Leah
Written on May 17, 2011
When I first started blogging, I must admit, I was a bit snobbish about self-published novels. Back in 2009, I don’t think it was as big as it is now in 2011, and if we ever got a request for a self-published novel we politely declined. But two years down the line and self-publishing is huge news. Everybody can do it and, it seems, everybody is. Some writers aren’t even trying to get their books published by traditional publishers and just go straight to CreateSpace or Lulu or any of the other self-publishers that offer a quick way to see your novel as a real novel. Obviously, the market is now deluged with self-published novels and I’ve decided to give them ago. Some will be good, some will be bad, but hey, it’s an experience right? My first foray into self-published novels is Kate Supino’s debut novel Clothesline and it wasn’t terrible!
The premise of Clothesline is hugely interesting. Three friends, with money problems, decide to test out a number of business ideas until they find the one that can make them some decent money. It sounds familiar, but since I can’t think where it’s from, it’s probably not that familiar a plot and it just seems that it is. I liked the idea and I thought it was executed well enough, although it was inherently predictable. I knew it would end good for Kelly, Sera and Ana, I knew what Ana’s secret was, and the entire Sophia Deveraux thing was a tad implausible. (I know that celebrities DO meet real people in real life, but you know, it’s still unreal). But for the most part I thought Clothesline was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Not perfect, no, but at no point did I ever not want to continue reading and I was happy to finish it.
I must admit, I found the first few pages of the novel confusing. One moment Kelly’s talking about Barbies (which I enjoyed, it was a good opening monologue) and within half a page she has a job at Clothesline and Ana and Sera are her best friends. We don’t actually see the friendship between Kelly, Ana and Sera evolve, we’re just meant to believe that somehow these three girls have become BFFs. I’d have preferred a few pages spent dedicated to how these girls became so close. Just because you work with two girls your age doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be best friends, so it would have been nice to see what it was that bonded the three together (except money troubles). But apart from that, the plot was hugely enjoyable. I don’t want to say ‘What do you expect from a self-published novel?’ regarding the predictability because that’s churlish and patronising of me, especially since there’s many a Chick Lit novel that’s predictable, but I’d have liked a few more surprises.
All three of the girls are nice, there isn’t a lot to set them apart, despite the fact they’re all so different, they are also kind of similar. Because the plot is just about the girls making more money, there are no other conflicts for them to resolve. They have no huge separate issues we can delve in, meaning that there isn’t as much character development as I’d have liked. But for what it’s worth I did like all three girls, they were all so eager to succeed – at pet grooming, at having a vending machine, that you couldn’t do anything but cheer them on in their endeavours. I also must admit that I wasn’t entirely convinced by Kelly and Ian’s relationship. It didn’t give me a warm feeling, like a really good love story manages to do.
For what it is, Clothesline is an easy enough read. The premise was there, it intrigued me and I wanted to know more and although the majority of it was well-executed, it was also all too predictable. If I’d have written it, I’d have perhaps spent more time on the eventual business venture the girls decide to do. I’d have built that up from page one, along with their friendship and the relationships they have. I would have given the love story part more time to breath and evolve, because for the most part Ian was just ‘there’ without me really feeling why, what it was that attracted Kelly to him. There’s a lot made of him being Scottish, but it doesn’t actually change anything, as if it was a token nod to Scottish people, it didn’t effect the plot in any way. It may sound as if I’m being a bit of a downer about Clothesline, but for the most part I did enjoy it and I would recommend it because it’s an easy beach read.