Spinster

by Catherine Jerome

Jane is stuck in a perpetual rut, and she’s not sure if she put herself there or if she was ever in another state to begin with. She’s only ever had a relationship with the high school lothario, if you could even call it that and now she’s stuck planning his wedding, dodging the nitwits she was “friends” with in school and contending with her new “more than just cute” boss (freshly imported from England) and all too willing to inadvertently remind her that she may be a Spinster.

320 pages, Paperback

First published August 26, 2012

About the author

Catherine Jerome is a 2012 university graduate currently enjoying a desk job and pondering application to graduate schools across the United States of America and other varying English speaking nations — she wishes she was fluent in other languages, but alas is not and would not be able to navigate an ESL (English Second Language) foreign country. While biding her time clicking on her endless keyboard in her office, she wrote Spinster, the story of another recent university graduate navigating the waters of 21st century dating (i.e. finding a partner-in-crime outside of high school, college or the internet). Easier said than done, but hopefully with a few laughs along the way. Spinster is Jerome’s first novel.

Jerome’s second novel Please Do Not Touch the Talent was released in November 2012. You can “borrow” both Spinster and Please Do Not Touch the Talent for free as an Amazon Prime member, or purchase on the same platform as a Kindle reader for only $.99. Amazon also provides a free Kindle application for smartphones and PCs. Jerome’s third novel, Hot off the Press, is looking for a March 2013 bow. You can preview the novel here.

Reviews

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Spinster” is the story of Jane, a 23-year old with some serious rejection issues. The origin of her issue isn’t clearly spelled out, but the reader can discern it’s borne during those formative high school years. Jane chose to join a circle of girls she dubbed the “sick seven” not because she liked them, but rather because she wanted to be involved in the activities they had access to. As a result, she had a front row seat to their romantic exploits. Their emotional ups and downs led her to decide she would never be one of those women whose happiness was dependent upon being wanted by a guy. Jane subsequently developed a prickly exterior designed to keep people out. The thing about barriers is they work both ways. Jane successfully kept men at bay, but also kept herself trapped inside. What do you do when you want to go outside the wall, but not look like a hypocrite and risk rejection? In Jane’s case, you use alcohol to cloud the reality of your actions.

The story is told in first person POV with an occasional chapter told from the POV of another character. It’s necessary because Jane tends to drink to the point of blacking out. Without the other narrative the reader would never know what happen during certain pivotal moments in the book. These chapters are clearly labeled so pay attention to the chapter titles.

The book was a steady “C” grade for me from beginning to end. There were noticeable spelling and grammar errors throughout the book that became distracting. According to the author’s notes at the end, the same person read the book ten times in all its draft forms. That’s great if you only want someone to judge content, but once you read something that many times you become too close to it. You start to skim rather than read and that’s how errors like “shaking their grove thing” and the “desert section” of a menu make it into a published product. Spell check doesn’t know everything.

I thought Jane’s transformation was a little unbelievable given her history. Towards the latter part of the book she’s plunged into a social situation that would have a normal well-adjusted person experiencing anxiety of epic proportions. Jane handles it with grace, charm and aplomb. It seemed out of character for someone that introverted.