The Carrie Diaries, Candace Bushnell’s new novel and prequel to Sex and the City hit the shelves last month, on the Manolo Blahnik heels of Sex and the City 2’s May 27th movie release. How convenient. Or, “that’s delicious,” as they say in the NYC.
Decked out in a brown journal-esque cover with CB initials for Candace Bushnell, or perhaps her creative nonfiction alter ego, Carrie Bradshaw, the book cover claims, “Meet Carrie before Sex and the City.” However, having read all 389 pages on the plane this weekend, I beg to differ.
I happen to own the Sex and the City box set containing all six seasons in six different languages only because I was living in Italy in college; it was a perfect way to learn the language of the people—or perhaps just the language of the birds and the bees. Either way, I also happened to learn all about adult Carrie, which does not always coincide with the teenage Carrie depicted in Bushnell’s new book.
The Carrie Diaries features young Carrie Bradshaw, an aspiring writer in high school with two sisters and a loving scientist father—an alumnus of Brown University who leverages his connections to get Carrie accepted to his alma mater. Carrie and her family reside in the wholesome town of Castlebury, Connecticut, where we should be learning about important traits or insights to adult Carrie’s flighty and famous Sex and the City character, but instead learn about a Carrie whose childhood portrays that of a privileged upbinging, more like what one might expect in a book about Charlotte York’s childhood: all three sisters have their own room in their beautiful country home along with their own interests like swim team and prom committee.
Other than the fact that Carrie’s mom died of an unknown illness when Carrie was a young teenager, we learn that Carrie actually had siblings and was not abandoned by her father when she was five like the television series insinuates and like her horrific adult relationships with men would indicate. Additionally, it looks like young Carrie is still a virgin leaving her senior year in high school, while Sex and the City Carrie once claimed she lost it in the 11th grade on a ping pong table (I know, I’m such a fangirl).
You don’t have to study Drama or Psychology to understand how character development works; based on the delightfully troubled character that we all know and love, it’s surprising to me that Carrie Bradshaw’s childhood is so secure and stable in The Carrie Diaries.
But don’t get me wrong all you Sex and the City fans. There are some good things to get a little “Carried away” with while reading this book as Bushnell supports some of the classic aspects of Carrie’s character which, as you know, possesses two opposing views: her fierce feminist ego and the down-to-earth shop-aholic, guy-driven gal about town. My favorite thought-provoking quotes illustrating Carrie Bradshaw include, and feel free to use them at your own convenience as do I, “Oh, I don’t plan to get married. It’s a legalized form of prostitution,” and, the world according to Carrie’s mother, “Every woman ought to have one really good handbag and one really good pair of shoes.” More pearls of wisdom to live by, ladies.
The Carrie Diaries was released on April 27th and is on sale at book stores now. I bought mine for 20% off at Borders, but I’m sure you can find the used version cheaper via Amazon or Kindle. It’s a quick and fun read and perfect for a plane trip or a day at the beach.
