How Nancy Drew Saved My Life by Lauren Baratz-Logsted: Chic Lit With Attitude!

Charlotte Bell's life has the consistency of a roller coaster operated by a meth addict. After she loses her mother to an untimely death, she's abandoned by her archaeologist father and raised by an authoritarian aunt who puts her to work so she's at least useful, only to be freed by her posting as nanny to the household of the charismatic, handsome, powerful Buster Keating, United States Ambassador.

The thing reads like a modern day Jane Eyre, with a contemporary twist - she gets along well enough with the Keating children, feels important for the first time in her life - and falls madly in love with Buster, who of course is neglected by his socialite wife Alissa.

The inexperienced Charlotte finds herself drawn to the magnetic Buster - she believes whispered, midnight promises, fully expecting him to leave Alissa for her - his proclaimed true love - as she begins her new life as the companion of a U.S. ambassador, rather than his nanny.

Well, scratch that - the meth-addict roller coaster operator must've jerked the wheel, because here comes the loop-de-loop - Charlotte's rocked by a pregnancy scare, and gets to see what Buster's really like when he offers to pay for her abortion.

Not only is Charlotte not pregnant - which she's strangely disappointed about - she's unemployed, back living with Aunt Bea, who's understandably not thrilled about the situation, either. However, pursuing the want ads one day, she comes across her salvation:

Wanted! Nanny. Full-time position. Applicants must be willing to travel to Reykjavik.

Despite her lack of knowledge about Iceland, Charlotte goes for the job, because she's been "boning" up on her Nancy Drew, and if the plucky heroine could solve fifty-some mysteries before graduating high school - surely she can be a nanny in some other country.
How hard can it be?

She gets the job, senses instant chemistry with her charge, the young, perky Annette Rawlings - but there's a few teensy problems.

One: apparently, all Icelanders are tall, blond, and attractive, making her short, brown-haired Jewishness stand out like a sore thumb.

Two: the blasted place is way colder than she'd packed for (Nancy Drew indeed).

Three: as fate - quirky old freak she is - would have it, she's working for another ambassador, Edgar Rawlings…and she's falling for him too.

Throw in a crazy, phantom laugh of a cackling madwoman in the night, a blond goddess as her rival for Edgar, and suddenly Charlotte is presented with a whole mess of "more-than-you-bargained-for" right in her lap.

But she's undaunted; she's read all of Nancy Drew's mysteries, even made up her own life-affirming acronym: What Would Nancy Drew Do? Spurned on, Charlotte sets out to solve the mystery of the madwoman, heal her broken heart, come into her own - as well as maybe fall in love with Edgar and learn how to drive along the way.

Lauren Baratz-Logsted's latest entry into "chic lit" is a fiendishly delightful homage to Jane Eyre, Nancy Drew, and chick-lit; it's satirical, clever, and moving. Charlotte Bell is a modern-day Jane Eyre with a razor-sharp tongue, and her first person dialogue is fresh and witty, her self-depreciating humor just darn funny.

Baratz-Logsted juggles present narratives and flashbacks smoothly, which some authors have a hard time with - there's usually a break somewhere, a pause where the reader gets confused for a moment. Not here, though - right from the first line, "People think it must be easy for you, when they see you out here on the wire", past and present mix together fluidly, as if flowing right from Charlotte's pen.

Some folks have complained about the "misleading title", and not to riff on the whole Clinton era - "it's about Charlotte, stupid…!" not Nancy Drew. Also, though some folks quibble about the ending, Stephen King recently lambasted those "addicted page turners" who need to get to the end so desperately, they miss out on the journey along the way, and I'd have to agree.

Like the ending or not, agree with it or not, don't miss Charlotte's journey along the way. It's a solid tale, and well worth the effort and journey.

4 out of 5 stars