I’ve just finished the amazing ‘Again, Rachel‘ the follow-up to ‘Rachel’s Holiday’ by Marian Keyes and it’s made me feel really nostalgic for 90s / 00s Chick Lit (which were the 1st “grown-up” i.e. not Sweet Valley or Babysitters’ Club novels I ever read) so I thought I’d put together a list of my 10 Favourite Retro Chick Lit.
P.S. I’ve used the label “chick lit” in the title of this list because when I first started reading them in the 90s / 00s, that’s how they were packaged. The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines “chick lit” as “books about young women and the typical problems they have with men, sex, losing weight etc, especially books written by women for women to read – used humorously.” Critics would later argue that the label “chick lit” is inherently sexist.
(01) Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keyes (2000)
Given that this list was inspired by ‘Again, Rachel,’ it’s only right that the 1st Retro Chick Lit is by Marian Keyes. My 1st ever “grown-up” novel was ‘Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married‘ by the same author. I remember reading it on a train from Manchester to Sheffield and laughing so hard I disrupted the entire carriage (oops!). Choosing my favourite was really difficult but I’ve opted for ‘Sushi for Beginners.’
Lisa: This Prada-wearing magazine editor thinks her life is over when her “fabulous” new job turns out to be a deportation to Dublin to launch Colleen magazine. The only saving grace is that her friends aren’t there to witness her downward spiral. Might her new boss, the dishevelled and moody Jack Devine, save her from a fate worse than hell?
Ashling: Colleen’s assistant editor, is an award-winning worrier, increasingly aware that something fundamental is missing from her life — apart from a boyfriend and a waistline.
Clodagh: Ashling’s best friend, Clodagh, lives the domestic dream in a suburban castle. So why, lately, has she had the recurring urge to kiss a frog — or sleep with a frog, if truth be told?
As these three women search for love, success, and happiness, they will discover that if you let things simmer under the surface for too long, sooner or later they’ll boil over.
(02) Bridget Jones’s Diary (Bridget Jones #1) by Helen Fielding (1996)
Come on, you can’t have a list of Retro Chick Lit without including ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ which basically started the whole trend.
Series: The Edge of Reason (#2), Mad About The Boy (#3) & Bridget Jones’s Baby (#4)
Meet Bridget Jones—a 30-something Singleton who is certain she would have all the answers if she could:
- lose 7 pounds
- stop smoking
- develop Inner Poise
“123 lbs. (how is it possible to put on 4 pounds in the middle of the night? Could flesh have somehow solidified becoming denser and heavier? Repulsive, horrifying notion), alcohol units 4 (excellent), cigarettes 21 (poor but will give up totally tomorrow), number of correct lottery numbers 2 (better, but nevertheless useless)…”
Bridget Jones’ Diary is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud daily chronicle of Bridget’s permanent, doomed quest for self-improvement — a year in which she resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not just to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult, and learn to program the VCR.
Over the course of the year, Bridget loses a total of 72 pounds but gains a total of 74. She remains, however, optimistic. Through it all, Bridget will have you helpless with laughter, and — like millions of readers the world round — you’ll find yourself shouting, “Bridget Jones is me!”
Check out the trailer for the movie version below:
(03) Amanda’s Wedding by Jenny Colgan (1999)
Melanie and Fran are two charmingly wisecracking young Londoners who simply can’t believe it when their old school friend Amanda, Satan’s own PR agent, manages to get herself hitched to a laird. Who cares that Fraser McConnel has worn the same ratty Converse sneakers for years and that his castle is really a pile of rubble — all the social -climbing queen of preen cares about is the title she’ll soon have. She’s got Fraser by the nuptials, and she has no intention of letting go.
Gentle, decent Fraser is completely innocent Amanda’s wiles, so Mel and Fran, still smarting from Amanda’s evil misdeeds years ago in school, join forces with Fraser’s adorable younger brother Angus to sabotage the mismatch of the century.
Between fighting off the attentions of a love-crazed accountant, dealing with a ne’er-do-well rockstar wannabe boyfriend, keeping Fran’s deadly manoeuvres with the opposite sex under control, finding herself at the heart of a bachelor party controversy, consuming large quantities of alcohol, and throwing out hysterical barbs that would make Oscar Wilde proud, Mel will break some hearts and win over those of readers by the score…all of whom are certain to enjoy the mayhem — and hilarious mishaps.
(04) Ralph’s Party (Ralph’s Party #1) by Lisa Jewell (1999)
Series: After The Party (#2)
Meet the residents of the London brownstone on 31 Almanac Road who together weave a tangled web of romance. Ralph, a ne’er-do-well artist, suddenly realizes he’s head over heels in love with his new flatmate Jem, the most fun and sensible girl he’s ever encountered. Unfortunately, Ralph’s best friend, Smith, has already won Jem’s affections, although Smith has not entirely given up his passion for the femme fatale, Cheri, who lives upstairs. Across the hall, Karl and Siobhan have been happily unmarried for years, until Karl gets a smashing job as a London rush-hour DJ and momentarily gets tempted into Cheri’s cosy lair.
These six star-crossed tenants become more enamoured, and more confused, as the story progresses-until their true destinies are revealed on one crucial night-the evening of the extravaganza that is . . . Ralph’s party.
