' The Next Big Thing where contestants vie to go From Fat to Fabulous.
And Wife Swap is the name of the game in Kate Long's Queen Mum.

BOOKS

NEWS

ARCHIVES

BOOK PUBLISHING

CLUBS

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

HOLLYWOOD

INFIDELITY

LIFE SWAP

REALITY TV

TRANSFORMATIONS

There are certain topics, settings or types of characters that keep cropping up throughout the chick lit genre. If you want to read a series of books based around a similar theme, then this is the section for you.

INFIDELITY

Back to top

FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD

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BOOK PUBLISHING

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LIFE SWAP

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HOLLYWOOD

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CLUBS

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TRANSFORMATIONS

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REALITY TV

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Copyright © 2007 Craig Pegler