Dead Funny

It is hard to describe how much I adored Cleo Spender, the fictional seventy-something A-List socialite and former TV superstar, who is one of the main (and certainly most delightful) characters in Louise Fennell's debut novel, Dead Rich. Impossibly glamorous and equally beautiful, Cleo has decided to grow old deliciously and perhaps my favourite scene in the entire novel was when she is off filming on the slopes of Kathmandu, where "bathed in the golden light of dusk Cleo looked extraordinary, like the sphinx, beautiful and darkly mysterious". 

Dead Rich, published this year by Bedford Square Books and now available through Simon & Schuster, is the story of the Spender family, "glamorous, rich and very, very famous." In Louise Fennell's novel, they're modern Britain's ultimate celebrities, easily dominating the pap-filled, champagne-fuelled world of the tabloids, as well as the older world of London high society. The Spenders are basically like a cross between the Kardashians and the Mitfords and Dead Rich is therefore a warts-and-all expose of what life for today's super-wealthy and super-famous can be. From the loathsomely self-obsessed Valentine Robinson to the aforementioned Cleo, who is relentless in her fabulousness, Dead Rich is packed full of brilliantly improbable yet thoroughly believable characters, from bed-hopping lotharios to bisexual property empire heirs and the spoiled uber-brats of celebrity parents. Clever, naughty, honest, camp and very, very funny, Dead Rich had me laughing out loud and hoping that it'll make the transition to the Silver Screen very soon!

Emma Rutter (Year 10, Friends' Grammar School) reviews "Popular"

Okay, so many of the Facebook fan page followers might remember that last month I went to speak at Friends' Grammar School in Lisburn (behold their crest, above) and had a really great time there. It's a great school and the audience was a lot of fun. I spoke a bit about what it's like to be an author, read from chapter one of the book and then did a book signing (luckily, signature has definitely improved since the first time I did at Waterstones in Belfast when the first five books looked like a drunken spider had been dropped in ink and allowed to wander across their front page...)

Anyway, one of the Year 10 students at Friends', Emma Rutter, has written a review with her thoughts of Popular and a big thanks to Emma for writing it and Mrs. Black for sending it to me. Love this review and hope you do too!


Gareth Russell: Popular by Emma Rutter


The bitchy, backstabbing - and totally beau - debutantes of Belfast. 


Meredith Harper, Kerry Davidson, Cameron Matthews and Imogen Dawson are the monarchs of Mount Olivet Grammar School. The trend-setters, the queen bees and the heart-achingly beautiful, everyone wants to be them - and don’t they know it.  But what the outsiders don’t see is the web of scandal, silences and intrigue that lies behind the glamorous front.


It’s the tale of their lives, in and out of school. It’s the book which reveals the struggles between friends, the decisions faced by the possibly-gay Cameron, the troubled relationships between the characters. It’s an insight into the lives of the A-List, filled with dinners, parties and lots and lots of sparkle.


The characters are all different, yet each of them needs each other indefinitely. Where would Meredith be without her bezzie Imogen? And can you imagine ditzy Kerry with anyone other than Cameron to soothe her down at the time of a Fabulously Induced Breakdown? 


Coming from Northern Ireland myself, I thought it was a great idea to have a book set in good old Belfast. An attempt to change the misconceived idea that Ireland is just a green country filled with leprechauns, terrorists and and endless amount of pubs, it’s part of a new generation of books set in an alternative area to the typical England or America.


When I first looked at the book, I thought to myself, “This is just an Irish version of Gossip Girl.” How very wrong I was! I really love the fact that both the characters and the storyline are extremely believable (and I confess that, as I was reading the book, I found myself placing people I know into the shoes of many of the characters!) All the little local details (such as the Ulster Tatler) add a richness to the storyline which nothing else could replace. Throw in the artfully constructed sentences and the emotional journey taken by most of the characters during the book, and you’ve got yourself a deliciously indulgent read that’ll leave you begging for more.

UK readers can purchase Popular HERE.

'Distressingly familiar': an Australian review of "Popular"

Viewpoint, Australia's leading young adult literature magazine, includes a new review of Popular in the current edition (Vol. 19, no. 4). Printed out of the University of Melbourne (coat of arms; left), the magazine is dedicated to reviewing all major new novels for Australia's booksellers and teen readers. The review is by Katy Gerner, a writer and reviewer from Sydney, who didn't expect to like Popular based on its cover, but here's what she had to say.

