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And now for a literary one

Following my previous 'academic'/historical post, here is a literary one. No, no, nothing I produced, but just my thoughts after finishing The Secret Dreamworld of A Shopaholic (henceforth SDS) by Sophie Kinsella.

I was struck by the striking parallels with Bridget Jones's Diary (BJD) by Helen Fielding, and not having done any PC for nearly 20 years or therabouts, I hereby offer a comparison between the two.

First, it appears that BJD is universally acknowledged as the prototype of chick lit. That makes me wonder if SDS was modelled after BJD. Anyway, here goes:

Date published
BJD: 1996
SDS: 2000

Sequels (is that what books are called too?)
BJD: The Edge of Reason
SDS: Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Shopaholic Ties the Knot, Shopaholic and Sister

heroine
BJD: bumbling Bridget Jones, speaks her mind more than thinks before she speaks, works in publishing house, then becomes broadcast journalist
SDS: bumbling Rebecca Bloomwood, speaks her mind more than thinks before she speaks, financial journalist-turned-talkshow 'phone-in expert'

hero
BJD: Mark Darcy (henceforth MD), super rich, super smart, big-time human rights lawyer
SDS: Luke Brandon (henceforth LB, 31st richest bachelor in England), super rich, super smart, owner of big-time PR firm

the other man
BJD: Daniel Cleaver, sleazy boss in publishing company
SDS: Tarquin Cleath-Stuart (15th richest bachelor in England), flat mate's cousin

the other woman (i.e. woman hero is going out with at start of story)
BJD: Natasha, top family lawyer
SDS: Sacha (just look at the names!!), daughter of French billionaire

best friends
BJD: Jude, Shazzer and Tom (perfectly cast in the movies; don't know why but when I read about Tarquin in SDS, I just pictured him as Tom)
SDS: Suze, her flat mate

why hero loves heroine
BJD: MD says, 'Bridget, all the other girls I know are so lacquered over.' (In the movie: 'I like you, just the way you are.')
SDS: 'Rebecca, you have the uncanniest knack of hitting the nail on the head.'

romantic dinner during which heroine realises hero is in love with her
BJD: last chapter, at Hintlesham Hall, Bridget asks, 'Why did you bother doing all this?' (MD had tracked her mother's criminal boyfriend to Portugal and helped get him arrested) and MD says, 'Bridget... isn't it rather obvious?
SDS: last chapter, at the Ritz, LB says, 'You're intelligent, meets charming, meets bright, meets...', then later, 'That chap I saw you with in Terrazza... was he anything...'

self help books
BJD: Bridget reads all sorts - on relationships, women (goddesses), even feng shui
SDS: Rebecca buys and tries to follow the advice of Controlling Your Cash

journalistic coups
BJD: fireman's pole episode, interview of Elena Rossini
SDS: story in tabloid exposing unfair tactics of a bank, debate with LB on talkshow Morning Coffee, in which LB changes tack and agrees with her

out-of-London hideaways (parents' house)
BJD: Grafton Underwood
SDS: Oxshott, Surrey

siblings who turn up in later books
BJD: although Bridget appears to be an only child in the book, a brother appears in The Edge of Reason
SDS: Rebecca says she is an only child but a sister appears in Shopaholic and Sister

These are just some of the more striking resemblances. Seeing that BJD is derived from Pride and Prejudice, does this make SDS a story derived from a story derived from a story? Now, how about someone doing a localised chick lit novel along these lines too, producing a story derived from a story derived from a story derived from a story? Any ideas anyone?

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