It's when somehow, against all odds, people manage to surmount all issues of class, status, and personality to get together at the end of a story.' 'What's a Molly Ringwald ending?' Mama Jane asked. And she happens to fall in love with the most popular guy in school.ĭavidia sees her life through Molly Ringwald eyes Ringwald's movies played a huge role in determining how she view the world, and it's even more poignant when we realize how isolated she is, with no friends and nobody to show her love: Our afro-wearing heroine, Davidia, nicknamed 'Monkey Night' by her classmates, doesn't know who her father is, is abused by her mother and eventually decides to stop talking due to the abuse she experiences. Reading a book like this with a black heroine was very refreshing and, like I'd suspected, more relatable. I think one of the main reasons I fell out of love with this genre in the first place is because of its lack of diversity, though I'm sure that has changed from a decade ago.

With the birthday-themed title I decided to read it on my actual birthday and I'm glad I did. It's been years since I've read anything resembling chick lit (disclaimer: I know the term is considered quite contentious and probably even derogatory by some but I have no idea what to call this genre otherwise) but this one came highly recommended so I thought I'd give it a go. It was my favourite book and home to Celie, the black character I identified with most in the world, because she was ugly and got treated ugly but still found her way to a happy ending. 'I cut the article out and placed it reverent-like between the pages of my hardback edition of The Colour Purple.

If my copy wasn't autographed, I'd pass it around like a joint at a drum circle. This is just darn good writing, and as good a summer read as I could ever desire. I won't call Ernessa Carter's novel 'women's fiction' because it transcends that. Oh, if only there were more novels like 32 CANDLES to reclaim the woman's novel from the trite romance mire! The protagonist Davie Jones is sufficiently complex, unique, edgy and sometimes even downright dastardly to accomplish something seldom felt in women's fiction - an actual feeling of realism.

What a wonderful, sparkly surprise this book was! 'Chick Lit' is such a nasty phrase that's bandied about and hurled at some of the most politically backwards, uninspired novels I've had the misfortune of reading. I swallowed this book whole, skipped a couple of showers and showed up late to work after casually starting to read this two days ago, and being so thoroughly sucked in that my life dimmed a little around the edges.

32 candles by ernessa t carter