Jennifer Weineris the best-selling author ofGood in Bed,In Her Shoes, and more.
Her latest novel,Mrs.
Everything, published June 11 and isavailable for purchase.
Credit: Andrea Cipriani; Atria Books
When I was writing my first book, I was working full-time as a newspaper reporter.
I did, however, tell my mother, who was not encouraging.
When my mom had finally finished, she set the last page down and turned to me, beaming.
That was a real page-turner!
she announced.Page turner?I thought.
What about the imagery?
What about the language?
What about that poignant and heart-rending scene where the heroine remembers her father teaching her to swim?
When I wrote the book, I hadnt been thinking of labels.
In my head,Good in Bedwas just a novel.
Fran was only the first of many, many people who were happy to set me straight.
My book was a beach book.
Might as well make the best of it.
Certainly timing was part of it.Good in Bedwas published in May, just as the weather was getting warmer.
Those pages, after all, do not turn themselves.
But beach reads tilt more toward the entertaining than improving side of the spectrum.
Over the years, Ive tried to make peace with the label.
Im not 100 percent there yet, mostly because of the gendered nature of the term.
Martin, Thomas Harris and Stephen King.
These books, like all great beach reads, are built to entertain.
Their plots are brisk, their main characters, if not likable or relatable are at least interesting.
They generally offer some kind of escapism.
You might think of the perfectly devastating comeback two nights too late.
A beach-book heroine will have it at the ready.
You might consider your handsome boss or the hot billionaire and wonderwhat if?
; a beach-read heroine will find out.
Most of all, a beach-book protagonist will go big or go home.
Hollywood superstar Lili demandingWhich one of you bitches is my mother?
(Shirley ConransLace).
(Stephen KingsLiseys Story).
Bridget Jones blubbing into her ice cream, obsessing over pounds gained and cigarettes smoked?
Then theres the sex.
The best beach books put women on top, describing their pleasure vividly, making their satisfaction a priority.
You dont always see realistic female orgasms in porn.
You dont always see them at all in literary fiction.
In beach books, theyre practically a requirement.
Critics might call them trash or fluff, or dismiss them as mere entertainment.
They are wish fulfillment and best-life-now inspiration, all wrapped up in a single delicious package.
And thats something to be celebrated, not dismissed.
