Wednesday 20 June 2007

The Continuity Girl by Leah McLaren

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPublished by Harper Collins Publishers

Leah McLaren's first novel, The Continuity Girl, is about a thirty-something girl named Meredith Moore who has a career she loves as a script supervisor, making sure that details within movies are perfect. She usually excels at what she does, but an extremely long day and dealing with an irritating producer, leads to her walking off the set and out of a job.

Her mother decides this is the perfect time for Meredith to come and visit her, back in England. She has arranged everything so perfectly, down to the plane ticket in the envelope and the ready-made job that awaits her arrival. Meredith is less than enthusiastic but after an embarrassing run-in with a cute male gynaeocologist, she decides she could do worse.

Arriving at her mother's flat in London, Meredith wonders what she has gotten into. Irma (her mother) is a very unique character with a fondness for wearing embalmed insects as fashion statements, and is the anti Martha Stewart incarnate. Only in Irma's home can you lose a footstool for 20 years.

Glad to be back at work, Meredith focusses on her job, and simultaneously tries to seek out someone who would make a suitable father for the child she is suddenly longing for. She doesn't want a husband, she just wants to get knocked up. She laughingly defines herself as a sperm bandit. Irma comes to the rescue with eligible guys who are perfect for her daughter. Perfect if you happen to like a guy who carries dead rodents around on his person and has a falcon with a hat fetish.

This book constantly cracked me up. The characters are so much fun and the author has a gift for using phrases that just make you laugh out loud. I especially liked a description during a party, in which a gossip was filling in Meredith on the rest of the people present. Pointing to a very slim girl he describes her as 'the social X-Ray in the purple dress'. I so loved that. Leah McLaren is just great with the humour.

Along with the humour, it has the usual sad, happy, tense, angry, confused moments that go with most chicklit titles. It's one of the funniest books I have read this year and I desperately wanted the book to never end. I can't wait to see the next novel by this author.

Check out the video trailer here
Take a peek at this one too

Author's website: http://www.leahmclaren.ca/

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