The History of Lucy's Love Life in 10½ Chapters by Deborah Wright
Deborah Wright has been writing since she was 11 and had her first book published at 22
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Thursday, 02, Nov 2006 06:18
Published by Time Warner Books, out November 2nd, paperback, 374 pages, £6.99 .
In a nutshell.
Time-travelling, fantasy, dating, men, silly.
What's it all about?
Lucy is bored. She's in a dead-end job and has been dating Anthony Brown for about a year. While he's a guy most women could only dream of, Lucy's concerned that he just doesn't do it for her anymore. Anthony is oblivious to the fact that he's competing with the likes of Lord Byron and other dashing historical figures for a place in Lucy's heart.
And until Lucy stumbles across a time-machine, as you do, her relationship with Lord Byron is merely fantasy. That is, until she bites the bullet, gets into the time machine and travels to 1813, where who should she stumble across but the poet himself. She embarks upon a lesson in 19th century dating until she realises that Lord Byron really isn't all he's cracked up to be. But the fling has whet her appetite for dating other famous men in history and the book goes on to describe the adventures of the heroine as she pops in and out of centuries trying to find her dream man. The History of Lucy's Love Life features some of world history's most well-known men, including Casanova, Ovid and Al Capone.
But back in the present, her relationship with Anthony is going through a series of ecstatic highs and depressing lows. Her time-travelling adventures make her realise that there is no such thing as the perfect man and she should be grateful for what she's got. But is it too late?
Who's it by?
Deborah Wright is a thirtysomething writer who hails from Surrey. An Oxford graduate, the author has been writing since she was 11 years old and had her first book published when she was 22. Olivia's Bliss was a story about a woman caught in a love triangle between a man and his son. This first published effort saw her win the Ireland on Sunday's Write a Bestseller competition in 2000.
The Rebel Fairy was her next book, a retelling of Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream, brought up-to-date, but still including a pair of badly-behaved fairies who meddle in the love lives of humans.
As well as her novels, she has also written a number of short stories and essays.
As an example.
"That night, as we lay in bed together, whispering and kissing and giggling, I felt truly cherished, wrapped up in love. For being in love softens the heart, cushions and confirms your sense of identity: the knowledge that for all your faults and neuroses and dysfunctional upbringing, someone aches to be with you. At the same time, there was a feeling of astonished fear. A sense that this couldn't possibly last - that it was so good I didn't quite deserve it."
Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster
If Meg Ryan's 2001 time-travelling rom-com Kate & Leopold can work, then there's no reason why The History of Lucy's Love Life can't be adapted for the big screen.
What the others say
"A quirky and addictive read" - 19
"Deborah Wright does for the fairy world what JK Rowling did for wizards" - Now
So is it any good?
To be fair to the author, the book is an easy, enjoyable read and an ideal holiday novel. However, while original, the premise of the book, boy-meets-girl-meets-time-machine, is so implausible that it becomes almost an unwelcome distraction. Although the heroine's feelings, thoughts and love life are real, making the reader empathise with her plight, people just don't get into time-machines and go and have romantic liaisons with different men in history. It's not really the done thing on the dating scene.
Having said that, if you took away the time machine concept, you would be left with a bog standard relationship and a dithering heroine who can't decide what she wants. She loves him, she loves him not, she loves Lord Byron, she loves him not.
And it is precisely this indecision that prevents you from warming to Lucy. At the end of the book, you're not quite sure whether she deserves to get her long-suffering guy.
Overall though, The History of Lucy's Love Life in 10½ Chapters is an often hilarious, easy-to-read, chick-lit novel. If you don't dwell on the utter ridiculousness of the concept, you can find yourself swept up in the heroine's time-travelling dating adventures.
6.5/10
Chine Mbubaegbu