This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Victoria Sutton
I am slightly obsessed with all
things New York. I’m still mourning the end of Gossip Girl and I don’t
believe there is any such thing as too many Friends re-runs. Giant
pretzels are my savoury snack of choice. I may possibly have a snow globe of
Manhattan on my desk… So I was even more excited than the very excited postman
when he proudly presented a lovely book parcel that had come all the way from
the Big Apple itself. And not just any old book but a novel actually set in New
York with the most beautiful picture of Brooklyn Bridge on the cover. I
couldn’t wait to get started…
Someday, Someday, Maybe is the debut novel of Lauren Graham of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood fame. Given my addiction to US TV shows I’m surprised that I have to admit here that I’ve never really watched the Gilmore Girls, even though I’m sure it would be just my sort of thing. But even though I have only ever caught a couple of episodes, they have been enough for me to actually visualise Lauren Graham herself as the main character of the novel, Franny Banks.
Franny is an aspiring actress who moved to New York to pursue her dream and is living in Brooklyn with her best friend from college, Jane, and an aspiring writer named Dan. We join her in the last six months before her self-imposed deadline of three years to make it happen, or she’s moving home to teach and settle down with her childhood sweetheart! This deadline has instilled an urgency in Franny and the desperation not to fail is evident from the outset.
Franny is very likable. Sweet and self-deprecating, she doesn’t seem to realise the comic talent that she naturally has. I loved the inclusion of extracts from Franny’s filofax giving a clue of what was to come. I was slightly disappointed that the other characters were never really fully explored but the first person narrative dictates that it is Franny’s story after all, and I was hooked into her easy conversational style very quickly. It did in fact remind me of Friends and I imagined the characters living in the same sort of building.
The fact that this novel is set in 1995 makes me wonder if this is autobiographical, mirroring Lauren’s own journey when she started her acting career. It does give detailed insight into the struggles an aspiring actor faces along with interesting observations about acting classes and the audition circuit. The references to the 90’s were interesting to read but also horrifying that such familiar things could be from twenty years ago!
Someday, Someday, Maybe is an energetic and fast paced tale of chasing ambitions and following your dreams. I am sure that fans of the Gilmore Girls will be more than happy with this debut and it has certainly made me want to know more of Lauren Graham and get my hands on some box sets.
8/10