It’s kind of hard to define chick lit. The early books, like Bridget Jones’s Diary and Watermelon, tended to be light-hearted. The women might be flawed and undergo some traumatic events, but they usually had a pretty good sense of humor about it all. These are the books I adore.
The phenomenal success of Helen Fielding and Marian Keyes inspired more and more authors, which led to lots more good books and many bad ones. It also made the genre more complex, and unfortunately, chick lit has become a pretty generic term for virtually all fiction written by and for women since about 1996.* Harlequin romance-type books are a notable exception: they came long before and are completely different from chick lit and never the twain should meet.
Chick lit can cover a huge range of topics. I personally prefer light-hearted chick lit – the stuff that’s funny and fun, with the occasional bizarre adventure or dilemma, and sex (if any) that’s not of the “heaving bosoms and throbbing manhood” variety. But there are plenty of really superficial chick lit novels that deal almost entirely with shopping or fashion (e.g., Sophie Kinsella’s books), for example, or that have completely unrealistic characters (like The Spare Wife and Thin Rich Bitches). And at the other end of the spectrum, there are plenty of books that are more serious, like The Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing, by Melissa Bank, and most of Anna Maxted‘s novels. What do all of these have in common? They’re written by women and for women, the characters can be neurotic but they’re usually fun, and there’s usually a happy – though not fairy-tale – ending. The bottom line for me is that it’s a good book if I want to be friends with the characters and/or author.
*Unsurprisingly, some women find the term chick lit offensive when it’s applied to their books, feeling that it automatically means fluffy and mindless. And apparently publishers can contribute to this, according to Joanna Kavenna, author of Inglorius – a book she does not consider chick lit.
Dear Laura, I think lit rose could be good, but the terme rose is more for love stories. Lit nana could be good. You don’t want to scare the French by using more extravagant options. Skipping de is something that they do when talking,anyway. Lit nana gives the idea; it even sounds girly silly.
Love, (what a great site!)
kella
Boca Raton, Fl
Laura ~
The term “chick” in itself is offensive to some, so that naturally applies to its references to literature as well. I’m not among the offended though.
Now, I didn’t read “The Devil Wears Prada,” but if the book was anything like the movie, trust me, in NYC, there are plenty of people who behave *exactly* like that boss, and employees who stumble, hyperventilate and trip over each other to service them. Really, really. I worked for them in NYC when freelance writing couldn’t pay all the bills. 🙂
Jenn