Busy Mum Carmen is the queen of chick-lit scene

Maureen Ellis

Interview with The Evening Times (Glasgow)

When top Glasgow chick-lit author Carmen Reid was growing up – and that she certainly did, now towering at a half inch over six feet tall – her footwear choices were limited to two options: Russell & Bromley pumps, available in brown or black.

Or, even more troubling for a selfconsciously willowy teenager, men’s shoes in size eight.

‘It was horrible,’ recalls the 37-year-old as she sips a cup of Earl Grey tea in the West End.

‘I was at least 5’8” or 5’9” at 13. That makes you a good head taller than any other boy you’re ever going to meet - I developed this slouchy, how-to-look-shorter-at-discos stance – and I think I started dating years later than my friends.

‘I used to wear men’s shoes and men’s trousers and I felt on the sidelines.’

It’s these clothing and dating nightmares that inspired former journalist Carmen’s latest novel, The Personal Shopper.

It’s the fifth book from the Montrose born author of Up All Night, How Was It For You?, Did The Earth Move? and Three In a Bed, which have each sold between 50,000 and 90,000 copies.

And she makes no apologies for penning chick-lit page-turners that dwell on romance, marriage, babies, divorce and achieving the perfect work-life balance.

‘I don’t know why chick-lit gets so bashed when in the film business, it’s absolutely fine to be a rom-com writer,’ she says.

‘Plenty of men like to take a pop, but it’s just envy. Whereas, another book about a murder? Yes, that’s really original!’

‘I’m sorry but shopping is a huge and complex subject and there are so many things to say about it!’

Only, the reality of writing about the worlds of haute couture and Jimmy Choos inhabited by her characters in The Personal Shopper was more virtual fantasy than retail therapy.

Despite nursing a love-hate relationship with shopping, every day Carmen would trawl glamorous fashion websites, picking up tips and trends to distil into the advice of her protagonist Annie Valentine and her swanky London department store.

Indeed, the idea for the book stemmed from a shopping trip with a frustrated friend who couldn’t find the perfect outfit.
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