Popular: Have you got what it takes? by Gareth Russell

When I first picked up Popular, I expected (a) it to be about a bunch of mean American girls and (b) that I wouldn't like it. (I went to a high school full of mean 'popular' girls and I don't like being reminded how nasty females can be to each other.) However, the girls and one boy were Irish, although pretty mean, and I did enjoy it. Russell stands back from his characters and describes them almost mockingly, and puts them in undignified situations for the reader's amusement. 

His plots did not go in the direction that I expected them to. I was expecting a 'Benedick' and 'Beatrice' denouement but it didn't happen. Sometimes, the main characters had moments of enlightenment about their behaviour which I thought would lead to a change of character, but no, they happily slipped back into their old ways. It also wasn't clear who were the true 'baddies' and who were the true 'victims'. This aspect of being unable to guess what the characters were going to do next or what was going to be done to them, made the story compelling.

The nastiness and self-destructive behaviour in Popular is believable, perhaps because Russell saw it when he was a teenager. The introduction says, 'nearly all the book is based upon events that have happened during his schooldays - the more ridiculous they seem, the greater the chance that they are close to real life.' I did wonder, as the characters worked so hard to avoid any school work, and their exam answers are distressingly familiar.

Popular is the first of a new series. I'm wondering how the characters will cope after their exams having deliberately sabotaging their schooling? Or what they are going do to their livers? Perhaps Russell is arranging an embarrassing ending for them, better even than the scene on page 105. One can hope so.

Katy Gerner is a Sydney writer an reviewer. She also survived her high school years, although she still has nightmares about them.

Copyright to Viewpoint magazine is owned by the University of Melbourne

The ALPHAREADER review of "Popular"

Danielle Binks, author of the ALPHAREADER blog (www.alphareader.blogspot.com), a really great young adult review blog, has given Popular five stars out of five! To quote: -

"I loved reading about the life and times of Irish teens. I especially loved the fact that Russell’s teenagers are neither middle-class ‘Skins’ or spray-tanned O.C. bitches. Russell’s Mount Olivet teens are in a world all their own. There are very different rules of popularity for Irish cliques; attending Mass is a chance to hobnob and being on the Lady of Lourdes fundraiser board is a sign of status. I love, love, loved the fact that ‘Popular’ is about Irish teen cliques – not the typical (and done-to-death) American ‘Mean Girls’ variety. Yes, the characters reference Sex and the City and Gossip Girl, but their lives are decidedly Irish, right down to their religious-laden quips;

‘What are your plans for revision, Imogen?’ asked Cameron, taking another drink of Diet Coke

‘Saint Jude,’ she replied. ‘Well, I mean, it’s sort of staggered really. I’ll start off with Saint Giuseppe and Saint Thomas Aquinas, but I think in the end it’s all going to come down to Saint Jude.’

‘Oh, he’s very good,’ said Meredith.

Decipher: Saint Jude is the patron saint of lost causes.

Russell’s characters are also delicious dastardly darlings. These teenagers are the richest of the rich, getting their own spreads in the Ulster Tattler and residing in Belfast mansions to rival even the cliff-side residences of Orange County. Fair warning, few characters in ‘Popular’ are redeemable or even likable. Meredith is an Ice Queen who rules by iron fist and double-dealings. Imogen is a pretty girl who knows it, and Kerry is wholly concerned with usurping her best frenemy. These characters are horrendous . . . but Russell writes them with so much panache and ‘OH-MY-GOD!’ antics that they bypass annoying and head straight into horribly entertaining. Like a car crash you can’t look away from, the characters in ‘Popular’ are often times so depraved and annoying that they’re entertainingly fabulous."

Check out Danielle's amazing review in full HERE. 

What do you guys think? Do you agree with her? Personally, it's one of my favourite reviews of Popular so far!

How do you deal with a bad review?

Okay, so this really made me laugh. Mostly because it's so true and because it's refreshingly honest. It kind of how got me to thinking though about how people cope with bad reviews in life. Anyone have any of you good tips/hilarious stories on how to cope when you get a negative review about being you, something you've done or just generally being alive when some super biatch would rather you weren't?

Anyway! This is from the blog of the American novelist Christopher Gortner, who's the author of some really great historical novels like The Confessions of Catherine de Medici and The Tudor Secret. (You can read my review on Tudor Secret on this blog.) Christopher put down his thoughts on how he copes when one of his books get a bad review. What do you think? 

"I got a really bad review a few days ago. No, let me re-phrase that. Not merely bad. Rotten. Dreadful. As in, this reviewer said everything I imagine someone saying in my worst nightmares about my book. I wasn’t expecting it -writers rarely do - and at first I sat there, stunned. I couldn’t believe anyone could take such offense to what is, in the final say, fiction. A novel. Entertainment... 

