A collective of bibliophiles talking about books. Book Fox (vulpes libris): small bibliovorous mammal of overactive imagination and uncommonly large bookshop expenses. Habitat: anywhere the rustle of pages can be heard.
We have one free copy of The Trophy Girl to give away to some lucky reader! If you’d like to enter the draw, please go beep beep in the comments.
Of the new books I read in 2008, The Trophy Girl stands out as a surprise discovery. I have to admit that given the premise – a class-divide romance involving, yes, an aristocratic widower and a working class girl (a nanny, no less!) – the best I was hoping for was a “trashy” read, something I could muddle through with.
The cover certainly didn’t give me any indication I should expect otherwise. The standard blurb (“Lucy Carter has just landed her dream job as a nanny…”); the cutesy, rather condescending tagline from the publishing house (“Pick up a Little Black Dress. It’s a girl thing.”); the line from Elle magazine referencing Sex and the City… and worst of all, the list of other Little Black Dress titles in the back. Handbags and Homicide. Blue Remembered Heels. Hysterical Blondeness?! Really? (These may be perfectly fine publications, for all I know. But the titles make a terrible, terrible impression.)
But I’d promised to read The Trophy Girl, and I was fairly sure there were horses in it. So I heaved a sigh and opened the damn thing. Next thing I knew, it was far too late to be reading and I was telling myself strictly that I must stop at the end of this chapter. Well, OK, the next chapter. Or maybe I could just keep reading until I found out about the story behind that bizarre room at Arden Hall… and the whistle… and… you get the idea.
You see, what I did not bargain for was Kate Lace’s extraordinary gift for storytelling. Her prose is thankfully free of purple passages, forced trendiness, hyperbole and the various other things that tend to plague chicklit writers. Her narrator, Lucy, tells us her story in clear and simple language with more than a touch of wry humour. Above all, the narrative retains a strong sense of proportion. There’s an element of slapstick humour, but without idiocy; romance, without outright obsession; self-deprecation, without self-flagellation; sentiment, without sentimentality. Lace plays with stereotypes (having particular fun with the upper clarsses), but doesn’t fall back on the lazy chicklit author’s strategy of substituting cliché for characterisation. Everything in moderation; everything in its place.
All this makes The Trophy Girl into a genuinely enjoyable piece of escapism. There’s absolutely no pretention to blistering social comedy or modern everywoman drama; there’s not so much a whisper of lifestyle porn. It is simply a story – an unlikely, but ancient story – told well.
My only substantial criticism of this story is that the resolution is overly hasty, as if Lace were writing an exam essay and had only five minutes left on the clock. Having followed the development of a particularly complicated and difficult issue – and one demanding an extremely hard decision from the heroine – throughout most of the novel, the speed and ease with which it is all wrapped up is a little jarring.
Overall, though, The Trophy Girl is one of the most easy and enjoyable things I have read in a very long time. I recommend it highly.
If you like the sound of this lovely little novel, dear readers, all you have to do is pipe up in the comments by the close of play on Saturday the 17th of January and a copy could be yours!
Sounds good. I have seen too many Bollywood movies with the class divide theme. It would be interesting to read it in a book 🙂
Please enter me!!!
P.S: You know ‘forced trendiness’ were the exact words I was looking for while reading a chick lit recently…nice review
Me too, please.
I loved reading Kate Lace’s other books, so would love to have a copy of this one.
Your chick lit post a few months back got me interested in Kate Lace, but my library doesn’t have any of her books. Please enter me in the giveaway–I’d love the chance to give her work a try!
beep beep!
Sounds like a good book, thanks for the giveaway!
Beep beep, beep beep, yeah!
Sounds awesome. x
Sounds one to read for sure – beep beep!!
Still laughing …
:))
Axxx
This is a lovely review. I really have to read some Kate Lace as VL seems like a virtual fanclub of her books! I would beep beep only I think I’m disqualified from beep beeping. 😦
Well, I do like Little Black Dresses (to read, my days of wearing anything little are over), but this one sounds like a best of breed! I must read it after this beautifully reasoned review.
You make the ending sound like North and South! Kate Lace must have had the 21st century version of Dickens breathing down her neck.
