One Hit Wonder

First off, I won’t pretend that “One Hit Wonder” by Lisa Jewell is not chick-lit, because it is. That said, it’s damn fine chick-lit. Predicting your next question, which would be “What could possibly be defined as good chick lit?” Well, if the premise doesn’t involve the main character desperately and pathetically casting about as she attempts to procure a wedding ring, a baby, or exceptionally expensive shoes, that’s a fine place to start.

The main character of One Hit Wonder, Ana, is thankfully not pursuing any of the items above. What she’s after is finding out what prompted her sister Bee – a fictionalized one-hit-wonder from the eighties – to a lonely suicide in a grotty London apartment. By the end, she finds out, in a tale that is actually some nicely crafted storytelling with colorful characters and a few surprises along the way. Admittedly the details of Bee’s life are hardly the focal point of the story, but this book gets big points for not only describing our failed pop star as looking exactly like another one hit wonder of the time, Corinne Drewery of Swing Out Sister (whose hit “Breakout” can consistently be heard in grocery stores all over America), but also chalking up her professional demise to a problem that has legendarily plagued next big things; mistakenly believing that you are as competent as your producers to pen a hit song. Although certainly not identical, the premise pleasingly recalls that of Nick Hornby's "About A Boy" in which the main character lives off the proceeds of an appalling Christmas novelty single. It makes one wonder if all the UK is stuffed full of people who are one hit wonders. After all, it’s not a big country (no pun intended) and they do seem to export an inordinate number of pop stars. Regardless, Jewell certainly gets a thumbs up for this book. When reading, it doesn’t hurt to be a girl, but should that not be the case already it’s certainly not necessary.