The Thin Pink Line [Hardcover]

Lauren Baratz-Logsted (Author)

Book Description

Series: Red Dress Ink (Numbered Paperback) | Publication Date: July 1, 2003

Jane Taylor gets so blissfully caught up in the fact she's pregnant--subsequently telling everyone--that she can't live up to the truth when, mere days later, she finds out that there's no bun in the proverbial oven. But she is only human, and what woman doesn't want the kind of attention that comes with pregnancy? Why shouldn't she get a little attention: doors held open, seats given up for her? In a society stricken with baby fever, this outrageous comic novel explores one single non-pregnant woman's need to cross the thin pink line.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The world is a kinder, gentler place for pregnant women, or so discovers Jane Taylor, the heroine of Baratz-Logsted's debut novel, upon learning that she's expecting. So when her pregnancy turns out to be a false alarm, Jane impulsively decides to keep up the ruse. She invents details about her OB-GYN and fakes a growing stomach, among other increasingly inventive tricks. Jane is single (her live-in boyfriend didn't appreciate her deception), almost 30, an editor and British. Sound familiar? Baratz-Logsted is refreshingly self-conscious about following the chick-lit trend. As Jane laments, "Sometimes it felt as though you could no longer turn around in a bookshop or at an editorial meeting without being confronted with yet another pink-covered book whose pages told about the wacky adventures of yet another 20-something Londoner who labored in publishing." Jane's own adventures are more daring than many of her fellow single-female heroines, and Baratz-Logsted's premise is hilarious and original. Soon Jane's pregnancy threatens to ruin a budding romance and a project at work. She wishes she could come clean, but she's been offered a book contract about her farce by a colleague who catches her in the act. Jane doesn't start out as the most likable of characters, but she changes so much over the course of the novel, and is so charmingly audacious, that readers will be rooting for her-and wondering what she'll do at the end of the nine months.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Baratz-Logsted looks at a new angle of singledom: pregnancy, in the first hardcover title in the Red Dress Ink line. Jane Taylor, an assistant editor at a prestigious London publishing house, is sure she is pregnant, and she couldn't be happier: now she can finally wrangle that proposal out of her boyfriend, Trevor, and keep up with her older sister, Sophie, who is both married and expecting her first child. But when Jane learns she actually isn't pregnant, she isn't willing to give up her fantasy, so she plays along, figuring that sooner or later she will get pregnant, and no harm will be done. Not so. When Trevor discovers her deception, he leaves her without looking back. Jane still doesn't want to tell her friends and family the truth, and when a fellow editor suggests that she turn her deception into a book, Jane suddenly has a chance to realize her dream of being a writer. Though Jane's actions at times are downright perplexing, this is amusing, light fun. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Red Dress Ink (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373250304
• ISBN-13: 978-0373250301
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (123 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,221,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was an independent bookseller and buyer for 11 years before deciding to take a chance on myself as a novelist. While trying to sell my books, I worked variously as a Publishers Weekly reviewer, a freelance editor, a sort-of librarian, and a window washer. My first novel, The Thin Pink Line, about a woman who fakes an entire pregnancy, was published by Red Dress Ink in 2003 as their own first-ever hardcover. They've since published two more of my books, Crossing The Line (a sequel) and A Little Change Of Face. In September they'll publish a fourth: How Nancy Drew Saved My Life, a comic gothic that's equal parts Nancy Drew, Jane Eyre and Chick-Lit. 2006 will also see the publication of two other of my novels: Vertigo, a literary novel set in the Victorian era with erotic and suspense undertones, from Bantam in October; and Angel's Choice, an earnest YA about teen pregnancy from Simon & Schuster in December. I'm also a contributor to the Jane Austen fiction/nonfiction anthology Flirting With Pride & Prejudice and editor/contributor of the anthology This IS Chick-Lit, due out from BenBella Books in the fall. I live in Danbury, CT, with my wonderful husband Greg and my equally wonderful daughter Jackie.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Strange... yet fun, July 5, 2003

By 

CoffeeGurl - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Thin Pink Line (Hardcover)

The Thin Pink Line is a fun, engaging, yet strange novel. The synopsis -- a twenty-nine-year-old who stages her pregnancy in order to secure a marriage proposal from her boyfriend -- is original, but there are various loose ends throughout the novel.

At first, all Jane Taylor wants is the special attention and gratification of being pregnant, not to mention a guaranteed marriage proposal from her boyfriend Trevor. But then things become rather complicated as the trimesters progress, and the charade takes over Jane's life -- especially when someone offers a book deal she can't refuse. But why doesn't she just stop the charade? I wasn't able to grasp the reasons for Jane's insistence on living a lie -- notwithstanding the gigantic book deal. The author fails to provide the aforementioned insight, and Jane's erratic behavior has no actual logic. But then again, perhaps her eccentricity implies that the scheme isn't supposed to be logical...

Despite those loose ends, The Thin Pink Line offers an original plot, sharp and crisp dialogue and wonderful characters. Also, Jane's desperate attempts to legitimize her pregnancy will have the reader roaring with laughter. Red Dress Ink has released a fresh approach to chick lit with this wonderful gem. Illogical and strange conduct aside, Jane Taylor is the proverbial neurotic heroine... And The Thin Pink Line is a must read!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Smart, Funny Read, July 5, 2003

By 

"claysheila" (Madison, AL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Thin Pink Line (Hardcover)

I picked up this book expecting a couple of hours of brain candy, but that's not what I got. Instead I found myself both entertained and challenged. Not only did I enjoy getting lost in Jane's wacky world, but I found myself faced with the question of just how far would I be willing to go to get what I want. This book is not your average beach read. The story is pure fun, but the writing is smart and witty.

31 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a very good, very entertaining, read., June 20, 2003

By 

"rmliss" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Thin Pink Line (Hardcover)

I'm not usually a fan of what could be called 'Chick-Lit' or 'Brit-com', just so that's clear. However, I was given an advance copy of The Thin Pink Line to read on a long flight and was very pleasantly surprised. First of all, the dialogue (one of my first criteria) is crisp, well written and sounds real in the mind's ear. Next, there are moments that are laugh-out-loud funny. The novel is very well paced and moves right along. The only criticism I may have, and this is purely from a personal point of view and has nothing to do with the writing, is that I found it very hard to sympathise in any meaningful way with Jane, the protagonist. However, if someone like me who doesn't read much along the lines of this sort of thing enjoyed it very much, I'm sure people who do will find that The Thin Pink Line stands head and shoulders above the rest.