Marion Von Adlerstein

A quirky, chick lit style story about three career women in 1960s Australia, similar to The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe. Divorced Bea and wealthy Desi work for an advertising agency in Sydney, and ambitious new girl Stella is determined to join their ranks.

In comparing the two novels by von Adlerstein and Jaffe, I would have to say I prefer the Antipodean version, while recognising that Jaffe's is probably the most realistic representation of working women in that era. Not all of von Adlerstein's women are obsessed with snaring a husband, for a start - Desi gets involved with a married man, yet naïve young Stella is very much focused on getting ahead. The Happy Ever After was a bit too neat, but I've come to expect that. I think the difference is very much then and now - writing a contemporary novel of how things are, or looking back to comment on how things were.

Witty, insightful and enjoyable - very much recommended.… (meer)

I was really looking forward to this book. I adore the TV programme Mad Men and thoroughly enjoyed Bryce Courtenay’s look at advertising in Australia and Singapore in Fortune Cookie. You know I’m a historical fiction fan, so you wouldn’t be surprised to read that I stalked the bookstores of Melbourne for days prior to the release of this book. (Hachette will be pleased to know that nobody broke embargo). I really wanted this book to read on the way home as I thought it would be all-engrossing. Sadly, it was not to be. Not to be as in – 1. I couldn’t read it on my return journey and 2. That the book was not of the type where the world stands still while you read.

I was disappointed!

Let me get this straight. This is not an in-depth social commentary of 1960s Australia – people of a certain era will smile at the heavy use of old, familiar brand names while those of a younger generation will marvel at two things: 1. That some brands are so old! 2. What life was like prior to seven day shopping (although this can be experienced in Perth in 2012), no fast food outlets or mobile phones/internet. It’s a great piece of nostalgia but sometimes the brand references seem to be more crammed in than a Costco trolley on the inaugural visit.
Which brings me to a second point that I found interesting- Australia looking still to the Motherland, England but having a sneaking glance at glamorous America. The advertising agency has weekly showings of American commercials and Stella, turns to American magazines for inspiration (and plagiarism).

But I digress. Let me return to the storyline. The novel looks at three women, all working at a Sydney advertising agency. There’s Stella, former secretary and new copywriter, wanting to get herself out of the suburbs and intro the middle class; Desi, the posh society girl and TV director and Bea, divorcee with a nose for creative. The book focuses on each of them, but it’s unclear if one is meant to be the main character or if this is an ensemble cast. Should we like or dislike Stella, who is desperately crying to move up the corporate ladder (not always in an orthodox fashion)? Should we support Desi’s affair while engaged and encourage her to break from society’s bonds? Why is Desi known as Dizzy sometimes by various people at only various times? Isn’t that an odd nickname for someone breaking new moral ground? What exactly is the role of Bea? Are we to focus on the husband she left in the UK or her Don Draper-esque eye for advertising?

Sometimes it seems if this book is too much in too short a space. It also deals with homosexuality, drag queens (this is one of the funnier moments of the book!), class, aging, sex and racism. Nothing is in great detail.

Perhaps I was expecting a little too much of this book. If you think of it as a light frolic down 1960’s Sydney memory lane with nostalgia aplenty, you’ll enjoy this book. And I did enjoy it on this level. Those expecting more though, may be disappointed.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com… (meer)