reading log: Lipstick Jungle

Lipstick Jungle
Candace Bushnell
My new book is called “Lipstick Jungle” by Candace Bushnell. This book has been on my shelf for two years now, since my grandmother bought it with a magazine and gave it to me. Bushnell is the author of “Sex and the City” by this we can figure out the style of this book. This summer I watched many American series and one of them was “lipstick jungle”, so when I laid eyes on this book during the weekend I got really excited, because I has so little time to start and read enough of this book to be able to write about it. Therefore I will act as if I know half of the story, so I can talk more about it.
Just like “Sex and the City”, “Lipstick Jungle” talks about three successful, beautiful New York women. Nico O’Neilly, 40 years old, married with her college teacher which is much older than her, and editor in chief of Bonfire magazine. In the book she has a daughter, in the series she doesn’t, but anyway, Nico is successful and beautiful. Nico has a beautiful (not so much) marriage, a lovely daughter and a successful career; what else does a woman want? But Nico isn’t happy at all, she misses passion in her private life, she misses adrenaline, suspense. Everyday is like yesterday and yesterday is like tomorrow. Her life ended up being super-boring! One night at a party that she attended alone, she meets Kirby, a young underwear male model. He falls in love with her and he doesn't hide it that much, giving her his number-which she never calls. He tries to find her number but sadly he couldn't find it. Nico can’t get him out of her thoughts and it’s really hard for her to resist calling him. What’s going to happen when they meet again? Will they be able to resist each other? It looks like love at first sight to me! Wendy Healy president of Parador Pictures, married to loving Shane, has three beautiful children and an extremely perfect life. Her career is very successful and her marriage is as perfect as it could be. Shane took the role of the woman of the house and she has the role of the man that has a career and brings the money for the family (a lot of money). Would Shane stop being the little wife and one day stand up to Wendy and want to work? Lovely Wendy is so beautiful that even her teenager daughter is jealous of her. Would her fear of getting fired ever come true? Victory Ford, a fashion designer with a very successful business, until her spring line goes public and it's a total disaster (for the critics) that ruins her whole career. Victory is single and very successful, she started out from zero and she went up to 100 what will she do down there at 10 again? What does Lyne Bennett, the charming billionaire want a date with her? All of there beautiful successful women have been best friends for a very long time and they will go through everything together.
If I was older I would be able to connect with these women since their in their 40s. I could connect a little bit with Victory, because after the bad critics about her spring line came up, she still believed that it was the best work she ever did and she didn't care about what everybody said. I am like that, I don't care what other people say about me and I will stand up to what I believe and desire no matter what other people say. I can also connect with Nico, a little bit, because later on when she will be in a relationship with Kirby and she will feel like a teenager again, feeling in love for the first time. I can connect to her at this phase of her like (lets forget that she is cheating to her husband) because I am in a great relationship with a guy that I love so much and he respects me and loves me too, the same way Kirby feels about Nico.
I totally get this book, I understand everything and it really helped that I watched the series. The only thing I can’t connect to, is the marriage that Wendy and Nico are in, since I am not married and their success as business women. When I will be in my 40s I will be able to connect with this responsibility that Wendy has to bring money to her family, to be a great mother and a good wife, while battling in work to be as strong as any man could be in her position.
My book is very realistic. This type of women are out there, cheated women, women that cheat on their husbands, women that are unhappy with their perfect life, women that have to survive in a man’s job in a strong position, like a president. Women that go through ups and downs in their career. There women are everywhere in the world, it’s not a story about special cases of women.
I would definitely like to have Wendy and Nico as a friend. I like that they are women on top in their business and they manage to keep what would ideally be a man’s position. I would like to be friends with Wendy and tell her how beautiful she is and how stupid she is that she didn't become a model or an actress. Also I would like to be by her side because she is such a good friend even if it means loosing all that she ever worked for. Nico is such a cool character, I love that woman, and I hate her at the same time! Cheating is the worse thing you could so to yourself and then to the person you love. Its better to walk away if you are not happy anymore. Nico has such a lovely time and she is so excited, happy with Kirby, she feels young again. I am so excited for her that she found someone to love her so much, she is really beautiful.
While I was reading today I could clearly visualize Nico in the back of her limousine feeling depressed about her so called-perfect life, and then suddenly feeling excited and hungry for life as soon as she thinks of Kirby. Since I saw the series, I can pretty much visualize everything, because as far as I am now the series is the same with the book!
Another scene that I could picture clearly was when Wendy woke up one morning, went to have a shower, then wrapped her towel around her body and answered the phone resting her phone on her right shoulder and trying to understand what her assistant was saying. She then went to her office to check her emails. This scene was described in so much detail.
This book reminds me of “Lovers & Players”, “Lethal Seduction”, “Married Lovers”, and “Drop Dead Beautiful” all written by Jackie Collins, one of my favorite writers. She talks about death, love, money, success, business, and gossip which is what the book is about. It also reminds me of the series and the movie “Sex and the City” and of course the same “lipstick jungle” but in a series.
Actually I know what will happen in the next section I read, but anyway! Since I am only on page 55 out of the 391, I will not say about the next section, I will talk about what will happen in general. Victory will start dating Lyne Bennett and she will fall in love with him and he will too! Wendy’s husband, Shane will get an invitation, since he was a guitar player before, to join a band on a tour, he will have a conflict with Wendy about it. Will he go or will Wendy persue him to stay? Nico will go to Kirby’s apartment, and she will have the time of her life. Will she keep her promise and go only once with Kirby? Or will she go again? Kirby made her feel alive again and she deserves it, because her husband is probably also cheating, but lets see!
This book has a lot of imageries, and it helps the reader visualize a lot, and since I saw the series, I feel like I am watching it again when I am reading. It uses similes like: “this was like waving a red flag in front of a bull”pg.20 and, “words kept haunting her like a bad smell” pg.32. The similes are really effective they make it even more realistic and understandable. Also she uses foreshadowing, for example when she was describing Nico’s husband she said “a loving (well, sort of) husband” pg.26. (On the next reading log I will explain what Nico’s husband did to her, the cruel bastard!) Another use of Foreshadowing is when the writer is talking about Wendy’s job it says: “she worried that she would get fired”, we will see later that Wendy does get fired, and we will see why. But I really like the use of similes, imagery, and foreshadowing, they make the story even more interesting!
I talked already a lot about how this book and the characters remind me of my life. Wendy’s house which is full of toys because she has a 6 year-old son and a baby daughter, reminds me of my house, since I have a 3 year old sister!
If I could jump in the book right now, I would take Nico’s place, and I would ask from my husband a divorce and then I would live happily ever after with Kirby. Because I don't find it right for a married couple to cheat on each other and still be together, pretending that everything is okay and great. Also I would like to beat the crap out of Nico’s husband, because you will see next time that what he did was unbelievably MEAN!!!
I really LOVE this book!