Half way through this book, you start to wonder if it is really about its author. Does Candace Bushnell want to get over her own image as a writer of pop-fiction and try her hand at another genre of writing, perhaps?
In Killing Monica, Pandy ‘PJ’ Wallis is a middle-aged novelist who has received much success from her Monica novels. Reminiscent of the “Amazing Amy” subplot in Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, Monica becomes a representation of Pandy’s ideal self: gorgeous, poised, and elite. When her Monica books make the jump to big screen, Pandy selects her best friend, SondraBeth Schnowzer, to play the leading lady. They become enemies later.
During their days of wild, often drunken gal-pal escapades, they called themselves PandaBeth. Their friendship, which has an unexplored homoerotic undertone, ended when hot actor Doug Stone slept with both of them. Pandy now surrounds herself with a gaggle of indistinguishable friends who while away weekday mornings drinking champagne at über-trendy NYC rooftop pools, have an obsession with high-end footwear, and are seemingly savvy but make awful choices when it comes to love. The result is a tired rendering of familiar motifs paired with characters no reader cares about too much.
Interestingly enough, Pandy still misses SondraBeth. The last time they spoke, SondraBeth warned Pandy that her husband-to-be, celebrity chef/restaurateur Jonny Balaga, was not a nice man. SondraBeth was right. Jonny went through Pandy’s money and cheated on her. What’s worse, he couldn’t swim, liked contemporary furniture, and didn’t properly appreciate the pedigree of Pandy’s Connecticut family estate. She’s now divorcing him, but the settlement requires her to fork over the $1 million advance on her newest book. Without a book contract there won’t be an advance, and Pandy worries what Jonny will go after instead—possibly the rights to Monica herself.
After much dilly-dally, she figures out how to off her popular Monica character so she can publish her much more important book. Her solution? Monica must die. But how do you kill a fictional character that has surpassed its real-life muse? Pandy’s dilemma is that she wants to write a historical novel about an ancestor, Lady Wallis, who arrived in America in 1775. According to Pandy’s agent and suspiciously intimate confidant, Henry, historical fiction is a hard sell, so her editor has turned it down. It’s never explained why, other than that she wants to be taken seriously. Everyone from her agent to her publishers will hear none of it.
Bushnell navigates her way through pop culture, celebrity worship, fame, and even the meaning of life itself. But the shiny, happy life Monica leads, once a reflection of Pandy’s own, has become a mocking reminder of how much things have changed. The book sticks to Bushnell’s tried-and-true recipe: sex, humour, and thrilling plot twists. Perfect beach read.