When Jillian Campbell-Marks discovers that her ex cheating
on her with one
of the junior account managers at her advertising firm, she
decides to start
over in the rural town of Holton, Massachusetts. She accepts
a position as the
senior creative director of the second best ad firm in New
England, buys
herself a farmhouse in desperate need of renovation, and
returns to her
maiden name, Jill Campbell. The first task in her new, less
complicated life, is
to come up with a fabulous new image for a Swedish car company.
What Jill doesn't expect is that country life will be no
less stressful. Her first
work project isn't to come up with an idea for a zippy new
convertible, but
instead to help rebrand a multi-million dollar beef
manufacturing company—
no small task considering Jill doesn't even eat red meat.
Then her grandfather
buys her a goat and a puppy to keep her company, and
Jill—who knows better
how to wear animals than how to care for them—finds she
needs help. Enter
13-year-old Sarah Watson, who does odd jobs after shcool.
Sarah and Jill
strike up a friendship, and together try to cope with life
in Holton.
The story is alternately narrated by Sarah and Jill. Sarah
is a tomboy whose
neighborhood-superstar mother wants nothing more than to
make her into a
proper little lady. We hear Sarah lament the woes of bra
shopping, the arrival
of her first period, and the impossibility of growing up to
be rich and
successful like Jill without succumbing to the lifestyle of
motherhood and
domesticity that most other Holton women seem to embrace. In
short, Sarah
is the girl we imagine Jill must have been at a young age
and the contrast
between the two of them works well. In fact, the
relationship between Jill and
Sarah shines in—what was otherwise—a pretty mediocre chick
lit novel.
Jill was a difficult character to embrace mostly because of
her constant self-
pitying attitude. It's not the first time a heroine has been
cheated on and
moved away for a new beginning, but it's one of the few when
she does so
blaming everyone else for her problems and accepting no
responsibility
herself. For instance, Jill constantly reminds readers that
she has no intention
of having children, can't stand the little buggers, and has
no idea why anyone
would give up half their income just to have someone grow up
who will
eventually hate you, yet when her best friend calls her on
her lack of maternal
instinct Jill flies off the handle and refuses to speak with
her. Acting more the
child than the ones she has such disdain for made Jill a
difficult character to
sympathize with and root for. As a whole, REAL WOMEN EAT
BEEF was like a
hamburger rather than a filet mignon. It'll do when you're
in the mood for
some chick lit, but it doesn't have enough meat on its bones
to really be
fulfilling.
Welcome to advertising executive Jill Campbell's life,
version 2.0. Gone are the cheating ex-husband and the chaos
of New York. Brand-new features include a prestigious job at
a Boston ad agency, a stronger father-daughter relationship,
and a gorgeous old farmhouse. It's bliss -- until a snazzy
car account evaporates, leaving her branding...beef.
Un-snazzy, un-sexy beef -- which she hasn't eaten in twenty
years. Talk about false advertising. Owning a
two-hundred-year-old house in a one-store hamlet is not the
nirvana Jill imagined, even with the addition of a dog, two
needy goats, and unexpected encounters with the town's most
eligible -- and probably only -- bachelor.
Peace of mind sold separately.
Wondering how she sold herself on this new existence, Jill
forms an unlikely bond with Sarah Watson, a feisty
twelve-year-old with an aversion to training bras, makeup,
and all the trappings that supposedly make sixth grade
worthwhile. While Sarah teaches Jill the basics of home
maintenance and animal husbandry, Jill helps Sarah deal with
impending womanhood. And as men start to complicate matters,
every idea Jill ever had about love and advertising gets
turned on its head. Suddenly, her life looks nothing like
the picture on the box, but it could turn out to be exactly
what she didn't know she needed.
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