2008-06-29 Delivering the goods

One of Scanlan's greatest attributes is her determination to humanise her characters. And we're not just talking about the central heroine. The ostensible "bad guys" are presented as fully fleshed-out people too. While popular fiction is often presented/dismissed merely as 'good, clean fun' this book is the kind of proper storytelling that manages to transcend the genre.

For me, Scanlan's career high has always been "Promises, Promises." That position has now been usurped by "Forgive and Forget." These books share a certain dark realism and a real humanity that makes them more compelling. To very loosely paraphrase Lisa Stansfield, Connie Adams may not be a surgically-enhanced Jackie Collinsesque powerbabe, but she's all woman. Elsewhere, the woman we'd all hate to work with, Judith - bitterly encumbered by responsibilities - is a heartbreaking, three-dimensional soul. The bane in her life, her scared and frail mother, is also sensitively realised. There are moments in the book (I won't spoil it for you!) when you find yourself groaning "No! Don't do it" but, true to real life, the character goes ahead and does it because they are too likeably human, too realistically weak to resist.

Given the paths the protagonists have been following, I think the sequel will be just as dark and beguiling. Unlike the reviewer 'chic lit', I am pleased that there is more to come from these characters. Hurry up, Ms. Scanlan, your readers await!