Jemima J – Jane Green

May 18, 2009 by shanyn

Title: Jemima J
Author: Jane Green

From Booklist: Over the past few years, novels about single women in their twenties and thirties looking for love and success have become steadily more plentiful. Green’s entry into the field is one of the best to come along. Jemima Jones is 100 pounds overweight and feels that her size is holding her back. Her boss at the Kilburn Herald doesn’t promote her, and the handsome deputy news editor, Ben Williams, whom she adores, thinks of her only as a friend. So Jemima turns to the Internet, where she meets Brad, a hunk who runs a gym in Los Angeles–if she can believe what he says. But when she sees Ben with another woman, Jemima decides she’s had enough. She joins a gym, starts dieting, and soon she’s losing weight rapidly, until she weighs only 121 pounds. She’s now a stunning beauty, but she’s still insecure about herself. However, with the encouragement of her friend Geraldine, she goes to L.A. to meet Brad. He turns out to be everything he promised, at least on the surface, but is he the man of Jemima’s dreams? The book has an almost fairy-tale quality as Jemima discovers that while being thin helps, it doesn’t automatically guarantee that one will find true love. Charming, witty, good-hearted fun.

I read mystery novels for a few weeks and decided that I wanted to read a chick lit book – in steps Jane Green. I had heard many good things about her as an author, and have been following her on Twitter, so I looked around for a book recommended by many people – I found that Jemima J seemed to be mentioned most. It took me a chapter or two to get into Jane Green’s style of writing (she uses commas a lot more than I’m used to, interestingly enough), but after that I got interested in the story. After the basic plot was revealed, I had a hard time believing it, but I was far enough in that I had some attachment to Jemima, the main character. The end events turned my thoughts more positive about the entire book, because everything didn’t end up exactly like I expected it to. I liked it enough to pick up another Jane Green book at the library, and am glad I have several more Green books available to read.

Related Posts:

• Dune Road – Jane Green
• Babyville – Jane Green
• The Other Woman – Jane Green