(05) Kiss Him Goodbye by Victoria Routledge (2000)
Kate Craig has many pet hates but top of the list is London. Dirty, smelly, unfriendly and unreasonably expensive beer. She’s steered well clear for 21 years. But then her gorgeous Europhile boyfriend, Giles, invites her down to his palatial Chelsea house before he launches his international banking career: posh dinners out, cosy evenings in. It would be rude to say no. In fact, Kate’s week of high-class indulgence is so idyllic that she’s almost relieved when it turns horribly wrong. Giles’s training course is in Chicago. It’s four months long. And he wants her to wait in London for him.
In a daze of anger, misery and deep subconscious disbelief, Kate suddenly finds herself cleaning her new cupboard in the first flat she sees. If it were just the filthy cupboards she had to contend with, she’d be OK. But there are flatmates: twins Dante and Cressida Grenfell have had a fairy-tale upbringing. Of the Grimm variety. He’s a permanently hungover layabout, she’s a control freak style queen. And the light relief is Harry, who gives upper crust blondes a bad name. All this and a bewildering new job, a sudden addiction to espressos, and the District Line – Kate’s sixteen Mondays are looking like a lifetime.
(06) I Love Capri by Belinda Jones (2002)
First (Divas Las Vegas) & Favourite (I Love Capri)
This is one of my favourite books of all time. It’s bittersweet though because one of the reasons it’s so special to me is because it was one of the last books I ever lent Nana before she passed away. I’m a third generation book-lover and I’ll always remember going to the library with Nana and helping her pick out books. I think out of my family, I’m probably the most similar to Nana because I spent lots of time with her when I was growing up. Although I’ve upgraded her notebook containing the books she wanted to read to Amazon Lists.
Kim Rees became a translator for the glamorous jet-set lifestyle. So, five years later, how come she’s ended up in a basement flat in Cardiff translating German computer games in her dressing gown? Fortunately her mother has a plan to extract her from her marshmellowy rut: a trip to the magical isle of Capri.
At first Kim refuses to wake up and smell the bougainvillea, but as she starts to succumb to the irresistible delights of cocktails on the terrace and millionaire suitors, she’s surprised to realise she’s changing. And when she meets a man who’s tiramisu personified, she finds herself falling in love. But how far will she go to win her Romeo?
P.S. If you want to catch up with Kim & Luca, you should also check out The Love Academy.
(07) Good in Bed (Cannie Shapiro #1) by Jennifer Weiner (2002)
Series: Certain Girls (#2)
For twenty-eight years, things have been tripping along nicely for Cannie Shapiro. Sure, her mother has come charging out of the closet, and her father has long since dropped out of her world. But she loves her friends, her rat terrier, Nifkin, and her job as pop culture reporter for The Philadelphia Examiner. She’s even made a tenuous peace with her plus-size body.
But the day she opens up a national women’s magazine and sees the words “Loving a Larger Woman” above her ex-boyfriend’s byline, Cannie is plunged into misery…and the most amazing year of her life. From Philadelphia to Hollywood and back home again, she charts a new course for herself: mourning her losses, facing her past, and figuring out who she is and who she can become.
(08) Spellbound by Jane Green (2002)
First (Straight Talking) & Favourite (Spellbound)
I read ‘Spellbound’ during a really traumatic time when I was struggling with the sudden passing of Nana and my mental health issues (which I’d stupidly thought were over) came back with a vengeance. The meds I was prescribed at first didn’t work and I didn’t get out of bed for weeks. Apart from Mum, salvation came (as it’s done so often in my life) in the form of books. They were the only thing that could get me out of my own head for a while and that was the first step in believing that I could ever feel “normal” again.
Alice knows she should be happy. After all she has a handsome husband, a beautiful house and membership to all the most exclusive clubs in London. So what if the rumours about her husband’s skirt-chasing are becoming harder to ignore? When Joe’s indiscretions force a transfer to New York, Alice hopes it might be a fresh start. And when they find a beautiful old house in Connecticut Alice is overjoyed. For a while she and Joe seem as happy as newlyweds. But then the late nights and unexplained absences start again. What should Alice do? Stay and fight for him? Or leave with her head held high?
(09) The Devil You Know by Louise Bagshawe (2003)
First (The Movie) & Favourite (The Devil You Know)
New York…Smart, sexy Rose Fiorello grows up poor with nothing but a blistering hatred of Rothstein Realty, the developer that crushed her father’s business…and a shocking plan to get even.
Los Angeles…Pampered society princess Poppy Allen wants to escape the smothering cocoon of her parents’ privileged life to embrace the excitement of becoming a rock star…or rock star maker.
London…Plump, bullied Daisy Markham devours trashy bestsellers to escape her misery at boarding school…until she discovers that writing them can bring the acceptance-and man-she secretly desires.
But as each of these gutsy women goes after her dreams, a brutal act committed long ago will suddenly explode their worlds-revealing the betrayal that stole the heritage of three baby girls… uniting them now with one common passion: revenge.
(10) Can You Keep A Secret? by Sophie Kinsella (2005)
Meet Emma Corrigan, a young woman with a huge heart, an irrepressible spirit, and a few little secrets: Secrets from her boyfriend: I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken. Secrets from her mother: I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom with Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben-Hur. Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world: I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is. Until she spills them all to a handsome stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger.…Until Emma comes face-to-face with Jack Harper, the company’s elusive CEO, a man who knows every single humiliating detail about her…
Check out the trailer for the movie version below:
All the best, Louise x
Louise Hall 
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