Today I’m reading “Beach Read” by Emily Henry. It’s a romance.
The protagonist, January, writes romance novels. Don’t worry, she’s fully aware of what people think of romance authors, aka “women.”
January’s funny and smart; but also disillusioned, grieving and competitive. Her nemesis is Augustus and she thinks he’s pretentious. She calls him “Gus” and says he writes about “white guys wandering the world, misunderstood and coldly horny.”
He says she writes about love-struck pirates.
They were writing rivals in college and now both are successful authors of different genres. She calls his work “Hemingway circle-jerk fan fiction.” He refers to her work as “happily ever afters.” By the end of page seven, even the dumbest reader (often me!) figures out that “Beach Read” is a love story about January and Gus.
I’m not reading it for the plot. I’m reading it because it’s clever and fun. January drives a shitty Kia, drinks too much and connects a farting Labrador retriever to her late father’s mistress. What’s not to love?
I’m also reading because there’s insight into the publishing world: She and Gus are writing each other’s books with a promise to endorse each other’s books. Interesting.
And I’m reading it because it’s never a bad idea to learn something about the younger generation: January is 29. I’m not sure how old Gus and her best friend Shadi are, but they’re probably very close to 29, if not actually 29.
Oh! And on page 8, I learned that a “grow house” is a house where people illegally grow weed. Knowing that will come in handy, watch.
Emily Henry writes memorable tertiary characters. There’s Shadi, a waitress, who lives in a tiny apartment in Chicago and “saved the day by shaving her her head in the bathroom.”
And Grace! She’s in her fifties and “has the rounded shoulders of someone who’d spent a lot of time sitting, but not necessarily relaxed.” (Truck driver.)
And there’s snappy dialogue:
JANUARY: Any ideas for the not-terrible version of this book?”
AUGUSTUS: I mean, I liked the south-of-France pitch. That’s shit’s fire.”
Out of context, that probably reads terrible, but I assure you it’s snappy and hilarious.
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As a struggling playwright, I like to study how successful authors write dialogue, comedy, tension and chemistry.
Correction: As a struggling playwright, I like to study how successful authors write.
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I just realized the prompt isn’t, “Why are you reading what you want, Connie?”
Oh.
As Gilda Radner’s “Emily Litella” once said, “Never Mind.”
Thanks for reading my blog! -Connie
Constance Kuntz 