Elegance by Kathleen Tessaro

The protagonist Louise Canova is what we will all grow up be if we let ourselves go and if we make too many compromises. (*shudders*)

At 32, she is mousy, overweight, depressed, routinely ignored by her husband and stuck in a dead-end job. Her wardrobe is as drab as the rest of her life and her one female friend, if you can call her that is selfish, envious and just toxic to be around. Admit it, we all have/had friends like that; I recently got rid of mine.

This book will resonate with any woman who’s ever felt like her life has gone off-track. I’m going through a career cul de sac myself but if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Chick Lits (and Lit in general), is that great triumphs await me in the next chapters. Antagonists will get their due. I will get a great haircut; perhaps even lose a bit of weight.

 Louise’s wake-up call comes by way of an old book she found in a second-hand bookstore. (Yet another reason to trawl bargain-books bins, you never know what treasures you will find!) A Guide to Elegance by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux, a French style expert, is a real book and Dariaux is a real person. This-book-within-a-book bit was really interesting, especially since Tessaro had lots of excerpts from Dariaux’ Elegance.

Following the book’s advice, Louise joins a gym and revamps her wardrobe. But, alas, self-help books can only do so much. Through her own gumption and with a little help from her friends, she leaves her closeted-gay husband, gets a better job and eventually finds love with a younger, but otherwise awesome, man.

Sigh, happy- happy, like all endings ought to be. I find this book darker than most Chick Lits I’ve read. Particularly in the parts where Louise recalls her childhood and family life with a suicidal mother and the abortion she had as a teen.

I know all the arguments about Chick Lits and its trashy sister, the romance novel. But the way I see it, girls SHOULD read Chick Lits and romance novels, because – let’s face it – they won’t listen to their mothers. How else will they learn to NOT waste their 20s on undeserving men and bad wine? As for the unrealistic notions love it supposedly espouses, allow me to quote Mme. Dariaux: "never be seduced by anything that isn't first-rate."

Another take-away lesson from this book: never let yourself become a beard, unless you’re fine being stuck in a sex-less and passionless marriage with a man who has better tastes than you. If that’s the case, then go for it and best wishes.