Scan barcode
A review by wynne_ronareads
Running in Heels by Anna Maxted
3.0
I found this book on the "international literature" table of a small bookstore in SOHO. Despite it being a non-challenging book, it took me at least a month to read. Not sure why.
There is no arguing that Anna Maxted is a hilarious writer. I laughed aloud nearly every time I sat down to read "Running in Heels." RIH introduces us to Natalie Miller, a twenty-something working in PR at a ballet company and desperately trying to balance...well...life. There's nothing that Natalie has under control, least of all her feelings of loss over having recently watched her best friend in the whole world, Babs, get married. Where Babs is assertive, unique and strong in her womanhood, Natalie is meek, quiet and unsure about nearly everything she does. Thank goodness she's sharply witty and intelligent in her internal dialogue, even though it's infuriating that she never sticks up for herself.
After Babs gets married, Natalie is left to navigate singledom alone. This is made more difficult by the anorexic and strange dancers in her company, her gay boss and his flatulent basset hound, her boring as hell ex-boyfriend Saul, and her new love interest Chris. Oh, and there's always her handsome, perfect, terrifying older brother Tony and her quivering, ever-dieting mother.
The fact that Maxted is an English writer and this takes place in London inevitably gives it a Bridget Jones' feel, and it's a comparison I hate (but feel obligated) to make. The big difference here is that Maxted forces her female leads to take on more intense life challenges than just finding a boyfriend. While this must be commended, I was riding along happily on my bike when BAM the real plot point hit after about 60 pages--Natalie is a terrible anorexic, who's recently begun to engage in bulimic behavior as well. This topic proved to be an interesting dilemma, since so much about Natalie's life centers around lack of control, it makes sense that she attempts to assert some control via her eating. But there was literally NO SIGN of her having this eating disorder until about 60+ pages into the book (maybe I'm an idiot and they were there earlier, in which case, please let me know). There's no transition, it's just single girl with hilarious observations and a typically difficult life to HOLY SHIT she's literally starving herself. When Natalie's hair started to fall out, a symptom of how far she's taken her eating disorder, I thought it was a joke--that she'd accidentally used the wrong product at her boyfriend's house. That's how unaware of her disorder I was.
That critique aside, when Maxted does reveal Natalie's eating disorder she tackles it head on with both humor and tragedy. It never feels fake or not genuine. Nor did I feel that Natalie's eventual insight/recovery from her condition was forced or unnatural, it happens gradually, as she is forced to deal with the pain caused by her non-communicative family and the loss of her best friend.
"Running In Heels" is worth reading if only so you can expose yourself to Maxted's CONSTANT hilarity. She literally never stops. Even when Natalie is binge eating alone in her apartment, I was laughing out loud. I'd never realized it prior to this book, but sometimes looking at life's hardest situations through humor is powerful enough. But I have to admit I thought I was reading two different books at times. And it was hard to read Natalie's weaknesses, a downside that is purely personal and not a critique of the story itself.
Call this Bridget Jones for the even deeper thinking woman.
There is no arguing that Anna Maxted is a hilarious writer. I laughed aloud nearly every time I sat down to read "Running in Heels." RIH introduces us to Natalie Miller, a twenty-something working in PR at a ballet company and desperately trying to balance...well...life. There's nothing that Natalie has under control, least of all her feelings of loss over having recently watched her best friend in the whole world, Babs, get married. Where Babs is assertive, unique and strong in her womanhood, Natalie is meek, quiet and unsure about nearly everything she does. Thank goodness she's sharply witty and intelligent in her internal dialogue, even though it's infuriating that she never sticks up for herself.
After Babs gets married, Natalie is left to navigate singledom alone. This is made more difficult by the anorexic and strange dancers in her company, her gay boss and his flatulent basset hound, her boring as hell ex-boyfriend Saul, and her new love interest Chris. Oh, and there's always her handsome, perfect, terrifying older brother Tony and her quivering, ever-dieting mother.
The fact that Maxted is an English writer and this takes place in London inevitably gives it a Bridget Jones' feel, and it's a comparison I hate (but feel obligated) to make. The big difference here is that Maxted forces her female leads to take on more intense life challenges than just finding a boyfriend. While this must be commended, I was riding along happily on my bike when BAM the real plot point hit after about 60 pages--Natalie is a terrible anorexic, who's recently begun to engage in bulimic behavior as well. This topic proved to be an interesting dilemma, since so much about Natalie's life centers around lack of control, it makes sense that she attempts to assert some control via her eating. But there was literally NO SIGN of her having this eating disorder until about 60+ pages into the book (maybe I'm an idiot and they were there earlier, in which case, please let me know). There's no transition, it's just single girl with hilarious observations and a typically difficult life to HOLY SHIT she's literally starving herself. When Natalie's hair started to fall out, a symptom of how far she's taken her eating disorder, I thought it was a joke--that she'd accidentally used the wrong product at her boyfriend's house. That's how unaware of her disorder I was.
That critique aside, when Maxted does reveal Natalie's eating disorder she tackles it head on with both humor and tragedy. It never feels fake or not genuine. Nor did I feel that Natalie's eventual insight/recovery from her condition was forced or unnatural, it happens gradually, as she is forced to deal with the pain caused by her non-communicative family and the loss of her best friend.
"Running In Heels" is worth reading if only so you can expose yourself to Maxted's CONSTANT hilarity. She literally never stops. Even when Natalie is binge eating alone in her apartment, I was laughing out loud. I'd never realized it prior to this book, but sometimes looking at life's hardest situations through humor is powerful enough. But I have to admit I thought I was reading two different books at times. And it was hard to read Natalie's weaknesses, a downside that is purely personal and not a critique of the story itself.
Call this Bridget Jones for the even deeper thinking woman.