Bad reviews are, of course, part and parcel of being published; it comes with the territory and there’s no handbook to teach you how to deal with the emotional impact. Some authors cry. Others get drunk. Some call a friend to gripe. Most get mad. A few take it in stride, or at least pretend to. After all, it’s your book someone just skewered—the tangible fruit of years of labor. You’ve sacrificed valuable time with family and friends; forgone movies, restaurants, sex; you’ve walked the dog aimlessly in circles, muttering like an indigent to yourself; burned or forgotten meals; lost sleep; tussled and agonized over a single word, even screamed at your computer when no one was looking. The hard truth is writing is tough and writing a novel is the epitome of toughness. It takes perseverance, ego, and more than a touch of insanity. I mean, you spend all this time by yourself, locked in your head in a room staring at a screen or piece of paper, conjuring imaginary things, and hoping, praying, someone else will care enough to want to read it, let alone publish it. Then, insomniac, battered and badly in need of a shower, you turn the manuscript in and have to deal with everyone else’s opinion of it— your agent, your editor, the marketing team, the booksellers. In their own ways, they will each shape your work into something that can be packaged and sold to the public. Sentences you slaved over will be cut without mercy; scenes shifted here or re-crafted there; a character will be eliminated and another, to your astonishment, will attempt to hijack the plot. You’ll go back over the same lines time and time again, until you can recite them from memory and your spouse or significant other will look at you furtively as you sit hunched at your desk, crab-handed over those first-pass pages, and remark perhaps it’s time for us to start thinking of taking that oft-delayed vacation. 

In the end, the idea that started as a seed in your febrile brain, was nurtured on imagination and ... will become a cooperative project, a team effort. A Book. And then, it gets sent out. To anonymous people and places you’ve never seen. Newspapers (though these are less and less); trade magazines; online sites; bloggers—hundreds of eyes will peruse your painstakingly crafted prose and, within a few lines, maybe a few chapters, if you’re lucky, pass judgment. To review or not review; to like or not like. After all, this person who will now review your book has no stake in your well-being... They don’t know if you’re a nice person or a mean one; if you talk on your cell phone when you should be driving; if you donate to an animal shelter or spend too much money on shoes. All they care about is that ... moment which you have no control over, when they read your words for the very first time and had a reaction. Or didn’t. So, those words you hoped and prayed were worthy of attention will now, finally, garner words of their own, for better or worse. In some cases, as in bad reviews, you’ll almost wish they hadn’t. Almost, but not quite. Because in the end, even a bad review is still a review. It means someone cared enough to take the time to say: Hey, this sucks. Don’t bother. Buy a DVD instead. Check out the latest Ikea catalog. Collect stamps. Browse online for new underwear. Do anything but purchase this lousy book.Yes, someone cared. And isn’t that what every writer dreams of? I know I do. So, how did I deal with the bad review? How else? I cried. I got mad. I pretended not to care. I poured myself a stiff drink and called a friend to complain."

Elena Maria Vidal's review of "Popular"

Elena Maria Vidal, the author of "Trianon" and "Madame Royale," a series of novels about the French royal family, and "The Night's Dark Shade," a love story and religious drama set in the Middle Ages, has given a great review of Popular: -

Neither half knew that the other half knew anything about it and so there was no possibility to talk about it openly, even if they had been capable of frank, honest, emotional discussions — which they weren't. ~from Popular by Gareth Russell

Released in July 2011, Popular by Northern Irish writer Gareth Russell, is a scathingly witty and humorous romp dealing with privileged teenagers in Belfast. Now I must admit that before meeting Gareth and reading his novel I had a quite different picture of Belfast than I have now. Most of what I knew about Northern Ireland were the news stories of civil strife and terroristic violence which I heard throughout my life, and which made me resolve never to go there.

In Popular, however, Belfast is not the Irish version of the Middle East as Americans tend to visualize it. Instead, Popular's Belfast is the Paris of the British Isles, a city full of glamorous and exclusive shops and restaurants, elegant homes, and *fabulous* balls and parties which the Romanovs themselves would have relished. The "Troubles" which haunted Northern Ireland for over thirty years, resulting in the deaths of over 3500 people, with occasional eruptions even today, are absent, which serves to heighten the bold frivolity of the teenagers' lives. Protestants and Catholics go to school side by side. The world inhabited by Meredith Harper and her friends Imogen, Kerry, Catherine and Cameron is insulated from ugliness and fear, with the biggest worries being what to wear to a specific event and keeping one's place in the clique. As the title of the book tells us, everything in the lives of the teenagers revolves around being popular. However, since they are the children and grandchildren of those who survived The Troubles, it is not surprising that they would choose as their queen someone with a cool head and a quick tongue, who demands absolute loyalty.

