[.ca] Smart Girls Like Me: A Novel (ISBN 0312374755)

A DELICIOUSLY FUNNY DEBUT:
Remember your childhood best friend, the one with whom you played every day? Then, in high school you shared the most intimate secrets, called each other in the mornings to decide what to wear. You cried when she was sad and laughed when she was happy. Then, when you both went away to college you missed each other but there were still the shared summers. That's the way it was with Betsy and Bridget. That is, until Bridget deserted her as Betsy put it. In other words, planned to marry. While sitting in a fitting room Betsy realized that Bridget was no longer the girl she grew up with - this person is totally focused on the most wonderful wedding in the world (which will take place on a South Pacific island). All of this was incomprehensible to Betsy who simply wanted her friend back so they could go to New Zealand where they could kayak and meet surfers. Of course, that was not going to happen now so Betsy simply wished that if the world were going to end it would do so before this "stupid wedding." "Smart Girls Like Me," a deliciously funny debut novel, is all about growing up, growing away, and finding out who you are. That's a chore for Betsy and sheer pleasure for those of us who accompany her via the printed page. When we meet Betsy she feels that her life may be at a dead-end, losing Bridget, and even Georgina is engaged. What is Betsy doing? She's living in a closet in Zoe's one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. She works for couture.com, an online fashion site. The editor-in-chief is Nancy who was recently ousted from Elle. However, as Betsy describes her, "We have no proof that she can access the Internet or, for that matter, read, and she remains blissfully ignorant of the difference in meaning an apostrophe can lend to the word `its'." Life is not good. But, wait - Bridget has fixed her up with Graham, her date for the wedding. Could he be the answer? Read and see whether he is or not. You'll laugh, you'll remember, and you'll wind up touting this book to all your friends. - Gail Cooke