Book ninety-five: Something Blue

Something Blue (2005)
Emily Giffin

Rating: 4.25/5

After reading Something Borrowed, I was worried that I wouldn’t enjoy a book from Darcy’s point of view. After all, she seemed like she’d be the ultimate annoying, self centred character that I hate.

I am so glad to be wrong. I was actually sad when I realised I was almost at the end of this, I would have happily kept reading about her for another few hundred pages.

Thirty years old, successful and stunning, Darcy Rhone used to think that 'being down and out' meant not finding a size four at the Barney's Warehouse Sale. Now she is pregnant, unmarried and recovering from a broken engagement to Dex and the betrayal of her ex-best friend Rachel, who stole Dex's affections.

For the first time in her life, she is completely alone.

Frantically casting around for help, she calls upon Ethan, an old high school friend, and convinces him to let her stay with him in London for a few weeks to get her act together. Little does she know what she's in for when she boards the plane to cross the Atlantic, but as weeks turn into months, Darcy makes a surprising discovery. Preparing for motherhood and settling into a new career, she builds herself a new life from scratch, finally finding romance - in the most unexpected place ...

For the first quarter of the book, I was really impatient for the story to begin. After all, the back cover (the evil little thing that it is) had already told me that she was going to get dumped by Marcus and run away to London. Hurry up already!

But when I got towards the end, I started to see what Giffin was up to. By showing us what Darcy was like at the beginning, we are better able to see the development of her character. Its like Emma, I think. I cringed; watching her make all these mistakes and generally be an idiot, but there is still something about her that made me want to watch her change. I wanted to hang around and see what happens to make her become more normal.

The subtly in which she shows Darcy and Ethan’s relationship develop is also really good. The thing I liked most was the difference between the one-sided conversations that Darcy has with Marcus at the beginning – when he is so obviously hoping she’d just shut up – and Ethan’s seemingly endless patience.

Except for when he yells at her after meeting his friends at the pub. I have to say, I have to agree with Darcy. Even though she cheated too, I think she had a right to know how long Dex and Rachel had been carrying on behind her back. I suppose me feeling miffed on her behalf was one of the ways Giffin created empathy – for what was at the start – a pretty vacuous character.

Now I just need to find Giffin’s latest novel, Baby Proof. But darn it, I’m not sure if its available in Australia yet? I’ve checked in every bookshop/library/random friend’s bookshelves I’ve been around lately and haven’t been able to find it. I may have to order it from somewhere.

---

Finished: Thursday 5/6