Our heroine, a moderately successful TV writer in L.A., wants her life to be as sunny and perfect as a Hollywood rom-com: a cool job, a wacky best friend, and lots of age-appropriate hot guys just dying to date her. Instead, she's a self-described spinster who is swimming in anxiety and just might have a tiny little brain tumor. So she turns to an unlikely source for inspiration: the eighteenth-century novelist and diarist Frances Burney, who pretty much invented the chick-lit novel.
A semi-autobiographical unromantic comedy,
The Spinster Diaries is a laugh-out-loud satire of both the TV business and the well-worn conventions of chick lit-as well as the true tale of the forgotten writer who inspired Jane Austen to greatness. It's an endearing and refreshingly honest testament to how one person's life can reach out across the centuries to touch another's.
Her life may not be sunny and perfect like the Hollywood rom-coms she writes, but happily ever after is overrated.
"TV writer Gina Fattore has penned this 'semi-autobiographical unromantic comedy' to shine a hilarious light on chick lit, the TV business and spinsterhood. If you need a laugh and want to support indie publishing during this time of uncertainty, this is the book for you."
- Ms. Magazine
"Fattore's lightning-fast prose shines? A humorous and heartfelt look at the expectations women have lived with, and triumphed over, across the centuries."
- Kirkus
"A satirical and heartfelt novel that touches on life in the TV business and the chick lit novels we all know and love."
- Bookstr
"Paying homage to women who self-actualize through their art, The Spinster Diaries focuses on two women separated by time who live out their beliefs? Gina's story develops in tandem with Fanny's. Both adopt The Spinster Way, prioritizing writing over the typical feminine protocol of marriage and children. Their relationships with their sisters highlight the importance of women's friendships, while their resilience and humor are dominant and infectious. Fanny inspires Gina to maintain hope in the face of death, even as she herself outlives everyone she loves. The ending is unexpected and delightful."
- Foreword