Between Boyfriends

From boyfriends, buzzing mobiles, and booze, to breakups, bills, and bosses, Jan, the much lovable yet so far from perfect anti-heroine of this refreshing novel, seems to be plumbing new depths at each turn of the page, as her fairy-tale like, easy going world gradually crumbles around her. A young girl like so many others, it seems, yet Jan is a one of a kind, a phenomenon of clumsiness and candid self-sufficiency, prone to teary melodramas. With a hint of guiltiness, we savor the serial catastrophes Jan stumbles into with the hilarious naivety of a princess newly confronting reality, a modern Cinderella who suddenly realizes with stunned terror that the shoe doesn’t fit anymore… But behind this inconsequential frivolity lies the heart of a warrior: we chuckle at her mishaps, but are awed by her fierce struggle not to recover her fairy-tale dreamland but to come to terms with the new and somewhat less charming face of reality. Jan is a Cinderella that chucks away the dainty slipper and gets on with real life. Revivifying and fun –though at times a little heavy-handed-, this novel is a comforting reminder that it isn’t all that easy to be a young woman discovering that most of the time the only prince charming who can save us is our own little selves.