Sad Girl Novel is Pip Finkemeyer’s anticipated debut novel and is narrated in a unique style of storytelling, where the tale starts off in non-chronological order and follows aspiring novelist Kim, and her best friend, Bel, over the course of a year in Berlin.
Kim wants to become a bestselling author and has been influenced in this concept by her handsome literary agent, Matthew, who is distant and aloof. However, as Kim tries to make her way through the process of creating her first published work, she is stuck in a place of confusion and fantasy that is hard to come to terms with, and which causes her to produce an overwhelming amount of bombastic drivel.
Bel, on the other hand, has just become a new mother after giving birth to her first baby. She is hoping that this new role will give her a sense of fulfilment that she otherwise hasn’t been able to achieve in her career, or friendship with Kim.
This is a very thought-provoking and emotional story that is well written and uniquely crafted and executed. There are moments where I wanted to cry for Kim, and moments where I wanted to shake her out of her shell. I enjoyed the balance of both sensations, as well as the cosmopolitan tone of the narrative which had me immersed in the setting. Sad Girl Novel takes you on a wild and wonderful journey to finding yourself and your place in the world.
Reviewed by Bianca Malyan
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pip Finkemeyer’s fiction has been listed for the Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize, the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers, the Disquiet Literary Prize and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She co-founded the Berlin-based zine Nothing To See Here, and completed a Masters in Publishing and Editing at RMIT.
You can read her work in Kill Your Darlings, Best of Mojo Fiction Anthology, Litro Magazine, Paragraph and other places.
Her debut Sad Girl Novel is forthcoming with Ultimo Press in Australia and New Zealand and with Hodder & Stoughton internationally.
She lives in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia.
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