Sharon Krum – Writer’s Weblog

Que sera, so read; August pick is a stiletto-sharp chick-lit tale about channeling Doris Day

BY MARTA SALIJ; DETROIT FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

I like my August books quick, light — and sly.

And that is why “The Thing About Jane Spring,” by Sharon Krum, is the August pick of the Detroit Free Press Book Club. The quick and light parts you’ll probably figure out from the cover alone. Yep, this looks like a chick-lit book, what with the amusingly retro drawing of a stiletto-clad foot stepping out from behind a door.

And yep, it looks pretty light, what with the jacket blurb that drops “Sex and the City” and “Pillow Talk” into the same sentence. Pass me a Pink Lady and the sunscreen: I’ve got some froth to read. But what intrigues me about “Jane Spring,” besides the fact that Krum is a better and smoother writer than most who labor in the land of novels-about-shopping, is that the book isn’t just quick and light. It’s a devilish commentary on the state of women and men and what we think we know about each other.

And all that commentary flies a little under the radar. As I said: Sly.

Jane Spring is a 34-year-old assistant district attorney in Manhattan. She’s leggy and blond. She’s smart and tough. So far, so expected.

But for a girl so smart, she’s kind of dumb about men. (That’s expected in these books, too.) What makes Jane an entertaining character is that she’s so very, very dumb. Here she is on a first date, clad in her shapeless black pantsuit (the better to litigate with, my dear), sans makeup, as the entree is delivered: “Casually slipping her right hand into her pants pocket, Jane pulled out a small piece of paper and rested it on her knee. On it was a handwritten list of topics in neat cursive:

“Conversation topics for Dinner:

*Assault weapons ban. Time to repeal?

*President’s new tax plan. Good or bad?

*Current state of the military

*Decline in public morality

*Movies”

Fun gal, our Jane. Her excuse is that she grew up the motherless only daughter of an Army general. The General wasn’t big on chit-chat. Or pretty clothes. Or anything girly.

But Jane wants love, and one day during a blizzard, after a cry-a-thon in front of a classic movie channel, it hits her: She’ll turn herself into Doris Day! Doris always got her man!

Now, here’s where Krum turns sly. Jane doesn’t just try to act a little like Doris Day, a little perky and bright. No, she transforms herself into Doris Day, from platinum bob — with hair bows! — to pink pencil skirt to frosted lipstick to crocodile stilettos. Lucky that Grandma left her a trunk of the perfect clothes and accessories. Fox stoles! Gloves! HATS!

Jane even repaints her apartment and trades her queen-sized bed for a virginal single one. And does it work? This much does: “Jane Spring was getting more joy out of being Doris Day than she ever could have imagined. Every minute she played her, she felt her femininity quotient multiply. And the more woman she became, the more the world loved her for it.”

Time for questions. Yes, you in the back?

Smart, capable woman in black pantsuit: I can’t believe you’re taking this book seriously! This is appalling! We didn’t fight to be treated as equals to get some retro garbage about Doris Day shown to us as the model for womanhood!

Me: Interesting point. Let me ask: Is Krum saying Doris Day is the way to go? Or is she saying something else? Now, here in the front.

Smart, capable woman in navy pantsuit: I’m sick of these chick-lit books always portraying a woman as needing a man to be happy. Plenty of women are fulfilled without marriage!

Me: Interesting point. Yes, many are. But contented people make for lousy fiction. Time for one more question.

Smart, capable woman in gray pantsuit: Is there going to be a quiz?

Me: No. But I would be very interested in hearing what more smart and capable women think of Jane Spring

Links:

Amazon.com

Barnes and Noble

* Hardcover: 320 pages
* Publisher: Viking Adult (July 7, 2005)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0670034177
* ISBN-13: 978-0670034178

Also available in Spanish