Book Review of Angel, by Katie Price
Ex-Glamour Model Jordan's First Book Mirrors Her Life
Aug 31, 2009
Katie Price has been generating a few headlines lately, most having to do with her relationship with cage fighter Alex Reid, her first relationship since separating from her husband, singer Peter Andre, in May 2009.
Why wouldn't she generate publicity? Price is now a self-professed businesswoman, and any attention her way could only help her ventures: an equestrian line, calendars, bed linens, fragrance and books. Her first fiction novel, Angel, published by Arrow Books Ltd on July, 6, 2006, ISBN No. 0099497867, has been a best-seller, though it echoes her previously published autobiography, Being Jordan.
What Angel is About
Angel is about a young lady, Angel, who lives in Brighton, England (as Price did), and is discovered at 17 (as Price was), and launched into a glamour modelling career. Angel begins with the title character preparing to go out with her best mate, Gemma, to celebrate Angel's 17th birthday. Gemma gives Angel a quick makeover that draws attention to her assets for her special night out.
At the club, they meet up with Tony, Angel's brother (she was adopted, by the way), and his buddy, Cal, whom Angel has been crushing on for ages, but he has only really regarded her as a sister. Until tonight, when Cal makes out with her in a corner, abruptly leaves her and then wants to pretend nothing ever happened, to Angel's dismay. The encounter sets the tone of her relationship with Cal throughout he rest of the book: He's in, he's out, he's in, he's out ...
The Dark Side of Modelling
Next in Angel, the new glamour model moves to London as her career picks up, and there she meets boy band member, Mickey, who becomes her boyfriend. He's not the best boyfriend, however. He involves her in a threesome (which makes the tabloid newspapers gleeful), and a drug habit. She's forking thousands of pounds over to him, and eventually she becomes addicted to cocaine herself and enters rehab after Cal comes to her rescue when she's hiding out in Spain, avoiding the fallout from a tabloid newspaper story.
Post-rehab, Angel dumps Mickey and she and Cal, who has a nasty girlfriend, embark on a two-week affair while his girlfriend is out of town. It all ends when she returns, of course, and Angel doesn't hear from him. Cal, a football player, is injured and has surgery, but his girlfriend tells Angel and her brother that Cal doesn't want to see either of them. Angel goes to his house to find him in a terrible mental state and unresponsive to her, but she is determined to help him get better.
Is Katie Price's Angel any Good?
Without giving away too much of Angel, Angel and Cal receive their happy ending. It's no surprise, really, but their up-and-down relationship made for good reading. Angel's stint in rehab was whizzed through in the book, and the bit part where she meets her drug-addled birth mother was so brief it seemed pointless. However, the book is crammed with a lot and Price's fans will clearly see parallels with Price's life.
Angel is a good, quick read, ideal for a long airplane ride or rainy afternoon. The story transports readers to a show-biz world. Price clearly recounts what she knows about the business, lending authority and credibility to the book. Angel, as a main character, is well fleshed-out and emotional, but the characters of Tony and Gemma fall flatter. All in all, Angel is a laudible chick-litty effort by one of Britain's top headline makers.
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