It would be a mistake to classify Popular as another piece of trite teen fiction or chick-lit; it is much more. Popular, although it is a novel, has much in common with a comedy of manners, a drama which satirizes the manners and affectations of a particular social class with the emphasis on comic and witty dialog. It follows in the tradition of Molière's Le Misanthrope, Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer, Sheridan's School for Scandal and even the novels of Jane Austen. Most especially, Popular reminded me of such works of Oscar Wilde as The Importance of Being Earnest for its sheer entertainment quality and unapologetic aristocratic flair. Not surprisingly, Popular has already made the transition from book to stage play.

Since the setting is contemporary, the language of Popular is of the present; the protagonists speak pretty much the same way teenagers do everywhere, with swearing and vulgarity, while engaging in what we in America call underage drinking. Being that the characters are mostly Irish, the banter is especially brisk, sparkling and humorous. As we follow the friends from party to party, the interactions become thought-provoking as well. In seeing the foibles, vanities and deceptions of  fifteen and sixteen year olds we are forced to acknowledge that perhaps we have behaved in similar duplicitous and self-indulgent ways, without having the excuse of youth and immaturity. Underneath the froth are heartbreaking truths which most of us try to ignore, as do Meredith and her cronies. In the meantime, the parents of Meredith and company hardly appear at all. Such is the skill of the author in bringing his characters to life that I had to keep reminding myself that they are fictional so I need not worry about them.

While on one level the teens are like teens everywhere, there are differences which make them unique to their own time and place. Although they are under the influence of Sex and the City, Mean Girls and Coppola's Marie-Antoinette they still seem to value purity, especially Meredith, who is a practicing Catholic. Meredith is one of the most interesting heroines I have ever encountered in fiction although I detested her at first. She has been compared to Scarlett O'Hara but I think she is a lot more intelligent and less given to histrionics; there are no Ashley obsessions. She is more like the virgin princess in Puccini's Turandot than anyone else: the icy, intransigent maiden. Meredith appears to have it all together; she has everything, absolutely everything, except a mother. The fact that her mother abandoned her might be the reason why Meredith is so controlling of everyone else, pulling strings behind the scenes, always scheming, while ruling her clique with an iron hand. She is especially against great displays of emotion; her enormous self-control makes her a born leader, which her wealth and sense of style allow her to carry off with aplomb. Meredith is also uncompromising when it comes to protecting her friends, although she bullies them a bit at times, for what she thinks is their own good. She holds them to the same high standards which she has for herself, and ultimately, I think she should become a nun; she would make a good Mother Superior. Only in Ireland would the scenarios of Popular exist with the same mix of hilarity and pathos, along with a small dose of innocence which the rest of the world has forgotten.

Popular is the first of a series; with such colorful personalities, it will be interesting to see where it all goes. I am already looking forward to the next installment.

For a link to Elena Maria's review page on her blog, Tea at Trianon, click HERE.

Tatler's Book of the Month!

Popular has been named Ulster Tatler's "Book of the Month" in the September 2011 edition. So thrilled with this! You can read Kellie Chambers' review of the novel here, but some extracts include: -

"As the first installment of a new series, Popular definitely packs a punch."

"Packed with wicked humour, glamorous characters and razor sharp dialogue... Russell's expertly crafted novel is a hilariously refreshing read which is ingenious, entertaining and like nothing you have ever seen from Northern Ireland before." 

"Popular" review giveaway!

Fun news. If you have a blog in the UK or Ireland that has over fifty registered followers, then Penguin are giving away five free review copies of Popular. Get in touch to the theatre show's e-mail address popularauditions@yahoo.com if you're interested!

The Anne Boleyn Files reviews "Popular"

Claire Ridgway, creator of the fantastic and very successful website The Anne Boleyn Files, has reviewed Popular and here's a peak at some of the thing she had to say: -

"The novel follows the group through the events of their school year – the return to school in September, Kerry’s 16th birthday party, nights out, dates, balls, Christmas, non-uniform days, mock exams, Valentine’s Day, sports day, GCSE exams and the end of term – and everything that goes with it: drunken antics, hangovers, infidelity, stolen kisses, secrets, lies, fashion faux pas, disasters, break-ups, romance, heartache, bitching, “emergencias”, tall tales, revelations… You name it! The book is a fun read, just perfect for the beach or lazing in a sunny garden, and takes you back to your school days when every faux pas was an “emergencia”. In Gareth’s bio at the front, it says that “nearly all the book is based upon events that have happened during his schooldays – the more ridiculous they seem, the greater chance that they are close to real life”, well, Gareth, your school days must have been one hell of a ride!

