Rubber Gloves or Jimmy Choos Book

Rubber Gloves & Jimmy Choos? observes the highs and lows in the lives of a group of twentysomething girls, newly arrived in London, as they try to adapt and fit into the urban scene. Ruth and her flatmates Sophie, Sarah and Jess are just out of university and suffering from "what-next syndrome?". Ruth, the lead character, devastated by the break up of her long-term relationship at 21, drifts to London, drifts into a job and drifts into a series of one-night stands. As she and her friends navigate their paths through bars, recruitment agencies and flats of unknown men, the reader is treated to a bird's-eye-view of relations between the sexes. As Bleasdale's book treads its well-worn route, it does take one interesting detour, which is the prologue to each chapter--surreal interludes, consisting of dreams, fantasies and nonsense--that set the agenda for the upcoming pages. These sharp shifts to fantasy can be viewed humorously, mockingly or otherwise. Either way, they stand out: "A little man approached me. He was very fat and very red. He introduced himself as the devil. He asked me if I would sell him my soul ... We struck a deal. I can't tell you what life is like without my soul, because I can't remember what it was like with it." If, however, jimmy choos aren't your thing and rubber gloves are so passé, but you're still a city girl at heart, Wendy Holden's Simply Divine, Helen Fielding's Cause Celeb and Patricia Scanlan'sCity Girl may be designed just for you. --Nicola PerryRead More