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June 24, 2008 1:28 PM

HELEN'S HEROINES: Andrea Sachs

Some people don't like it when the protagonist of a story is a writer. I can understand that, it is a bit of a cliche after all.  Personally though, I love it. One of my favourite Marian Keyes books is The Other Side of the Story, which is about a writer and her agent (and no doubt a heroine will be appearing from that book soonish). I've also just reviewed a lovely book with an erotic writer as the heroine and Carrie Bradshaw is my idol. Not for her shoes, hair or her wardrobe, but because she writes.

So Andrea Sachs, in The Devil Wears Prada, was bound to be one of my favourite heroines for the simple reason that she is. A Writer.

A graduate with a degree in English, Andrea moves to New York to live with her friend Lily and to find a job within the magazine publishing industry.  Not having much luck elsewhere, she gets a surprise interview with Elias-Clark for a job "a million girls would kill for." At first she finds herself dismissive of "the clackers" but soon find herself sucked in to the ridiculous demands of her boss and into becoming a fashionista herself. She hates her job, neglects her friends and family and misses meals -  but she justs needs to stick it out for a year then she could have her pick of writing jobs in New York.

She knows this isn't the job for her, but her determination to keep going in order to gain the job she really likes is pretty inspiring. Having never had a boss or editor from hell myself, I don't know how I'd react to that sort of situation. I don't know if I would have had the strength to put up with it - even for a guaranteed job with The New Yorker. But I have a feeling I wouldn't have lasted a minute, if I'd got the job at all. When it all becomes too much though, I'm glad Andrea does what she does. No-one is paid enough to put up with the soul destroying efforts of her boss, free designer clothes or not.

More Helen's Heroines

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Posted by Helen Redfern on June 24, 2008 in American Authors, Devil Wears Prada, Helen's Heroines | Permalink

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