Lovely review, Kirsty. It is wonderful when a book grabs you like that.
Beeeeeep. Oh, I know. Bookfoxes not allowed. Pah.
beep beep!
It sounds like a lovely book – please add my name to the draw!
Michelle.
Kirsty, you did make me laugh! But maybe your enjoyment was because you were expecting something truly dire. For once I am so glad I didn’t live up to expectations!
Kate
Ha ha! You don’t get away that easy, Ms. Lace – I really enjoyed the story. And as you know, I am not generally very partial to Earls (Melrose Plant aside). I liked Edward though – although having watched The Dark Knight too much recently I couldn’t be rid of the conviction that he must look like Aaron Eckhart. I don’t know if that’s anywhere near your vision of the man.
The cover of this book was definitely misleading…
Blue Remembered Heels.
I wish I’d thought of that …
I rather like my covers as they’re all so similar – I get a sort of brand image. And anyway, I’m not intellectual so their simplicity appeals to me. (You’ve probably worked out that I don’t do deep and meaningful.) And you’re right about the ending. (Note to self – do better next time!)
As for how Edward looks – someone I had a bit of a pash on when I was in the army.
An amusing review of a book that sounds enjoyable. Plus, now I’m curious about the whistle…
beep beep!
I’ve never read any of Kate’s books but after reading your review, I want to read The Trophy Girl! Thank you!
mittens0831 AT aol.com
I do like the simplicity of the design – it’s all the marketing stuff that gave quite a different impression. I should have a look at more of LBD’s stuff to see what is behind those interesting titles. really.
Pash is such a lovely word.
The last couple of “chick lit” novels I tried to read have nearly put me off chick lit altogether. I’d love to read a really GOOD example of the genre. Please enter me in the giveaway. Thanks, and beep, beep.
Beep beep! Sounds like a rather lovely oldtimer VW Beetle rally here.
Does sound like a jolly good read. Have to admit though, I would not pick it up expecting it to be chick-lit, based on the cover.
(Blue Remembered Heels? Is that some strange take on Wizard of Oz? No. I’m definitely not ‘getting’ it.)
‘Pash is such a lovely word’
That’s the thing about being a romantic novelist, we have heaps of words for blokes we fancy! And some of them are rather old-fashioned but we can do profane too. Actually I can do VERY profane but that’s where 8 years in the army gets you!
Kate
beep beep
i wonder if someone with too much wisdom can write a chicklit.. would she be lying to herself if she wrote about sentimental romance when she believes it only happens in fairy tales but does so for the sheer joy of construing delightful fantasies?
and yeah, beep beep
Ooh, this sounds good enough to actually buy, folks! Loved Chalet Girl after all.
I loved Chalet Girl, too – and I’ve already bought Trophy Girl, although it sits on the TBR pile at the moment to be savoured at the right time.
Sounds great – beep beep!
Beep beep!
Please enter me in the draw. Thanks.
Patty
sounds spectacular thanks for the giveaway
Sounds like a great book.
This sounds like a great book. Thanks for the giveaway!
Looks like a great read.
kimspam66(at)yahoo(dot)com
I’d love to enter the giveaway, as a good chicklit read is hard to find.
It IS a great book – the best of the three of Kate Lace’s LBD’s in my opinion. I won’t enter the draw as I own the book already but would like to say that Kate’s books were an oasis for me through a very sticky Christmas period.
And PS, if your library doesn’t stock Kate’s books they will normally order them for you for a reasonable fee – £1 in my library.
Beep Beep, if I don’t win I’ll definitely buy it. I’ve loved all Kate Lace books to date, must buys!
I would love to read this.
Thanks
Sounds like a great read, please count me in!
Thanks for the giveaway. Beep Beep 🙂
Great review. I would love to read it too.
me too. beep beep!
Right. The deed is done.
With slight pause for dramatic effect, a dramatic drum roll and a quick “Tah-Dah!”, we’re delighted to announce that PATTY’s name was the first out of the hat this morning.
Congratulations to her and thank you to everyone else for taking part.
Patty – we’re emailing you … 🙂
Wow!
Thank you all the foxes 🙂
I’m looking forward to reading it.