Book Review

I finished reading If Andy Warhol Had a Girlfriend by Alison Pace and am happy to report that the book is a refreshing addition to the chick-lit genre.

I read quite a lot of chick-lit until I felt like I was basically reading the same book just different character names. I didn’t mind reading about young women’s search for a good pair of shoes and a great man, but what bothered me was that these characters often came across as incompetent and self-absorbed, every single one of them.

What Alison Pace manages to do very well is give us a young woman who is also trying to find her way around love, work and life but she is neither incompetent nor delusional. Jane Laine lives in New York and works as an assistant at a prominent art gallery. Unfortunately she does have her share of bad boss days. Not only that, but she is now being sent on a six-month tour with the gallery’s shining star, Ian Rhys-Fitzsimmons.

How can she represent him if she doesn’t understand his art? Luckily for Jane she’ll have time to figure out Ian’s art while she travels to London, Rome and a few other enchanting cities. But, will she be able to put up with an eccentric genius of the art world?

Once Jane is traveling with Ian I feel like that’s when the book really hits its stride. I liked seeing how Jane slowly changes and becomes more self-assured. It’s this unhurried character development that makes the story more believable to me.

Readers are in for a treat as we glimpse the into the world of the art scene, and I loved the Andy Warhol quotations that set off each chapter.

This was a very satisfying read and I’ll be sure to look for the next book by Alison Pace.

Tonight’s poetry portion is just some shameless self-promotion. Visit All Things Girl and check out my poem.

Have a great weekend!