Miss Understanding

Stephanie Lessing
Avon Trade (2006)
ISBN 0061133884
Reviewed by A.J. Cooper for Reader Views (11/06)

"Miss Understanding" is about two sisters, one trying to make it in main stream fashion writing as a deputy editor for a major magazine, and the second already a writer for the same major fashion magazine. Zoe,  the writer trying to make it in main stream fashion writing, is trying to write about real women and their real problems. She is quirky and has her own unique style that does not conform to any fashion trend except her own. Her sister Chloe, who already writes for a major magazine and is married to the editor, is working hard to get her sister to be fashionable and wear the appropriate clothes for her first day as the new deputy editor for the magazine. Chloe goes to Zoe's house and goes through all of her clothes to try and find something for Zoe to wear. She ends up wearing a men’s shirt on her first day that she rips and also does not wear a bra and ends up exposing herself to the staff of the magazine. A little too much going on that doesn't really seem plausible.

"Miss Understanding" reminds me so much of other books, a television show and a major movie. Parts of the ideas for the book are inventive and sometimes funny. I did not find the book believable when Zoe is pregnant and does not realize that fact. I found most of the book to be expected and no great surprises. I think if you are looking for a quick read to pass the time it may be of some interest. It probably gives a view of how fashion magazines are run and the competition to get ahead or predict the current trends. Chloe the writing sister decides she wants to take a break from the magazine and starts going on crazy trips and trying crazy things that she would never have considered before. It shows how two sisters can be so different yet are still concerned about how each lives and careers proceed forward. It was a very quick read for me and I would definitely not read it again.

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