Book Review | Friends Forever by Danielle Steel

She is one of the world’s most acclaimed authors with over eighty novels to her name and 600 million copies sold – more than JK Rowling and Nora Roberts. She is Danielle Steel. She is over sixty and still banging them out. This particular one, Friends Forever, is number 6 on the New York Bestsellers list. Number 6! After all these years, a Steel novel was begging to be read and what a trudge through the swamp it was. Here is my review.

Warning: Review contains spoilers and Danielle Steel’s prose

Plot Summary: The story follows the lives of Gabby, Billy, Izzie, Andy and Sean from the time the meet in kindergarten to when they start falling apart. Gabby is the pretty one, Izzie is the smart one, Billy the jock, Andy the nerd and Sean- has a cokehead for a brother. Danielle Steel calls them the ‘The Big Five’- a homage to Enid Blyton’s Famous Five I think. The first couple of chapters go quickly, a narration of how they become friends. They have growing pains, develop crushes and I am waiting, waiting for the action to begin; for the synopsis to end. While I have never a a fan of using the dry synopsis to set a context, it is often necessary and in some cases, especially chicklit novels, lots of fun to read. But here is Steel's version- An excerpt:

“Andy was valedictorian and gave a moving speech. It was eloquently written and his classmates cheered for him…people were starting to cry. This was a long awaited moment for all the parents…”

Is it a synopsis you wonder? No that’s how the entire novel is written.  By chapter 3, I start to look for a change of pace, perhaps some emotion. Nothing happens. The prose waddles along.  We soon realize that Danielle Steel’s favorite words are ‘She cries’ 'He cries'. There is hardly any dialogue. When someone dies; you almost miss it. Then someone else dies- this time you are taken aback. Is this a script for final destination 5? All that’s missing is the token African American and she’d have all her bases covered. Anyway, Billy gets famous and so does Gabby. Sean goes on a crusade of sorts to avenge a death. One set of parents gets divorced and someone else dies. Yes, really. By this point, it is so contrived you start laughing. It’s so bad; it’s starting to become good. Andy? You ask. What happens to Andy? Nothing, Steel forgets about him halfway through. I think she needed five people and just popped Andy in on an afterthought. At this point Danielle Steel has covered all major causes of death- drugs, drunk driving, and shooting.  I put the book aside and decide to understand the macabre inspiration behind this Chainsaw Massacre death toll and I find it -she lost her son a few years ago. That was my only true moment of empathy. I sigh and go back to the book and keep at it till I finish. Two of them make it, just about, and you do rejoice, not in their happiness but because you finished the book. They cry. I cry. The End.

'Like' The Caterpillar Cafe on Facebook.

Book Review | The Island by Elin HIlderbrand

Four has always been the magic number - three is a crowd and five is too many too characters to follow. There's Little Women – Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy (Die Amy Die)-Sorry, I digress, and of course Pride & Prejudice. Then we have contemporary versions-Sex and the City and Lipstick Jungle. The number four has been a magical in terms of women’s commercial literature and The Island by Elin Hilderbrand is no different. The only difference this time is that you have two generations, each trying to indulge the eccentricities of the other.  

Birdie is in the twilight of her life having had the courage to boot out her indifferent husband in exchange for freedom, a new found set of rules governing the single life and an acrimonious relationship with her eldest daughter, Chess. Don’t you just love how American names instantly conjure up acid washed shorts, lithe bodies and blond hair? Anyway, Birdie invites her daughter to a week’s holiday to their dilapidated family home in Tuckernuck- an idyllic island where the birds poop honey and everyone is deliriously happy without running water, to bond before Chess’s impending nuptials.  The engagement falls through and Chess- think prom queen with a bad attitude, shaves her head and extends the week into a month. The younger sister, Tate, comes along for the ride along with Birdie’s own sister Iris, who has her own steamy life to contend with at a ripe old age. Oh and there is a man, Barret, who comes in and throws it all out of sync as if it wasn’t already. Old memories soon begin to tiptoe out of the closet while new skeletons come out doing the salsa and a lot of cat- fighting ensues.

Anyone who has a sister or an extremely close female friend will acutely relate to the constant undercurrent of sisterly emotions like possessiveness, envy, loyalty, vindictiveness’ and that eerie awareness of each other which is mostly irritating but always useful. She manipulates these emotions perfectly to develop her story. 

And there is the Island, Tuckernuck- a privately owned island in Nantucket that Hilderbrand calls pure and simple and without any static from the outside world. The house plays an important part, each bedroom owning a space in the novel that tells us more about the character. Hilderbrand starts off a little sloppy, the dialogue a little predictable, but soon she sucks us in with fantastic detail, an evolving mystery and snappy repartees between the two sets of sisters. She leaves us clues like little breadcrumbs and we find that we really do want to know how it ends. This is a fantastic monsoon read as you are stuck in on a rainy day with a glass of wine or a cuppa tea.

Review | Horse Play by Jo Carnegie

We have been away. Despicable I say, absolutely despicable. But that's because we have been reading and well Afsha has been off writing about food, sunburn and all things nice.  I just finished Horse Play by Jo Carnegie and I must say as chicklit goes, this was cocho-block full of sex, drama and bad language- a complete winner.  It's the fifth book in Ms Jo Carnegie's romp through the little country village of Churchminster and I think she's just gotten better. Think Joan Collins in the stables. We have sexy trio of sisters, Calypso, Camilla and Caro ( Even the names are so LA!) who are going through various stages of relationship bliss, Calypso - confused, Camilla- in that familiar state of discontent and Caro- blissfully happy until her scheming ex-husband walks in through the door wanting to spend more time with his son.

