The Little Lady Agency and the Prince - Hester Browne

Hester Browne really gets chick-lit. She understands the internal problems that have so far kept a genre specifically aimed at women from becoming a liberating force and has worked to align her chick-lit with feminism and reality, throughout her outstanding ‘Little Lady Agency’ series. At the same time she revels in the fun that chick-lit is well known for, setting parts of her book in the decedent land of the famous and the eccentrically odd, British rich list. In short, Browne is more than comfortable with the idea that smart women read chick-lit and she continually keeps her readership’s intellect and insight in mind, while providing them with a taste of glamorous fantasy.

‘The Little Lady Agency and the Prince’ is the final part in Browne’s series, so in case you’ve never heard of Honey Blenerhesket or Melissa Romney-Jones before here’s a quick catch up. In the first book, ‘The Little Lady Agency’, Melissa, the almost estranged daughter of a very old British family, is made redundant from her job at an estate agency. In serious need of cash and left a little naive by her boarding school days, she applies for a position with a seedy escort agency, thinking that being an escort means accompanying lonely men to events. Once she realises her mistake she runs, but this unfortunate encounter gives her an idea. Surely there are tons of men out there who need someone to fill the gap at functions, but want a woman with a bit more tact and knowledge of social situations than a pro might have.

So, The Little Lady Agency is born (the organisation is named for her father’s disparaging name for all the women in his life, to galvanise Melissa into believing she’s better than her father thinks). Melissa assumes her super secret alter ego Honey Blenerhesket by dressing in classy, yet sexy work wear and a blonde wig which make her feel empowered and keep her dad’s high class friends from recognising her. She begins with a basic package of chaperoning men to events and after a few misunderstandings about what that package does and does not include, she branches out to offer other services, like personal shopping for the clueless, grooming and manners advice.

There are about a million reasons why Melissa is my favourite chick-lit heroine of all time, here are just a few:

* She owns her own business
* She is capable, organised and sensible
* None of the things above are used as a reason for her initially poor love life, it is also never suggested that Melissa’s job and sense of organisation may endanger her chances of having a happy love life, in fact in this book her fiancé says that he loves her for being so organised
* She dresses stylishly, rather than fashionably, in a way which enhances her body shape
* She likes to eat! While she has the same self-esteem issues about her body as many women she doesn’t let them stop her from eating, or from dressing well
* She understands that you can be stylish in the day and still own clothes you can slob out in (which Trinny and Susannah do not get at all, as they show by cutting up the ugly but comfortable clothes of the women they help)

In ‘The Little Lady Agency and the Prince’ Melissa is about to move to Paris with her fiancé Jonathan. They are going to quit their jobs, get married and start a new life somewhere neutral. Only, Melissa’s apprehensive about giving up the agency and leaving her flatmate Nelson and her best friend Gabbi. She doesn’t give herself much time to think about these things though as Jonathan and she visit each other every weekend, her flaky sister requires her help with a surprise baby and a nasty nanny. Melissa’s Granny has also landed her with the project of a lifetime, in the form of Prince Nikki who needs to learn some manners before her can get his family’s royal seat back.

This instalment is just as good as the first book in the series. There’s plenty of firm feminism as Melissa teaches Nikki the right way to behave towards her and other women. There’s also a counterbalance to be found in Melissa’s relationship with Jonathan, as she finds it hard to have tough conversations with him, when she would happily have them at work. Browne shows that even the most resolute feminists can struggle, when it comes to applying the theory that makes them so proficient in the office, to their personal lives. This balance keeps the feminist feeling, that runs through the book realistic and human, showing real women how they can relate to feminist ideals. I think the realism in this book is one of the things I liked the most about it, because it demonstrates that chick-lit books don’t need to divert into impossible fantasy to provide happy endings and heroines don’t need to sacrifice things that are really important to them to find love. It also emphasises the difference between making compromises and giving things up. A lot of the chick-lit novels I’ve read seem to miss this distinction.

While Melissa’s personality is happily grounded in reality, this book is also a great choice for readers who like to escape the daily grind through the celebrity lifestyle of some chick-lit novels. In fact Honey is a perfect metaphor for this escapism as she provides Melissa with the chance to let loose a larger than life version of her personality. As Nelson says she already is sexy and strict and organised, but assuming the identity of Honey allows Melissa to project these character values with confidence. Readers who like glamour will be envious of Melissa’s work wardrobe and chick-lit fantasy could not find a more chic situation than aboard a prince’s yacht, or at a polo match. There’s also a happy ending, which is not strictly realistic but is very right for the characters of the book.

Throw in some British humour and this book is done. There are a few clever set pieces as small things lead to very complicated situations, where Melissa must use all her feminine ingenuity to protect Nikki from causing a scandal. Browne’s also writes lines like (insert quote) that made me giggle. Not many authors make me really laugh out loud (four at the last count, perhaps I am just very humourless).

One thing that did bother me was that Melissa’s inability to detect sexual innuendo was used as a joke over and over again. It was funny in the first two books and is even funny a few times in this one, but I felt it was an over-used device by the end of the book. I found it quite hard to believe she could be having such stellar, behind closed door relations with her fiancé and not be able to identify any possible meaning for some of the phrases.

If you haven’t heard of this series before I urge you to go pick up one of the books (if only to admire how the UK editions of the first two books break dramatically from the trend of decking out chick-lit covers in pastels). If you’ve already read these books what did you think of them? Have you reviewed them (if you have leave a link in the comments and I’ll link to your review)? If you’re a smart girl who loves chick-lit do you have some recommendations for other series with capable heroines?