So today J is for....
Jill Mansell
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| Jill Mansell |
One of the first "Chick Lit" authors I ever read was Jill Mansell. I was 18 and looking around the library for something different. I had read Jackie Collins "Lucky" collection and some of her other titles, but wanted something a little more gentler shall we say!
I found Fast Friends - her 1st novel - and checked it out of the library. I read it in a day and went back to the library to get another Jill Mansell novel. The librarian (also a fan) told me there were no others and I would have to wait for her next one to be published.
So I waited and waited and finally along came Solo. So began my collection of Jill Mansell novels.
I have continued to collect and enjoy her novels over the years and I still think she is one of the top "Chick Lit" authors Britain has.
There are other authors I have read that I find myself not enjoying so much. I hate that feeling as now I am trying to write my own book I understand how difficult it is and I would never want to criticise something that a person has put their heart and soul into. This however is not the case with Jill Mansell I am happy to say.
So far Jill has written an eye watering 26 books.
1: Fast Friends
2: Solo
3: Kiss
5: Open House
11: Good At Games
12: Millie's Fling
14: Nadia Knows Best
15: Falling For You
18: Thinking Of You
20: Rumour Has It
Phew some list!
A bit about Jill
Jill Mansell grew up in the Cotswolds and attended school in Tetbury. She worked in the field of Clinical Neurophysiology at the Burden Neurological Institute in Bristol.
Her first book Fast Friends was published in 1991 by Headline Review and Jill became a full time writer in 1992.
Jill lives with her family in Bristol. She admits to watching far to much TV and that she can't be bothered, but would like to be an outdoor sporty type. She cannot cook and once made a sponge which her work mates used as a frisbee!
Jill has won many awards including:
The Romantic Novelist's Association Romantic Comedy Prize in 2011 for Take A Chance On Me
and The Romantic Novelist's Association Outstanding Achievement Award in 2015
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| Jill Mansell & Carole Matthews with their Outstanding Achievement Awards RNA'S 2015 |
Information from Jill's Official Website
My favourite novel by Jill is Two's Company. It is about dream couple Jack and Cass Mandeville. Jack is a journalist and Cass has a hugely popular radio show. Their daughter Cleo is a supermodel with a brain, their son Sean is a rising star on the comedy circuit and their youngest daughter Sophie is always involved with some cause or charity.
But (there has to be a but!) on the day of Jack's 40th birthday a redhead journalist Imogen comes to interview Jack and Cass for Hi! magazine and their proverbial bubble bursts.
Now if I had ventured onto Goodreads before reading this novel I probably would have not bothered reading it, but I didn't and I read it and enjoyed every minute. In fact I have re read this book about 15 times.
Sometimes when people review books I wonder if they have actually read the book!
However I read the book, loved it and still do. It has cheating men, selfish women and outrageous characters. Fantastic. Chick Lit is NOT real life. It is an exaggeration of life.
Two's Company remains my favourite Jill Mansell novel, although Don't Want To Miss A Thing is a close second and has been re read three times.
I hope that one day my books will be as successful as Jill's books and I hope after reading this blog you will go and pick up a Jill Mansell novel and curl up with a cuppa.
Find Jill On Twitter where she once re-tweeted me and answered my tweet - I nearly fainted in a girl fan moment! Also find Jill on Facebook
A to Z Blogging Challenge information here
Glad I clicked on your blog. I'm not sure that I've ever read anything classified as "chick lit," but now I have many books to add to my ever-growing list to read. Love when that happens! Thank you much for the recommendations.
ReplyDeleteMary @ Willoughby Editing
Other authors in this genre you may like too are Katie Fforde, Milly Johnson, Jane Costello, Lucy Diamond and Lucy-Anne Holmes x
DeleteI love that you found her books at a library! It's awesome to hear about people using something that others often feel are outdated. I personally love libraries...they open up whole new worlds! Happy A-Zing!
ReplyDelete