The other key plotline includes Ms Kizzy who finds the horse of her dreams only to have it all taken away in a heartbeat. In return cupid feels sorry for her as she gets a little too close to the sexy, mucho caliente Javier Scott Smith, dressage champion and all round hotness. Tsssss! There is also a lovable fuzzy couple Angie and Fred, who take in a strange jockey, Edward, who seems to bond with Nobby - the underdog horse at the center of it all. It's all very  Sea biscuit in its plotting but still cleverly done. Jo Carnegie wants to get the fun back underneath the sheets and she does it. After reading the disappointing  RSVP,  I was almost beggining to buy that rumor that funny women's fiction - otherwise known as chicklit, was dead.  But it's not. Only the wrapping has changed and instead of pastel blues and shoes on the cover, you have a whip and tight jeans that put it out there. This is about relationships and sex. Thanks to Ms Carnegie, good old romance is back.





The plot is a tad predicable, especially with regard to Caro's story arch, so much so you can see it coming for miles and roll your eyes when it actually happens. I must have said- 'I told you so', a few times during this read but it doesn't matter because she really does create magical dialogue and characters you fall in love with. Especially Edward; all I wanted to do was feed him chicken soup and beat up anyone who dared to threaten him. In other ways the plot even surprises you, as it did me with the horsey storyline. All in all there is only one real villian. No prizes for guessing who.

Heat Magazine is calling it SATC- 'Sex and the Countryside' but am not too sure about that since the fashion is limited and any reference to brands is perfunctory. This is no Candace Bushnell setting the tone for the women of my generation with regards to their opinions on sex and careers. This is just a romp in the hay and an extremely fun one at that. The beauty of it lies in its simplicity; it could really happen anywhere. Her language is hilarious and unapologetically frank as are her sex scenes. Yes, sex scenes are back in fashion and I am so happy to read something adult. No, not the 'I feel something hard against me and shudder in ecstasy', more like ' I feel his c*8k against me and I want him to sh&* me like no tomorrow'. This one is not for the tweenies but I loved it and cannot wait for more scandal from Churchminster.

Verdict- Worth buying and lending to your girlfriend when she's in the need for a good cheering up. Or else join  The Caterpillar Cafe book club and get your hands on it during the book exchange.

For more women's fiction recommendations - visit our women's fiction page

Buy Horse Play from Flipkart.com

Buy from Amazon

Book Review | RSVP by Helen Warner

Last week The Economist came out with a chilling article, no it wasn’t about how the oil bubble was about to burst or a financial Armageddon, but about the demise of a much loved genre of our generation--Chick-Lit. Devastated, as the state of my near financial future is directly correlated to how this particular genre of women’s literature does on the shelves, I hiked up my skirt and ran to my nearest bookshop. Lo and behold, staring right in front of me was the zeitgeist of our times - vampire blood lust semi soft porn catering to teens, Nora Roberts, the new Michael Crichton novel and finally countless paperbacks with colorful pastel colors that made me sigh with relief. One such book was RSVP by Helen Warner. A novel about four girls- Anna, Clare, Ella, and Rachel, and how they battle with love lost and weight gained.

Anna is a dowdy teacher dragging herself through countless dreary days when she receives a wedding invitation from the ‘One that Got Away’. Obviously distraught she turns to Clare, a serial dater and tomboy sidekick, who convinces her to attend it. Ella, think Joan Collins from Dynasty sans the power shoulders since this woman is only a PA,  a consequence of being a bitch in university and wanting said man, is also considering attending the wedding. Finally Rachel, the women about to marry Anna's ‘One that Got Away’ has doubts on whether the object of everyone’s affection, is actually IN love with her.

Anna’s love story is told over a period of flashbacks that take us to Trinity College, a wasted opportunity, as Trinity could have by itself been the heart of the novel. But no, it features as a staid backdrop for a boring story of love at first sight. By far the most predictable yet most interesting character arc is that of Ella who is portrayed as devil incarnate. It has been a long time since I have actually encountered such a one-dimensional villain without an ounce of humour. I skipped many pages containing predictable dialogue and description, the man – I forget his name, is often described as ‘handsome’ or ‘with dazzling smile’. The climax revolves around the wedding scene, where the obvious takes place and the book ends as the sinner repents and the saint is rewarded.

The actual plot line had serious potential; anytime four women feature in a book and are friends, things are bound to get dramatic. This book is however never takes off and is perhaps a reason why chick lit is in demise. The writing is often lazy, refusing to give us anything but a constant commentary of what is going on in the heads of four girls instead of working to show us a little of their world outside, thereby allowing us to see the characters more clearly. The voices of three out of the four could have been easily interchanged and while I commend anyone who can get published, this was a difficult read. I believe even the simplest love story can be a journey filled with wit and drama. Candace Bushnell, Helen Fielding and Sophie Kinsella make you laugh, cry and wanting more.

Courtesy NovelWhore Blog

Long live the intelligent woman's need for romantic fiction! Helen Fielding-- when is your next book coming out? For more fun suggestions see the following posts Reviews|Return of the Chick-Lit.