Anyone who has ever been on a diet knows the immense struggles involved in losing weight, staying in shape, and resisting temptation. Such battles are almost nonexistent for the title character in Jemima J, the best-selling novel by Jane Green. While 27 year-old Jemima Jones does suffer from poor body image and low self-esteem, her ultimate quest to lose nearly 100 pounds lasts a mere quarter of the book. The rest of the text centers on the invigorating sex life and shopping sprees she experiences upon becoming a svelte 120 pounds at the height of 5'7".
With a structure that is reminiscent of corny teenage series like Sweet Valley High, Jemima J takes mature themes like love and sexuality and twists them into trivial clich?©s that mark the shallowness of our society. The novel seems to dictate that overweight people can't get anywhere, and that even achievements as simple as job promotions are based on appearance as opposed to talent.
We see this through dynamics in the office of the Kilburn Herald, the tiny British newspaper where Jemima works to compile "Top Tips," a column offering Martha Stewart-esque advice on domestic issues. She hates the redundancies of the job, hates that she is constantly rewriting her friend Geraldine's articles without getting any credit, and loves the attractive news editor Ben. But, alas, Ben seems to be an unattainable goal as she lacks the figure and the confidence to even strike up a conversation with him.
New excitement hits when the Herald office goes online (how tragic - a newspaper first getting Internet access in 1999), and Jemima and Geraldine discover the wonders of chat rooms and online dating services. They stumble upon a forum called the LA Caf?©, where Jemima hits it off with Brad, a macho gym owner from Southern California. Yes, that's right, they pair the fat girl with the buff exercise fanatic, creating a scenario that fails miserably in its overly obvious attempt show that beauty is far more than skin deep.
It only gets worse: Jemima creates an alternate personality and becomes JJ, who embodies all the qualities of the person Jemima has always wished she could be. JJ is a slim, fit, and pretty television reporter, who not surprisingly molds to exactly what Jemima learns Brad wants from a woman. And it works - the two begin to talk on the phone regularly after their first online encounter, at which point Brad eventually suggests that they meet in person. Though Jemima has fallen about as madly in love as you can get with someone known only by voice, she must continuously make excuses for why she cannot see him because she knows the JJ he wants to meet doesn't exist.
It doesn't help that Jemima is consistently described as someone who would be beautiful if she lost the weight. She herself first realizes this when a co-worker in the graphics department airbrushes her photo, dissolving all wrinkles, rolls, and chins. This is the photo that gets sent to Brad, at which point Jemima finally decides to bite the bullet and become the beautiful woman in the picture and meet her elusive Internet lover.
It's a shame that the author doesn't grant Jemima an ounce of self-motivation - her quest to lose weight is not for her own well being, but rather an effort to impress others. And while her personal encounter with Brad is a great success at first, Jemima finds that he loves her more for her appearance than for who she really is, and learns what life is like on the other side of the fence. The novel seems to say that while society is obsessed with appearance, neither the fit nor the fat can ever be completely happy.
Nevertheless, the book is an interesting read regardless of its downfalls. If nothing else, you'll get a good laugh out of the characters' obsessions with hair dye and dressing "airplane chic." Green's style is witty and upbeat, encompassing humorous dialogues with endearing characters that drag the reader in for pages and pages at a time. The problems lie more in the fact that she takes a serious issue, tries to touch base with its lighter side, and winds up creating a scenario that mocks both thin and heavy alike.
