Happy Book Review Tuesday. Today, we’re going to talk about a very cool piece of fiction that I stumbled upon in my own personal library recently. The Fiction Class is a story about Arabella Hicks (poor dear – blame her mother for her name; she does), a frustrated writer who has been struggling with her novel – and her mother – forever, and who teaches a weekly fiction writing class for authors-to-be. The book is organized along with the class syllabus; the story shifts between chapters devoted to Arabella’s class and her personal life. Eventually, of course, the two overlap. Much hilarity ensues – along with much frustration, poignancy, and a painful-but-crucial realization or two.

The story is easy to read and Arabella is easy to relate to. This may not be high literature, but there are some clever lines and a handful of meaningful life lessons hidden among the highs and lows of trying to teach other people how to do something you love. The supporting characters – her students: the Cary Grant guy, the Princess, the Ne’er Do Well, the Sensitive Guy, the Middle-Aged Woman Trying Too Hard and her Overbearing Mother – appear stereotypical at first. But whether that is who they really are or merely Arabella’s view of them becomes a point of contention and an interesting plot point throughout the course of the story. As does Arabella’s own personality.
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