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Meredith Moore has an eye for detail—and that’s what makes her good at her job. As a continuity girl (or, if you’d like to be politically correct about it, a script supervisor), Meredith is the one who carefully documents every detail of a film, to make sure that everything fits together—that an actor takes a bite of his hot dog at just the right time during each take, and that he’s wearing a blue shirt instead of a green one. But when she wakes up on the morning of her 35th birthday, Meredith realizes that there’s one little detail in her own life that she’s been ignoring: the ticking of her biological clock. Suddenly, Meredith feels that she needs to have a baby.
After a blow-up on the set of her latest film leaves her unemployed, Meredith gets a call from her eccentric mother, Irma, who urges her to come to London for a visit. She’s even gotten Meredith a job as the continuity girl on a movie that’s about to start filming. So Meredith packs her bags and heads for London with a plan. While she’s there, she’ll find the perfect man with perfect genes, and she’ll, well, commandeer his sperm. Since Meredith has no intention of getting married, there’s no strings attached. She just wants to find the perfect father for her perfect child. But when she arrives in London, she finds that it’s easier said than done.
The Continuity Girl is a quick read with an interesting premise, but it’s also pretty difficult to believe—even for chick lit. Readers never really get to know the characters—their personalities, their habits, their interests, or their motivations—very well, and they end up feeling flat and even a little bit lifeless.
Parts of the story feel excessively contrived, too. For instance, several of the women in the book just happen to be determined to have a baby on their own—like Meredith’s friend, Mish, who, in the beginning of the book, is trying to conceive with her gay roommate. Or the diva who’s starring in Meredith’s latest film, who flies a fertility expert in to assist her in getting pregnant. Also, there’s an entire storyline involving the handsome gynecologist who, after talking to Meredith for a few minutes, begins calling and emailing her—just to make sure she’s okay. The whole storyline is pretty forced—not to mention obvious.
Though I loved reading the parts of the story about Meredith’s job, the rest of the story is just a little to implausible and predictable to make it a really enjoyable read—even for diehard chick lit fans.
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