Book Review: The Next Best Thing

Twenty-eight-year-old Ruth is living the dream. After several years in Hollywood – living with her grandmother, who’s taken care of her since the car crash that killed her parents and left Ruth with a scarred face and body – her pilot has been picked up. And even though she knows this is only the first step, that so many things can go wrong, she realises: this is it. This is her moment.

From the beginning, her sitcom The Next Best Thing is shaped into something completely different to what Ruth imagined. A Jewish heroine who’s not a stick figure becomes . . . a skinny blonde. The nuanced portrayal of an older woman in the form of the grandmother – based on Ruth’s own – becomes a joke. And throughout, the sexism of TV-making is noted, as Ruth struggles to reconcile her dream-come-true with her artistic integrity. (Though at no point does she use the words ‘artistic integrity’, worry not.)

Jennifer Weiner was the creator of a short-lived TV series of her own, lending this novel an appealing authenticity and behind-the-scenes-gossip feel. Readable, smart and fun – this is one of her best.