So, even though this book has nothing to do with Anne Boleyn or Tudor history, apart from Gareth being an historian and the novel containing references to Anne and “The Tudors”, I would recommend it. Why? Because it’s fun and it’s by a great writer. If you enjoy “Sex in the City”, if you want to be reminded of the angst and madness of your school days, if you love Marie Antoinette, Anne Boleyn and Scarlett O’Hara, and you appreciate good modern fiction, then I’d recommend “Popular”. Gareth is already working on the sequel and I can’t wait to read it."

For Claire's full review, click HERE.

"Popular" reviewed by Katy Moran

Katy Moran, the author of Dangerous to Know and the medieval thrillers Bloodline, Bloodline Rising and Spirit Hunter, has reviewed Popular on her blog.

"Meredith Harper rules Mount Olivet Grammar School in Belfast with beauty, charm and despotic power, aided by a small tribe of It-girls all equally as beautiful (well nearly) and just as bitchy. Cameron, six feet tall and gorgeous, is part of the clique now that he has conquered an addiction to muffins and lost the puppy fat. Obviously, it all gets complicated, but not in the way you might think. This is a very, very entertaining look at what it takes to be part of the in-crowd, especially if you’re a socialite in Northern Ireland (being featured in Ulster Tatler, for one: “Inside the magazine, Imogen was posing on the Giant’s Causeway in a ball gown, with Anastasia Montmorency beside her. They had both gone for brooding, with the waves crashing over the rocks behind them (…) in a fabulously poetic way.”). It’s an extremely funny book – I laughed a lot and kept reading bits out loud to people, which must have been very annoying but I couldn’t help myself. 

Popular has the convincing weight of authenticity – at first, I thought Meredith’s friend Kerry was a caricature, but a few chapters in I started to suspect that the author knows someone exactly like her, so I just went along for the ride. Russell does mercilessly laugh at his characters quite a bit, but he chooses his targets carefully. There’s nothing funny about Meredith Harper. There are serious issues, too, which I won’t go into lest I spoil the plot for you. It’s all very well dealt with, though: nothing is clear cut or black and white, just like life. My one complaint – a small one – is that the only genuinely nice characters are boys. The girls are all pretty morally bankrupt to a greater or lesser extent, which seems a bit unfair (on the boys – why can’t they be amusingly wicked, too, instead of just confused? It looks like so much fun.) This didn’t occur to me till I’d finished the book, and didn’t spoil my enjoyment of it. There’s more to come in this series and I’ll definitely be looking out for the next serving of evil glamour."

An interview with Christopher Gortner, author of "The Tudor Secret"

Early this week, I reviewed Christopher Gortner's novel The Tudor Secret, which you can read here, and I'm delighted to post this interview between Christopher and I discussing his new book and its inspirations. My thanks to the author.

"The Tudor Secret" by Christopher Gortner

“There are moments that define our existence, moments that, if we recognize them, become pivotal turning points in our life. Like pearls on a strand, the accumulation of such moments will in time become the essence of our life, providing solace when our ends draw near. For me, meeting Elizabeth Tudor was one of those moments.” 

I received a review copy of The Tudor Secret on a Friday morning and I had it finished by Saturday evening. I also had a lot to do that weekend, almost none of which got done.

The Tudor Secret is Christopher Gortner’s third novel and like his previous two works, it is set in the sixteenth century. His first, The Last Queen, was set in Spain; his second, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici, in France. This time round, Gortner turns his attention to England in the sweltering summer of 1553 when the teenage King Edward the Sixth has disappeared from public view, amidst rumours that his chief minister, the Duke of Northumberland, is hiding the young king away from the public’s gaze in the hope of clinging onto power for himself. The king’s two sisters – thirty-seven year-old Mary and nineteen year-old Elizabeth – are understandably suspicious, particularly Mary, a devout Roman Catholic who is next in line to inherit the crown if Edward dies without children. Taking it upon herself to discover the truth, Princess Elizabeth journeys to London and it is here, in the sprawling Palace of Whitehall, a palace once built for her executed mother, that she first meets Brendan Prescott, a young equestrian working for the duke of Northumberland, the princesses’ apparent arch-enemy. From this fateful meeting, The Tudor Secret spins a truly addictive adventure story around the mystery of Brendan’s own identity and Elizabeth’s attempts to outwit whatever it is the duke is planning to do.