Jane Laine is only trying to retrieve her favorite pair of
black pants from her boyfriend's apartment when she
discovers a vase of daisies on the mantel, with a romantic
card from a woman named Daisy. In spite of this overly-cute
and uncreative gift, Daisy is apparently Jack's new
girlfriend, which is a shocking death blow for Jane's two-
year relationship with the man she believed was the true
love of her life.
Jane can't get any sympathy from her mother, either. Rather
than convert Jane's old bedroom into something normal like
a sewing room, her mother has let it go to the dogs
(literally!) by breeding miniature schnauzers. Jane might
actually like the dogs if her mother didn't over-indulge
their every whim, including doggy therapy and cross-country
trips to visit their tiny schnauzer offspring. Instead,
Jane feels bemused, neglected and embarrassed by her
parents' devotion to the three most important members of
the family.
Although Jane attempts to wallow in self-pity, she
constantly receives phone calls from friends and coworkers
at the preeminent contemporary art gallery where she is a
manager. She works for Dick Reese, an art dealer so
influential and so horrible to his employees that everyone
works with the knowledge and fear that Reese will either
fire them or ruin their careers if they screw up.
After a small mistake involving the purchase of the wrong
candy for a major art event, Jane's fear of her boss is
realized. She's ordered to accompany the gallery's premier
sculptor on a five-month world tour of art fairs and
galleries. Since her other option is permanent
unemployment, Jane begrudgingly follows artist Ian Rhys-
Fitzsimmons from London to Rome to Chicago to Santa Fe with
his huge unnamed metal sculptures, all the while trying to
figure out his brightly colored clothing, his flirtations
with PR bimbos and whether he's a fabulous sculptor or just
a gigantic fake.
Alison Pace sets her romance in the exclusive world
of high-priced contemporary art, giving us a glimpse of a
New York career that's thankfully not the over-used
publishing world of so many other chick lit novels. Jane
Laine's perspective on her months in London and Rome is
refreshing, as she's working more often than playing the
indulgent tourist. Short episodic chapters are each
introduced by Andy Warhol quotes, although the art
references should not intimidate the novice art enthusiast -
- at heart this is just a fun story. Andy Warhol didn't
have a girlfriend, but if he did, one hopes she would have
written a feel-good novel like this one!
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