Book Review: Sherry and Narcotics

'Sherry and Narcotics'
Author: Nina-Marie Gardner


Format: ARC
Published: Future Fiction London; May 2011
Pages: 216
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Grade: C
Source: Publicist


Synopsis: L'enfant terrible Nina-Marie Gardner wrote a devastating novel on the truth of love, booze, addiction, ecstasy, isolation in Manchester. Now you can read it.


My Take: I was originally drawn to this book because it was pitched to me as the anti-chick-lit. I could do with a little anti-chick-lit every now and then. Everything doesn't have to be sunshine and roses all the time. Believe me, I know that the girl doesn't always get the guy and life isn't always a bowl full of cherries and whatever euphemisms you want me to throw in there. However, for me, in much the same way chick-lit is predictable in its happy, cheery ending, Sherry and Narcotics was predictable in its doom and gloom ending. So yes, you could say it was the anti-chick-lit, but that didn't make it, therefore, better to me.


Mary is our heroine. She is an American grad student living in London (this was/is my dream!) so I was instantly jealous of her! Mary is a writer who hopes to someday make it big as a playwright. One day she gets a message from a mysterious Jake on MySpace (remember that website?). Jake sounds sweet and charming. He praises her smile and her writing. Who would not be drawn into the inherent mystery of this man! Remember, its 2006, not everyone was meeting online then. 


So mystery Jake lives in Manchester and Mary lives in London. Jake seems a little slow on the trigger and doesn't ever suggest calling or meeting up and is perfectly happy emailing back and forth. Instead of thinking there is anything wrong with that, Mary suggests she goes up to Manchester and they meet up. Now you must know that Mary is not your average lady. Mary is a hard drinking, hard living lady who has lost her father to cancer and left her whole family behind in the US. Homegirl has some pain and is numbing it in unhealthy ways. So perhaps what you or I can see as some relationship red-flags may be dulled to Mary.


What follows is how two people can feed off of each other in unhealthy ways but still need each other to survive. You've meet these people in real life probably too. It's like a train wreck. You know it won't end well but you can't help but watch. Well, that's kind of what you have in Mary and Jake. I'm not saying it wasn't a good story and one others won't enjoy. I appreciated how different it was to what I read and I am really trying to push myself this year. I just knew how it was going to end and well, I know how chick-lit is going to end too. 


Cover Lust: It's totally different than what we normally see. Maybe it's abstract art, like it's telling me what is inside is total chaos?