Always the Bridesmaid by
Lindsey Kelk
When we still lived in our house in Sydney, I had multiple
bookshelves (and yet, never enough room for all my books…), with the top shelf
of one dedicated to my absolute favourites.
These favourites include fantasy books, classics, high-quality young
adult books, and modern literary novels, which pretty well describes my taste
in literature – substantial, thoughtful, but not too heavy.
While working through a recent and particularly
severe bout of depression, however, I decided to head down a slightly different
reading path. In such a low mood,
attempting to distract oneself with a manuscript about the events surrounding a
fatal high school shooting, or the heartbreaking trials of a war orphan, is likely
to do more harm than good. And so I
headed purposefully for the section of the bookstore marked “chick-lit”.
I’ve never been a huge fan of chick-lit; in the same
way as I’ve never been a huge fan of crime, or new adult, or Tolstoy – I’ve
read bits and pieces, but none of it has ever really grabbed me. I do, however, get extremely cranky at people
who dismiss the entire chick-lit genre as somehow less important or less worthy
than other genres. There seems to be a
prevailing view that just because a genre focuses on romantic relationships,
friendships, and issues primarily affecting women, in stories that almost
always end happily, that this genre should be dismissed as frivolous. I’ve worked in publishing, I’ve read a lot of manuscripts, and let me tell you,
in the world of literary fiction, there are some absolute shockers out
there. Choosing to write about a lofty
subject does not automatically make a well-crafted novel.
Lindsey Kelk’s Always
the Bridesmaid is undoubtedly a well-crafted novel. She creates a flawed but lovable main
character, adds in two maddening but loyal best friends, a couple of
conflicting romantic interests, and surrounds them all with circumstances that
are utterly ridiculous and yet completely believable. The story is engaging, the characters
well-drawn, the pace is easy, and there’s a great balance of drama and humour. But the thing about this book, and all other
well-written chick-lit novels, is that you know more or less how it’s going to
end (spoiler alert, sort of…) – everyone is going to end up with what they
deserve, and the main character will make it out the other end having learned
some important life lessons, and most likely with a lovely gent on her
arm. And yet, even though I knew it would
all work out in the end, I never felt like putting it down. Many other literary genres have the advantage
of making no promises, but to have an ending already set and still keep the
reader entertained and absorbed is a separate – and highly commendable – skill.
8/10 – A fun, satisfying read. Try this if you’re after something light,
humourous, and engaging. Guaranteed to
put a smile on your face.
Please support your local bookstore! If you’re in Australia and you can’t get to a
bookstore, please consider buying online from local businesses like Dymocks
or Booktopia.
with love from the lit dancer
artemis
