A review by vasha
Truth and Measure by Roslyn Sinclair

emotional funny lighthearted mysterious
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is an f/f romance set in the world of fashion magazine publishing; I care extremely little about high fashion, but when a business is depicted with as much detail and immersion as the setting in Truth and Measure, it can't help but be interesting. Jules Moretti is the slightly gauche, sincere and observant personal assistant to Vivian Carlisle, a terrifyingly steely, extremely guarded editor-in-chief. (Yes, The Devil Wears Prada is an archetype.) When the 42-year-old Vivian, just going through a divorce, unexpectedly and upsettingly finds herself pregnant, she gets Jules to accompany her on visits to lawyers and doctors and such, which Jules is happy to do, as she is beginning to develop considerable interest and sympathy for her formerly-frightening boss; and even before this point there've been subtle hints that Vivian feels more warmly toward Jules than she would toward any other assistant. But full-on romance takes a while to arrive, and then has a difficult beginning, thanks to Vivian's "walls within walls,"  the power difference between the two of them (BTW Jules eventually gets another job, but the power imbalance is more about Vivian's pull in the publishing world), and then the insane amount of time they spend working, and so on. This book contains two things that would normally put me off reading it: wildly rich people, and a boss/employee relationship, but it worked, because the former is at least seen through the eyes of someone who's slightly skeptical, and the latter is seriously addressed. So why'd I find it so appealing, in total? Lots of things: Jules's observant point of view, her relationship with her parents, Vivian's slowly revealed excellent qualities, good secondary characters--particularly Vivian's second-in-command Simon--the humor, the suspense (there was one point where I didn't know how these two characters could possibly work out their problems, but they did). I can tell I will be going around recommending this novel  a lot.

[P.S. This book is published in two volumes, the second one being titled Above All Things, but they are in no way separate from each other, and I refuse to participate in this confusing publishing decision--it's one 700-page novel titled Truth and Measure, I say.] 
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