Chick Lit in the City
May 1, 2012 4:31 PM Subscribe
I want chick-lit books set in New York City or London.
I love reading about the privileged fighting for social dominance. (Momzillas is one of my favorites.) Have read Devil Wears Prada, Nanny Diaries, and one of the Shopaholic books (please no more). I've read all the Candace Bushnell I care to read, and the Gossip Girl books are so terrible I can't bear them. Who else writes about rich girls in New York or London?
I love reading about the privileged fighting for social dominance. (Momzillas is one of my favorites.) Have read Devil Wears Prada, Nanny Diaries, and one of the Shopaholic books (please no more). I've read all the Candace Bushnell I care to read, and the Gossip Girl books are so terrible I can't bear them. Who else writes about rich girls in New York or London?
Jacqueline Susann wrote her books about glamorous (but troubled) celebrity and socialite women living in New York in the 1940s-60s. They are amazing. Valley of the Dolls is the most famous, but you should also read Once is Not Enough and my personal favorite The Love Machine. They are trashy, funny, tragic, and thoroughly engaging.
posted by decathecting at 5:20 PM on May 1, 2012
posted by decathecting at 5:20 PM on May 1, 2012
The ur-London chicklits are the Bridget Jones books.
posted by brujita at 7:35 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by brujita at 7:35 PM on May 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Seconding Emily Giffin, especially Something Borrowed.
I enjoyed Prospect Park West more than this blogger did.
posted by Violet Hour at 9:23 PM on May 1, 2012
I enjoyed Prospect Park West more than this blogger did.
posted by Violet Hour at 9:23 PM on May 1, 2012
I love to read this kind of stuff too!
You'd like a lot of Red Dress Ink books. That imprint was discontinued in 2008 but the books are still easy to find. Particular favorites of mine that would fit what you're looking for: See Jane Date by Melissa Senate, Name and Address Withheld by Jane Sigaloff, Fashionistas by Lynn Messina, As Seen On TV by Sarah Mlynowski, and Live from New York, It's Lena Sharpe by Courtney Litz.
You may also like Jane Green and Carole Matthews.
If you liked The Devil Wears Prada and the Nanny Diaries, you'll probably enjoy The Twins of Tribeca by Rachel Pine and Falling Out of Fashion by Karen Yampolsky.
posted by SisterHavana at 11:03 PM on May 1, 2012
You'd like a lot of Red Dress Ink books. That imprint was discontinued in 2008 but the books are still easy to find. Particular favorites of mine that would fit what you're looking for: See Jane Date by Melissa Senate, Name and Address Withheld by Jane Sigaloff, Fashionistas by Lynn Messina, As Seen On TV by Sarah Mlynowski, and Live from New York, It's Lena Sharpe by Courtney Litz.
You may also like Jane Green and Carole Matthews.
If you liked The Devil Wears Prada and the Nanny Diaries, you'll probably enjoy The Twins of Tribeca by Rachel Pine and Falling Out of Fashion by Karen Yampolsky.
posted by SisterHavana at 11:03 PM on May 1, 2012
Erin Duffy's Bond Girl is about a Wall Street analyst but it's very chick-litty. There's a high-heeled shoe on the cover-- Q.E.D.!
posted by BibiRose at 8:20 AM on May 2, 2012
posted by BibiRose at 8:20 AM on May 2, 2012
Adele Parks' Larger Than Life is about an ad exec in London who gets unexpectedly pregnant. Haven't seen Sex and the City, but it had that vibe. (Some people might recommend to you The Trials of Tiffany Trott - avoid this, it's one of the worst books I have ever ever read, and I've been reading for 28 of my 30 years. Really, really bad.) Like Bridget Jones, she is middle-class rather than uber-rich, but it was pretty entertaining.
I really like Emily Barr and Lisa Jewell. LJ in particular writes a lot about London. They are seen as 'chick lit', but I think if a man wrote the same books they;d be considered as part of the 'respectable' fiction world (Nick Hornby is chick-lit with a winkie, frankly.) I also really enjoyed Wasting Time, a book that never really got a lot of attention.
If you want to read about rich folk in London, then there's Rachel Johnston's Notting Hell - I didn't like it but then I find the author irritating, but it is about rich families and pretty fluffy. The literary version (but don't let that put you off, it's great) is Alan Hollinghurst's The Line Of Beauty. It might seem an odd recommendation as it's about gay relationships and was Booker nominated, but there are some great strong characters and a lot of stuff about aristocratic young men in the 1980s.
posted by mippy at 8:40 AM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
I really like Emily Barr and Lisa Jewell. LJ in particular writes a lot about London. They are seen as 'chick lit', but I think if a man wrote the same books they;d be considered as part of the 'respectable' fiction world (Nick Hornby is chick-lit with a winkie, frankly.) I also really enjoyed Wasting Time, a book that never really got a lot of attention.
If you want to read about rich folk in London, then there's Rachel Johnston's Notting Hell - I didn't like it but then I find the author irritating, but it is about rich families and pretty fluffy. The literary version (but don't let that put you off, it's great) is Alan Hollinghurst's The Line Of Beauty. It might seem an odd recommendation as it's about gay relationships and was Booker nominated, but there are some great strong characters and a lot of stuff about aristocratic young men in the 1980s.
posted by mippy at 8:40 AM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
Oh! I recently read Rona Jaffe's The Best of Everything - three young women in early 60s New York try and make their way in publishing. It reminded me very much of Valley of the Dolls. It was recently reissued in the UK after being mentioned in Mad Men, which is how I came across it.
posted by mippy at 8:43 AM on May 2, 2012
posted by mippy at 8:43 AM on May 2, 2012
Also! Not entirely fiction, but the Belle De Jour series is great. Really nicely written (it didn't surprise me when 'Belle' was outed as an academic) and very funny. She also has written a couple of novels as well (though I haven't read these).
posted by mippy at 8:46 AM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by mippy at 8:46 AM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]
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posted by Ideefixe at 4:35 PM on May 1, 2012