The Frog Prince by Jane Porter

Warner Books, 2005

Part Sage and part Free Spirit, Holly Bishop, from Jane Porter’s The Frog Prince, is a pretty likable heroine.  Raised on white bread and fairy tales, her world falls apart when her happily ever after dissolves before her eyes.  Her beautiful husband Jean-Marc reveals after a year of marriage that, well, he’s just not that into her.  No attraction.  Nada.  Zilch.

So what does Holly do?  She moves to San Francisco where she works as an event planner.  

Stats:

Di-Vorced.  

Employed, but overworked and under-appreciated.

Mother issues.

Father issues.

Boss issues.

The Look:

Holly starts out a little soft around the edges [read: not in shape] but begins to workout and so gets a hard[er] body and is pretty shapely by the end in her ‘leather and lace’ outfit [“Elvira-meets-Dr. Frank N. Further costume the local Castro sex shop has so thoughtfully assembled”].  She’s pretty, but not beautiful.

Holly, stripped down:

“…I see a shimmer of my face in the reflective stainless steel of the elevator ceiling, and for a moment I understand what this man sees–good hair, good face, good look–but instinctively I know that what he wants isn’t me.

He has his own idea of me.  His own wish for me.  I’d be the woman he needs, not the woman I probably am, and it crosses my mind that all the hair and clothes and makeup we women wear just add to the deception.  Our exterior covers more than it reveals.

I’m not always so impeccably groomed, and I don’t want to be Barbie.  And yet to get the attention, many of us put our best face forward, the carefully plucked, arched eyebrow, the flawless foundation, the smooth matte lip liner with the smoother tawny lipstick.  It’s the illusion of a perfect face, but for me it’s not my real face.  My real face is like me.  Crooked.  Flawed.  Likable if you get to know it.  But most men don’t get to know it.  They get to know the shiny Holly, the Holly who cleans up well, the one who can talk sports and make pleasant conversation, and for most men, it’s enough.

For most men, that’s what they want.  Well, that and nice tits and a hopefully cellulite-free ass.  Oh, and also hot in bed, and a mouth that’s big enough to give a great blow job.  And the desire to give frequent head.  Have I forgotten anything?

I don’t think so.”

This passage from The Frog Prince hits the nail on the head.  This is the Fairy Tale, busted wide open.  What women present to the world [how we perpetuate our own fairy tale demise] and how all that does is set up expectations that can only be broken once our flaws are revealed.  Porter, via her character, Holly, is perceptive at times, and that’s what makes Ms. Bishop such a good heroine.  Her happily ever after doesn’t require a man.  He’s just a perk.

The Bottom Line:

While I didn’t like that Holly didn’t really seem to recognize that Brian saw her for who she was, I understand it.  Her fairy tale couldn’t have a prince at the end.  At one point she thinks: “…even Brian Faden, who is smart and clever, thoughtful and helpful, isn’t what I need.”  She discovers is that she needs to love herself.  It’s a fairy tale and she’s the love story.  The fact that she still was thinking about ‘Gorgeous Guy’ at the end of the book made the self-realization a tad incomplete for me, but it was still a satisfying ending and a good book.  A great beach or summer read.  

Holly Bishop has a fun, perceptive voice and I rooted for her, and really, what more can you ask for?  

Question of the Day:

I’m reading Flirting With Forty next.  What is your favorite Jane Porter book?