Write Out Loud (Reviews and Writing)

“… she’s still got much to learn about writing books but she’s definitely got the style.”

I’ll start by admitting I adore Susanna Hoffs. I was, of course like everyone else, madly in love with her during the 80s when her band, The Bangles, were pumping out iconic hits. And Hoffs herself was gorgeous. Those classic side-eye looks were tantalizing and, along with her husky voice when hitting low notes meant that my heart leapt at the end of the video to Walk Like an Egyptian. It still does, truth be told.

Recently I discovered that Hoffs is on Instagram and, my god, she’s still a good-looking woman at the age of 65! More importantly, she seems a genuinely lovely person too. Very humble, softly spoken, kind in spirit – still very much an attractive person all round. I struggle to see how someone who was drop-dead gorgeous, immensely talented and riding the wave of fame and fortune so well as a young person could now be sweet, kind and exuding innocence in every way. Surely she embraced every form of extremes and got used along the way, making her bitter and cynical?

Of course, we can never know what a person is truly like from their Instagram, but reports seem to suggest Hoffs really is this this sweet and innocent. And if the main character of her book, Jane Start, is at all auto-biographical (she gives all the right feels that she is), then it does look like Hoffs has somehow managed to survive fame with her integrity intact. I certainly want to believe that.

So when Hoffs announced her book was out, I was definitely going to buy it. And I was going to damn well love it! I owe that much to the woman who made my teenage angst-ridden life considerably better.

To be fair, This Bird Has Flown is not my usual genre. Sort-of Rom-Com, it’s definitely not high quality literature, so it has to work hard to impress me at all. It is written with real authenticity – how could it not? – and that’s a good start. Jane Start is a musician, a one-hit wonder, recently split up with a guy who cheated on her and seemingly stuck in a creative hole she can’t get out of. Then she meets some guy on a plane and her life takes new directions. But will she find love and success?

Start is a lifelong naïve with a love of literature and music beyond her apparent years. She’s gentle and easily hurt and totally under-confident about herself. It all gives the vibes of Hoffs. But if so, then Hoffs has somehow not just survived fame and all the corrupting influences that goes with it, but actively been shielded from them all.

There is, frankly, nothing shocking that happens in Jane Start’s life. The implied ‘terrible’ incident that occurred between her and godlike musician ‘Jonesy’ turns out to be really nothing at all. It is clear Jonesy is a version of Prince who Hoffs ‘made a connection with’ though they didn’t date and ended up with Manic Monday as a gift from the artist. There in real life, it seems there’s nothing to report back. It looks like Hoffs repelled him without even really being aware of it.

Likewise, the romance with English scholar, Tom Hardy, which clearly signals is leading to a big reveal of something terrible to scupper an otherwise perfect relationship, turns out to be blown apart by absolutely nothing at all. It is all teenage angst in the bodies and minds of maturing grown-ups. Hoffs has been happily married since 1993 with no divorces. Does this mean she really doesn’t know what heartbreaks are like?

There’s much of the novel that’s just messy too. I spent about two thirds of the story not really knowing where this was going in terms of the big picture. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy the ride, but I had no idea where the car was going to stop. To continue that metaphor, when we got there at the end, internally I said, “Is this it?” The end stop wasn’t as enjoyable as the journey.

There’s also some writing that’s a bit pointless. The whole thing with the cat seems weird and contrived and there’s a character called Monica who is utterly pointless. I can’t remember her entry into the story and, at one point, I thought Hoffs had made an editing error and ‘Monica’ was the previous name she had for a different character (Tom’s previous girlfriend, Amelia). She didn’t, but Monica is completely superfluous to the storyline. It’s a rookie error.

And the chief antagonist herself? We never see her and so we never really get to feel the hatred towards her we’re supposed to – it’s all second-hand. We just get what everyone else says about her and that, as anyone who has lived and lost knows, is never reliable. We’re all the bad guy in someone’s tortured version of the past and there’s bad guys in our equally tortured versions too.

So did I hate the book in the end? No, but I was disappointed. I expected something much more gritty from someone who really has lived the life of the protagonist. Instead it reads as a modern, second-rate Anne of Green Gables in the rock world. I liked the characters – really liked them. But the tale has all the feels of being written by someone ‘sheltered’ from life’s harsh realities.

I’m still getting my head around that. It’s one thing to fall in love with the innocent girl singing Manic Monday, knowing full well that it is a persona. It’s another to become deeply suspicious that, decades later, she really was like that and still is. It is endearing in many ways, but I’m not sure it makes for great fiction writing.

That said, it was easy to read, fun and full of very filmable characters. I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a movie, but if so, they will have to adapt the ending to make it much more dramatic. I wouldn’t want to read a sequel but I like Hoff’s writing style. I hope she comes up with another novel and pays attention to her audience (I’m not the only one who felt the same issues with this book). I think she’s still got much to learn about writing books but she’s definitely got the style.

My Verdict:

You can buy me a coffee if you like! More accurately, you can help support my work either as a one off or monthly if you really want to show your love…

Social Entrepreneur, educationalist, bestselling author and journalist, D K Powell is the author of the bestselling collection of literary short stories “The Old Man on the Beach“. His first book, ‘Sonali’ is a photo-memoir journal of life in Bangladesh and has been highly praised by the Bangladeshi diaspora worldwide. Students learning the Bengali language have also valued the English/Bengali translations on every page. His third book is ‘Try not to Laugh’ and is a guide to memorising, revising and passing exams for students.

Both ‘The Old Man on the Beach’ and ‘Sonali’ are available on Amazon for kindle and paperback. Published by Shopno Sriti Media. The novel,’The Pukur’, was published by Histria Books in 2022.

D K Powell is available to speak at events (see his TEDx talk here) and can be contacted at dkpowell.contact@gmail.com. Alternatively, he is available for one-to-one mentoring and runs a course on the psychology of writing. Listen to his life story in interview with the BBC here.

Ken writes for a number of publications around the world. Past reviewer for Paste magazine, The Doughnut, E2D and United Airways and Lancashire Life magazine. Currently reviews for Northern Arts Review. His reviews have been read more than 7.9 million times.

Get a free trial and 20% off Shortform by clicking here. Shortform is a brilliant tool and comes with my highest recommendation.