Scowling the non-fiction shelves of Euston station looking for the next book to fill the emptiness in my morning commute and my night time routine, I stumbled across this copy and thought it sounded like a laugh. On that 2 hour train to Manchester, I couldn't put it down, not even scathed by people beside me, looking alarmed at the title 'The Wrong Knickers', I was too engrossed.
The story line follows Bryony through her twenties to early 30's on a whirlwind adventure (without sounding too Enid Blyton) of a career, boys (mainly boys), friends, drugs, sex, food and happiness in a discovery of realisation that your life will not pan out how you dreamt it, but the journey brought you self actualisation and a book deal.
Critics are calling it the new age Bridget Jones, and I wholeheartedly concur, although I would say she is also a cross between Bridge and a grown up Georgia Nicolson (from the Angus, thongs and full frontal snogging series, for those who live under a rock). However be warned, only read this book in public if you are comfortable spluttering and snorting with laughter in front of on-lookers. For me, reading this book and giggling quietly to myself was not only fun in itself, but a revelation. How often do you see people genuinely about to wet themselves purely by what they are reading, and thats what this book did to me! The disastrous attempts at being the 'cool-girl', the numerous cringeworthy dates/ sex-capades and embarrassing tales left me in stitches and even better, left tube goers flocking to different seats, because heaven forbid I laughed in public.
It was even weirdly relatable, it was like she was living my life, but doing it better. It started as her being a 22 year old (my current age), living on bethnal green road (my current address) with a best friend called Sally (my current housemate), the job I longingly crave for (working for a magazine) and crazy single girl nights out (not too fussed about this one for now, boyfriend and all). She became a writer for the magazine, and like most bloggers who don't have the bottle to pose for the camera in their OOTD but take to their blog to write, thats my dream job. For years I've wanted to write a book, and it almost felt like she was ripping the words from my mouth, but with greater conundrums and anecdotes and fuck up stories. By page 50, I was getting down right freaked out! But the pages turned and the plot changed. As Bryony progressed into her later 20's, the similarities faded and what was left was more hilarity, gossip, drama, and a rather happy ending.
The only downside to this story, of which I always find being a pessimist, is that I started to get irritated by how much of a f**k up she was being without doing anything about it. I'm putting that annoyance down to my uptight personality and inability to do anything spontaneously, so maybe more a pinch of envy more than anything.
If anything this book inspired me. It made me realise I want to write, it's what I really enjoy. It's also an easy read, one that doesn't require much thinking, which is perfect for a half asleep journey to work. A thorough recommendation and a 4 out of 5 star rating from me.
Thanks Guys!
