A review by sarahmatthews
The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

Read on audio 

RNIB Talking Books

Pub. 2003, 436pp

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I read this book because I was going to see the stage version at the Dominion Theatre in London and wanted to refresh my memory. I actually wanted to rewatch the film but none of the streaming services I subscribe to had it. So the full book it was… and though I listened to it on audio, slightly speeded up, it went on and on and on!

It’s a rare occasion where the movie is better than the book, not that I totally hated the book or anything, it just got very repetitive with all the coffee runs and Miranda shouting down the phone. It could have done with some editing.

It’s about Andrea Sachs, an aspiring journalist who’s desperate to get her big break in New York. After sending her CV to everywhere in publishing she can think of, only one person calls her back; the HR department of high fashion magazine Runway. The position available is for an assistant to the Editor-in-Chief, Miranda Priestley, who she’s never heard of, but is incredibly infamous in the fashion industry for pushing her assistants to the edge and many don’t last past the first week. Andrea gets the job after Miranda’s frustrated that the usual type of girls she hires (painfully thin fashion mad girls who worship her) don’t work out and takes a chance. Andrea has no idea what’s in store for her, with some very funny results. 

I  like that the movie gives Miranda a little more character, rather than just being a tyrant, and it does a good job of keeping the fun parts like Andrea getting a make over, treating her mates to free fashion and flirting with hip writer Christian without getting too bogged down in the detail of every breakfast order. Andrea was very dismissive of fashion and it’s interesting to consider how the author wasn’t afraid of portraying herself (she worked for Anna Wintour) in an unflattering light throughout the book.

I’m not usually a chick lit reader so the writing style wasn’t really for me but it was so fun and interesting to compare the book, movie and musical.

The theatre show was based on the movie version and they did a great job of it, we had a brilliantly entertaining time and the atmosphere was so joyful!