The book is Elegance by Kathleen Tessaro. I thought of VB because she said she's never read a book before but she enjoys fashion mags, so this might be a good first novel for her. Actually, I can't believe that as a Brit she never read any Enid Blyton or Barbara Cartland, etc.
I must confess that I chose this book because of its cover. Very Audrey Hepburn-ish. The protagonist is Louise, an American actress wannabe who works in a theatre box office. At the start of the tale, she's married to a Brit actor. Later, they split, it turns out he is, in his heart of hearts, a gay, she moves in with her gay colleague and this fashionable lady, meets a couple of other guys, etc etc... All the usual suspects.
What's different about this book is the form, or whatever it's called in the literary world. The story revolves around another book, Elegance, an A-Z of Style by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux. In the story, Louise picks this book up from a second-hand shop. In reality, there is such a book which the author read and used (with permission from Dariaux) for her own story. Some of the chapters, therefore, begin with excerpts from Dariaux's book, as Louise reads the book. Am now at 'V' for 'veils'.
Now, how original or creative is that? I mean, if you write a book that is based on someone else's book, you know, like you use the other book as a launching pad for 26 of your chapters? Would it be ok if I were to just quote excerpts from, say, Mr Brown's or Mr Miyagi's blogs and respond to them and make that my blog?
Anyhow, here are some quotes (in blue, and which are actually from Dariaux) from the book that I like.
Elegance- It is a sort of harmony that rather resembles beauty with the difference that the latter is more often a gift of nature and the former a result of art.
Accessories - ... quality is essential. Economize on food if you must... but not on handbags or shoes (AHA!). Refuse to be seduced by anything that isn't first rate.
Makeup - It is worth nothing that people are meant to be complimenting you on the beauty of your eyes, not your eye makeup.
Lingerie - ... nothing betrays a woman more than her lingerie; it is infinitely more revealing than 1000 hours spent on a psychiatrist's couch.
I must stress that all this reading is done in stolen moments and I'm not lounging around for half the day with a book or anything like that. Moments stolen when waiting for people, for things to happen, e.g. when waiting for the fish to be steamed, or staying up to read when I really should be sleeping.
Currently trying to read:
Comments
Hmm.... a book within a book...doesnt seem straightforward enough for VB.
Anyway, I agree with the point made about the lingerie. The name says it all, doesnt it? ....Victoria Secret, Triumph, Wacoal....as opposed to Sorella, White(?) Rabbit or even Lucky.
In the book, Louise was recommended Agent Provocateur (have heard of this brand but don't know if they have it here) by her stylish housemate. She ended up getting pieces from the La Perla shop, where she got excellent service. La Perla looks really nice, from the show window view. Have never stepped into expensive lingerie shops, except for this one called JL Lingerie (don't know if it's still at Suntec) which happens to be co-owned by this ex-school principal (male!) who the husband knows.
Book within a book... yes, guess that's what we could call it. For A levels I did Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. My teacher said it was a 'box within a box within a box' story, i.e. 3 'concentric circles' of stories (and all her own stories). Wow... the book really blew my mind... and Mary Shelly wrote it at the age of 18. Some people just have it, huh?