IS CHICK-LIT ANY GOOD?

I want to say a little about what I'm reading just now. My friend The Writer gave me, some time ago, Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes. It tells the story of Rachel, a Dublin girl working in New York and on a downward spiral of addiction, hitting rock bottom and being compelled by forces outside of her own control to return to Ireland and enter a rehabilitation clinic.

I was gripped by this story. I thought it was so well executed and the characters, especially that of Rachel the central character, so well drawn. The story is written in the first person from Rachel's viewpoint and follows her from her admission to the residential clinic near Dublin, through to her release and redemption. There are flashbacks to her life in New York and visits in the clinic from her friends and family who are observed through Rachel's eyes as they tell another side of the story to that which Rachel is portraying to the reader. Needless to say Rachel is in complete denial about the seriousness of her condition and the reader is drawn skillfully on to her side, and is in a sense, complicit in her denial, for some way into the narrative. The author's skill is in gradually making us aware how wrong Rachel is, and this is revealed by degrees as various members of her family and her friends from New York are brought to confront her in the clinic. The author cleverly makes the reader become aware of the true nature of Rachel's drug and alcohol dependency at the same pace as Rachel herself becomes aware. There is no feeling of inevitably about the ending as Rachel faces various crises after her release from the clinic and the final chapter brings a satisfying conclusion.

The narrative cascades forward carrying the reader on a journey in turns swift and then more leisurely. The sheer bulk of the paperback at 625 pages makes one ask, before opening it, if it is not a deal too long. After one is drawn into the story however one is sorry when the journey finally ends.

This is so-called Chick Lit. I think that this appelation diminishes this book. A serious subject is treated with humour and with seriousness. Above all it is a good story. I don't suppose many people would label it as "literature" but that, to me, is irrelevent. Ultimately what most people, certainly what I want, is a good read with characters who are well drawn and who the reader will want to follow to see 'what happens next?'. This they will get in spades from Rachel's Holiday.

I have since read four other novels by Marian Keyes; Angels, Last Chance Saloon, Sushi For Beginners, and The Other Side Of The Story. While I enjoyed them all, I do not think that any of them are a patch on Rachel's Holiday.