It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a classic 19th Century romance must be in want of an update.
Rowan Faine compulsively overeats to compensate for the big changes that have taken place in her life. Forced to cope with the death of her parents in a car accident, inheriting her rebellious younger sister to rear, and the constant bombardment of junk food at Knight & Daye, the Downtown Dallas law firm where she’s a secretary, Rowan gains 35 pounds. Her beautiful and skinny best friend, Madelyn Morrison, tells her that the book, "Diary of a Dieting Madhouse—The Diet" (available on amazon.com), keeps her thin and healthy.
Even though Rowan deals daily with the erratic nature of the attorneys she works for, in an atmosphere where class distinctions, while subtle, still thrive even in this enlightened time, she is caught off balance by a new, lateral hire attorney, the proud and haughty Grey Faris. Grey and Rowan instantly clash, particularly when she overhears him call her “fat.” His best friend, Rex Selkirk, is also a client, and falls in love with Madelyn, against Grey’s better judgment. Rowan, who begins to lose weight and shape up, soon becomes convinced that her prejudices against Grey are well-founded. But her outgoing, playful nature and impertinence have attracted his attention, and, in spite of himself, his admiration.
A modern retelling of Jane Austen’s classic "Pride and Prejudice," "Diary of a Dieting Madhouse" is a love story with a sassy heroine, an edgy subplot and a companion diet. It has been described as “Bridget Jones’s Diary meets Skinny Bitch.”
For those interested in knowing more about Rowan’s diet, get your copy of "Diary of a Dieting Madhouse—The Diet" at amazon.com.
This review is for Diary of a Dieting Madhouse The Diet, not The Novel
I'm always happy to see another person who got the message and is spreading it for all to hear:
- Animal products are harmful to our health and directly contribute to all the major Western diseases. - Eating animal products is inevitably cruel to the animals not only when they are slaughtered but throughout their miserable lives. - Eating animals is bad for the environment. - Our medical system is bad for your health. - Each person needs to take charge of his own health and not just rely on doctors to make decisions for him/her. - A vegan diet of whole foods is the healthiest diet and will prevent many chronic illnesses. It is also delicious, cruelty-free, good for the environment, and sustainable.
This book was horribly written. It read like either 1) a high school freshman's report on being vegan (with the instructions to turn the report into a story), or 2) an advertisement for the website.
Three worst words in the entire book: "big honking diamond." UGH! What a waste of time.
By turns sassy and serious, this contemporary adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, is very much its own book. Rowan Faine is 35 pounds overweight because of several stressful factors and the constant temptation of junk food at the law firm she works at. After hearing a new lawyer call her fat, Rowan dumps her current diet and begins the diet recommended by her best friend, Madelyn. A romantic (and funny) plot ensues. One of the attorneys that Rowan works for is defending a personal injury lawsuit stemming from an incident at a chicken packing plant. He is a real A-Hole, but Rowan stands up to him.
The book is full of remarkable and warm minor characters like Wills Buchanan, the stereotypical Texas lawyer, Mary, the anorexic paralegal, and Bettina, the drawling Texan, head of personnel.
This book is a rich mixture of fun, laughter, tragedy, and love, great characters.
If you want a well-written version of this story, read or re-read the classic this was modeled after: Pride and Prejudice. While the vegan aspect adds a charm and sometimes interesting social commentary the storyline, I feel the writer was a little less than authentic in how she depicted the lifestyle of a vegan newbie. Being a first novel, this work shows promise, but it falls short of what I was hoping to read when I purchased it a week ago.