I picked up a copy of Smart
Blondes by Sonia Koso. The cover gave off a sort of retro
vibe that attracted me to it. Ditto the blurb. I was more than in the mood for
a good laugh, but what should have been a delightful read was reduced to
sporadic pleasure due to some problems I encountered with the writing. Ms.
Koso is a talented writer, but that’s as
far as I can go since for me, Smart
Blondes never got off the ground.
The novel begins with a prologue
that centers on the childhood friendship of Portia Mason and Cassie Case. Even though best buds, the relationship sours
due to Portia’s increasing jealousy over Cassie’s winning ways. The lack of an emotional connection between
the two took what could have been interesting characters and watered them down
to dull. To add to this, we’re pelted with details as to why Portia Mason
resents Cassie so much, but there’s never an explanation as to what is in it
for Portia to remain friends—and no demonstration of it either. No heart-to-hearts
or mention of laughs shared. It’s a classic case of telling and not showing
because a summation of circumstances doesn’t really let us get to know them on
a personal basis. Because of this, we’re left hanging as to the reasons these
two bonded in the first place. Worse, this emotional disconnect occurs between
all the major characters and continues throughout the novel.
Take Cassie, now Cassie Pryce, and
her husband Jake. There’s a cursory sentence as to what attracted her to him,
but we don’t feel it. Having an author say that Cassie found Jake sexy and
charming doesn’t begin to cover why a woman, who seemingly had everything,
would marry him. Aren’t things a bit more complicated than that? Or is Cassie
so one-dimensional that a ready smile and roguish swagger are enough? Even if
this is enough, we need to be shown, but all we get are vignettes and
backstories. This oversight in opening up the heart of the
characters to the reader contributes to the stilting of these personalities
that Ms.
Koso tries so hard to paint and yet
fails. Actions aren’t emotions. And even when Portia and Carrie reconnect
several years later, there’s still all this distance between them. This even
while Portia is helping her through a troubling time. There’s no internal
dialogue as to how appreciative Carrie is or even a vague heartfelt pang that
Portia feels when seeing her old friend. It left me cold and without insight as
to what is really going on. This reuniting could have been a wonderful opportunity
to solidify the heart of their relationship and inject it with human passion,
but it’s wasted.
The other problem for me is Ms.
Koso’s penchant for digressing. I’m not
one that minds backstories (Elmore Leonard’s philosophy about not including what
people don’t read be damned), so it wasn’t the fact these stories weren’t
edited out that bothered me. It was more that they were sometimes uninteresting
and misplaced enough to interfere with the flow of the story. For instance,
Carrie’s traumatic return to her hometown is explained in a flashback. This flashback starts out the sound of a
gunshot coming out of Carrie Pryce’s home. Rather than focus on that and
continue with relating what occurred, the story segues into a detailed
description of Austin, the city where the house is located. Then it’s six
paragraphs of describing the house and giving its history. Next, two paragraphs
are spent on Gloria Pryce, Carrie’s mother-in-law. After all this, do we
finally return to what happened? Nope!
Instead, it’s onto two paragraphs about Carrie’s husband Jake and another three
on Carrie. These included physical descriptions of both. Did we really need to
know how tall they were right then and there? And the story still does not
return to the event that caused Cassie to bolt. It meanders back to Jake for
another four paragraphs which also include more details about his physical
appearance. We then bounce back to Carrie for several pages of info that
includes the compelling reason for choosing one summer camp over another. Did
we really need to know that? It was awkward and ruined the pacing of what
should have been climactic. By the time we find out about what is occurring in
the household and who fired the shot, we’re left trying to gain momentum
instead of having the action snowball down the mountain.
I’m not sure I needed all this
history of the house, Jake’s body, and the summer camps, but if it was
important, it needed to be placed somewhere else. And the jumping back and
forth with physical descriptions was unnecessary. Just tell us and get it over with or filter
it in throughout the pages. As for the whole subject of digressing, while the
book was obviously edited, someone with a better ear for flow might have helped
get these word expeditions under control. It’s obviously a stylistic choice and
I‘m not suggesting Ms. Koso abandon it. There are several
places where it works to her advantage so it just needs to be developed perhaps
to a homier vibe for maximum impact.
On the plus side, there is a good
character-driven story and plenty of solid one liners that elicited belly
laughs. The dialogue was, for the most part, sparkling, and I loved the
historical references. You do feel as if you are in Texas, but ultimately it
was the lack of emotions and ill-placed, ill-advised journeys into the past
that really kept me at bay which is a shame. I do recommend this story—most
especially if you enjoy a story long on Southern charm and authenticity so I’m
giving Smart Blondes
three
stars.
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