WHEN Carrie Sutton set out to write After the Break-Up: A Girl's Guide, she did so because there was nothing like it out there - for a good reason.
In the middle of a heartbreak caused by a divorce or a break-up, many women barely have the will to pick up any book, yet alone one claiming to guide them through the ordeal.
After The Break-Up chronicles the year following Sutton's divorce after her 10 year relationship came to an end.
Each of the six chapters describe a new phase in her post-relationship drama as we join Carrie on her journey from The End to The Beginning, meeting along the way many of her friends, colleagues and love interests.
We are with her as she weeps on friends’ shoulders, when it all gets too much and as she falls into bed with countless men in an attempt to move on.
Sutton is an actress by profession, so it is no suprise this book is not a work of literary genius. However, she is quite witty and her matter-of-fact tone is endearing.
Randomly scattered throughout the book, irritatingly, are capitalised proper nouns which Carrie has invented to keep most of her protagonists anonymous.
Rather than use aliases, she instead makes up names such as Cute Guy and Carp Fish Man. When referring to people this is acceptable to a degree, but when she applies the same practice continuosly to real life situations, such as the Hideous Curtain Incident, it becomes almost too much to bare.
Reading it in hindsight may be enlightening, but reading it mid-divorce or mid-break up may just add fuel to the fire. How the book is perceived depends very much on what stage of their break up the reader is in.
After The Break-Up. Available to buy from September 30. £8.99.
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