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February 26, 2008 12:13 PM
HELEN'S HEROINES: Cannie Shapiro
Helen Redfern's weekly column about the fictional females she loves...
Candace Shapiro, more commonly referred to as Cannie, is the heroine from Jennifer Weiner’s debut novel Good In Bed. Happily beavering away as a writer of weddings for a Philadelphia newspaper, her life is thrown a curveball when her ex writes a magazine column about her being a ‘larger woman’ with him needing an ‘act of courage in our world’ to love her. This, quite understandably, plunges her into misery, bringing a lot of feelings she thought she’d conquered back to the surface and dramatically starting a chain of events that changes her life.
Cannie has similarities with the author. Both she and Weiner are Princeton Graduates, both were journalists in Philadelphia, both have a dysfunctional family and both have body-confidence issues. They also share the same fabulously ‘snarky’ (as Weiner describes it) sense of humour.
Cannie is bright, independent, sharp, and funny. She is ambitious; she had to be as her father left leaving the family with little money. She states that ‘With my college debts I was always scrambling for the next rung on the ladder…’ But she also has flaws and this is what makes her such a wonderful person. She is vulnerable. She quietly craves her fathers love and attention, only to be knocked back again and again. Her neuroses about her body stem from her father telling her that she was ugly, fat and hideous. It is little wonder she thinks so little of herself sometimes. ‘So here I am. Twenty eight years old, with thirty looming on the horizon. Drunk. Fat. Alone. Unloved. And worst of all a cliché, Ally McBeal and Bridget Jones together, which was probably how much I weighed…’ Even feeling at her lowest she still manages a sense of humour. But don’t be misled by this quote. She is nothing like Bridget (or Ally). She is bothered by her weight but her days aren’t consumed by number of calories eaten.
The main reason why I am inspired by her is summed up by her agent when describing the female lead in Cannie’s screenplay. “I loved that your lead character had such faith in herself. So many romantic comedies, it seems, the female lead has to be rescued somehow…by love, or by money, or a fairy godmother. I loved that Josie just rescued herself, and believed in herself the whole time.”
By describing the lead in the screenplay the agent is also, unknowingly, describing Cannie. Cannie achieves success and happiness despite her ex and her father. I can identify with her not only as a fellow writer, but as a woman and the journey that she goes on (not that any ex-boyfriend of mine has, to my knowledge, written about me). I am motivated by her almost to the point of leaving this book by my computer so I can see it and be reminded by her everyday.
Cannie’s life may have been changed by something out of her control. Initially she may have been made miserable by it. But she didn’t just roll over and accept it. On a rollercoaster ride she grabs the situation with both hands and turns it around into one big, huge advantage. All by herself.
The sequel to Good In Bed entitled Certain Girls comes out in April this year. I, for one, cannot wait.
Look out for a special Jennifer Weiner giveaway in the next couple of weeks!
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Posted by Keris on February 26, 2008 in Helen's Heroines | Permalink
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