Sorting Through Email

'Holly's Inbox'
By Holly Denham


Format: Paperback
Published: Sourcebooks Casablanca; June 2009
Pages: 672


Synopsis: Holly Denham, the lead of this epistolary novel (and yes, the name of the author), is an overwhelmed receptionist at a major British bank. The reader's access to Holly's frantic life is via her e-mail inbox—the entirety of the novel, in fact, is e-mail messages sent by, among others, her gay best friend (a chick lit necessity), her brassy co-workers (another requirement), her meddling mother (check, again) and, of course, her would-be paramour (ditto). Some of the best exchanges are between Holly and her grandmother, who sends e-mails that just read TESTING and signs her up for annoyingly spammy Web services. Despite the limitations inherent in an e-epistolary novel, the book is populated by vibrant, endearing characters, and Denham manages to juggle a dozen story lines at once. The ending's contrived, but feel-good, which, in these gloomy times, might be enough to do the trick. 


My Take: I've been wanting to read this book since it came out and I finally got around to it! I knew it would be just my thing but I was a little scared by the sheer size of it. Granted, it was in email format, (the epistolary format of the millennium perhaps?), but still, it's a purse commitment none the less if nothing else. However, it had all the makings of a book I would love. Chick - lit, plus it's set in London. What else do I need when I want to escape for a bit? Not much else, and this certainly did the trick for me!


Holly, our heroine, is plucky indeed, which is a requirement I always ask for. She gets a job as a receptionist at a large company. I could totally relate because, a. one of my first jobs out of college was as a receptionist, and b. I currently work in the corporate sector so a lot of what she dealt with day to day had me both smiling and cringing at the same time because it is so true to life! The author did a great job making Holly very realistic!


Her companion at the firm, Trish, was probably my favorite character in the story. She was rough around the edges but that made her, for me, all the more fun to read. I loved her colloquialisms. She helped lift Holly's spirits when the going got tough and was great for the much needed comic relief, as were the majority of Holly's friends and family who were a rag-tag bunch who made you smile throughout.


The drama of the story centered around Holly's love life and how it would all turn out and also trying to figure out what all happened in her past. Being that you only got snippets at a time and you were set down in a story at a certain time frame in her life you had to piece it all together. However, I found this format remarkably easy to follow and it made me want to keep turning the page for more. Unlike many stories I've been reading where chapters keep going and going, this was fast paced. Also, even though it was in email, I didn't feel like I was missing out on anything or that it was too cheesy. However, if every book was written like this it would drive me nuts, but this author did it first so cheers to that. I will definitely be reading the sequel 'Scandal in the City' and soon!  


Don't read this paragraph unless you really want to know who the author is because I was totally disappointed by the news! - Ok now I knew that Holly Denham was a pseudonym for the author since it was a 'fiction' book written by the author of the same name as the character but I was a little disappointed to find out that the author was a man by the name of Bill Hutton Surie. Not because I don't think a man shouldn't write chick lit but does he, or the publishing house think women won't buy it if a man wrote it? I kind of think it's false advertising. Whatever, I still loved it. I'll get over it!


(I got this book from PBS)