A Curious Statistical Anomaly

Nadia Knows Best by Jill Mansell. Sourcebooks Landmark (May 1, 2012) ISBN: 978-1402265167. Trade Paperback: $14.00 (Amazon: $11.08 / Kindle: $10.22).

When Nadia Kinsella’s car slid off the road in a snow storm, she ended up spending the night, talking about everything with Jay Tiernan, whose car had also run off the road. Somehow, Nadia assumed that Jay was gay and thus didn’t worry about impressions and relationship issues but just enjoyed the company — after all she had a boyfriend, Laurie Welsh, who worked as a fashion model.

Nadia lived with her father and two sisters in the home of her grandmother, Miriam Kinsella. Clare was slightly younger than Nadia and an artist. Tilly was 13 and still in school. Somehow everything worked out. Nadia was cautious, Clare a bit wild, and Tilly was quiet and studious. They even got along with Miriam’s loudmouthed parrot — Harpo. (I mean how can you resist a book where the loudmouth parrot is named after the silent Marx brother?)

Having read a previous book by Jill Mansell, I knew things were probably going to go wrong for our main character, Nadia — maybe even horribly wrong. But since these are considered chick lit romances, you can pretty well rest assured that the ending will be happy for our main character. Well, you’d be mostly right.

In point of fact things go horribly wrong for just about everyone — Miriam, Nadia, Clare, and even for their father, James. Mansell doesn’t necessarily follow the expectations of her readers — for the betterment of the book, if you ask me.

Nadia Knows Best as a title does imply that Nadia believes she knows what’s best for herself and others. Thinking you know what is in your own best interest, as well as that of those you love, is a sure fire way to find out just how little you know about your best interest, and that of your loved ones. While you may have the issues down solid — love, happiness, support — how those things are to be achieved is essentially a moving target with no single answer for anyone.

Nadia has her heart broken and her confidence shattered. But, she comes out swinging and when she runs into an opportunity to do the kind of work she’s always dreamed of doing, she takes a chance. Of course, that’s when everything goes pear-shaped and the family seems to be falling apart at the seams. Not because they don’t care for each other, but because they care too much.

In many books the family the characters are born into isn’t necessarily the family the stories are about. In Nadia Knows Best, a close loving family nearly loses each other because they care too much to put their feelings first. They fear that if they say what they want, that they’ll be influencing the other person and thus forcing them into something they don’t want to do.

As a reader, we’re glued to the pages, hoping that they’ll realize that talking things out with each other is how we not only communicate information, but how we feel, what we want out of live, and how we appreciate and love those around us. Mansell’s goal I’m sure was to tell as good story. That the story she told resonates with the reader would be an added benefit. The characters have real-life problems, maybe on a level that many of us don’t have, but none the less ones that real people deal with each day — dashed hopes, ex-spouses and all the baggage that entails: spite, love, loss, longing, caring, and hard choices. That’s what makes us human and what makes readers connect to a story.

Chick Lit is considered by many to be light and fluffy — but many of the authors write stories that have depth and deal with issues that readers deal with in their own lives. Enjoy Nadia Knows Best, it will entertain you and it just may get you to think outside the box.

Rumor has it by Jill Mansell, Sourcebooks Landmark, ISBN: 978-1402237508, pages 404, Price: List $14.00, Amazon: $10.08.

Jill Mansell’s Rumor Has It is hilariously funny as well as embarrassingly relevant. Tilly gets home from work to find her live-in boyfriend has moved out with all of his stuff. Not to worry, she’s not that broken up about it, except she can’t afford the rent without him. She comforts herself with a visit to her friend Erin in Roxborough. The visit is just what she needs, but before leaving to return to London, Tilly spies an ad for a Girl Friday and applies. With some assertiveness and a bacon sandwich, Tilly lands the job and moves in with Max Dineen and his daughter, Lou. Everything is going great until she falls hard for Jack Lucas who is rumored to be the hottest one-night-stand around.

Humor is very difficult to write. I know that’s the popular myth but think how often you tell a joke and everyone just stares at you waiting for the funny part — just after you’ve delivered the punch line. To write humor is to try to deliver that laugh to readers you can’t see and don’t really know. That said, Mansell’s Rumor Has It is funny. It’s laugh out loud funny. I’m sure most readers will recognize the situations because they’ve been there or seen it at one time or another. Maybe the situations weren’t as humorous at the time but, in hindsight, and happening in a book — perhaps you can see the humor this time.

Mansell’s characters are people you’ve met, been friends with, avoided like the plague, were forced to put up with, worked for, or heard about via rumors. All of the characters are well-developed and each has their own quirks. Erin doesn’t like to hurt people no matter what they do to her but she’s loyal and will defend a friend against all comers. Tilly wants romance and love but is afraid to get involved because she doesn’t want to get hurt. Stella thinks the world revolves around her and can’t understand why things aren’t going the way she planned for them to go.

I grew up in a very small town. In small towns, there’s very little to entertain one and gossip, a more sibilant word for rumor, and one that perhaps is more exact since it has that snake-hiss built in. Rumors can destroy people’s reputations and rumors can build a reputation. Remember a reputation is not necessarily a bad thing, it depends on what that reputation is and whether or not it’s true. Problems arise when the rumors don’t reflect reality. So, if you believe that everyone else is telling the truth and your experience doesn’t match the rumors would you admit to being different? Could you even convince people that the rumors are wrong? What if trying to set things right makes it look like you have a problem — would you talk about it then?

Tilly moves to Roxborough and needs to play catch up to learn what everyone else already knows. But what if, being new to the town, you don’t see things they same way. Do you go with what you believe or do you accept that the villagers know best?

Rumor Has It begins as Tilly’s story but there are several other plot lines involving other people, including Tilly’s best friend, Erin, scary Stella, Max Dineen’s ex-wife Kaye, and Max’s young daughter Lou — just to name a few. The point of view shifts to the character who can best tell the story.

It the book funny? You betcha it is. But it will also hit on a lot of other emotions as the various story lines play out and lives are disrupted and changed. Change doesn’t have to always be bad but sometimes it can get really depressing before it gets better. Love lost and love won can mean broken hearts and lives torn apart. Relationships in a small village with a very active rumor mill can be very iffy indeed.

First, I’m inclined to call Rumor Has It an old-fashioned romantic comedy updated to the present day. Many would call it Chick Lit. Whatever genre you put it in, it’s well written, funny, and relevant to people today and their relationships. Most of us have been the subject of rumors so we’ll know exactly how these characters feel.

I should mention that Rumor Has It is very British. If you watch British comedies and read books written by other UK authors, and have some knowledge of current British politics and social icons, you’ll get more of the jokes. The comedy is a bit off-the-wall, but totally believable. However, sometimes the humor is in a reference to a person, TV show, or political scandal. Don’t worry, the story is still very accessible and you’ll get most of the humor from context.

If you enjoy a good story with comedy, romance, and a bit of drama, give Jill Mansell’s Rumor Has It a try. She’s not an author I’d read before but her name is going on my “watch for this author” list.