Candace Bushnell’s newest book, The Carrie Diaries, gives us a look into something that was hardly mentioned in Sex & The City: Carrie Bradshaw’s life before Manhattan, Vogue, and cosmopolitans. The book, written for a teen audience, reads more like “Virginity in the Suburbs” then its spicy predecessor, but that by no means takes anything away from its entertainment value.
In the novel we find Carrie Bradshaw as a sexually clueless senior in high school looking to escape her small town by getting into the New School and fulfilling her dream of becoming a writer in New York City. Unfortunately, she receives a rejection letter from the New School, who did not feel her writing was ‘up to par’ with their standards, leaving Carrie devastated with having to resort to her “back-up plan” of Brown University. The events of the novel take place from the start of her senior year right up to the beginning of the summer. Those that fear The Carrie Diaries will read like Gossip Girl should relax, the Carrie we meet shops vintage, tries to navigate her way through feminist ideology, and is much more like an (older) American version of Georgia Nicolson than Blair Waldorf.
True to Sex and the City, the novel takes place sometime in the 1980s although contemporary teens would not notice any glaring differences other than the lack of cell phones, Internet, and dated song lyrics titling the pages. Carrie pretty much suffers through the same trials and tribulations that affect teen girls through all decades, cheating boyfriends, friend fall-outs, and the great and scary feeling of riding on the cusp of adult life.
Carrie’s main problem begins when she falls for the school bad-boy Sebastian Kydd, who returns to Castlebury High School after mysterious circumstances (which, of course, only add to his allure). Sebastian quickly becomes the main swoon of the entire school’s female population, including the ultra popular Pod Clique’s queen bee, Donna LaDonna. When Sebastian starts showing interest in Carrie, and their romance heats up, so does the Pod Clique’s determination to make Carrie’s life miserable.
Can the adult Carrie Bradshaw we know and love been seen in the novel? For sure: The Carrie Diaries‘ Carrie has all the makings of her future self. She is very analytical in regards to dating and male/female relationships, she ghostwrites a column in her school paper that “tells it like it is,” and she has a core group of female friends that foster her contemplations and spur forth her writing. Like the adult Carrie, she is flawed but loveable, quirky yet determined.
Teens, who may or may not have seen the HBO series and movies, will easily identify with The Carrie Diaries and enjoy it for the lighthearted and fun story alone, regardless of their knowledge of the adult Carrie Bradshaw. For adults, who have seen every episode of the hit TV show, the novel is bound to become a “guilty pleasure.” My advice: buy it for your daughter, but sneak it into your own beach bag when she’s done!
