Diary of a Married Call Girl (Nancy Chan Novels) by Tracy Quan - 2006

Harper Collins Publishers, UK, 2006. First Edition. Softcover. Very Good Condition. 326 pages. Available Now. Book Description: The witty, sexy sequel to Tracy Quan's bestselling 'Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl'.: Like everyone, Nancy finds that as life goes on, she has to adapt. She's learning to hone her respectable image as the wife of investment banker Matt, cooking fashionable meals and taking his shirts to the cleaners, while turning a few tricks on the side. Volume is down, but the sex is kinkier. And she finds herself pulled into the discreet subculture of the married call girl. Some women's husband's know what they do, some don't, and some 'know, but don't know.' Nancy's is in the dark, although her best friend Allison's increasing presence in the media spotlight threatens to expose Nancy's secret. Meanwhile, Matt wants a baby, but Nancy isn't so sure. Motherhood could end her career for good - and what will it do to her body?: Will Nancy have to give up her career to save her marriage? What if she becomes the frumpy wife her clients often come to her to escape? Fans of Quan's first Nancy Chan novel, readers of Candace Bushnell's '4 Blondes', and anyone who enjoys a walk on the wild side will love this revealing romp. : Review: Reviews for 'Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl': : 'Bridget Jones with attitude.' Guardian: 'Fun to read...marks the transition of erotica from hide-it-under-the-bed to read-it-on-the-tube...Her sex scenes are delightful.' The Times: 'New York's latest literary sensation.' Independent: 'Frank, fizzy, and not for the faint-hearted.' YOU Magazine, Mail on Sunday: 'Chock-full of bad-girl secrets...tantalizing.' Cosmopolitan: 'If you want a sassy read about a sparky New Yorker trying to juggle her professional and private life, then you'll love this...A startling debut that's a cross between Bridget Jones's Diary and Pretty Woman...You can forget the anonymously-written Belle Du Jour, that rather limp-wristed, supposedly true account of the working life of an upmarket London prostitute which was published to huge fanfare earlier this year. The Diary Of A Manhattan Call Girl is not only 10 times funnier, it actually has a storyline.' Daily Mirror: 'Unexpectedly wise, observant and best of all - fun.' Los Angeles Times: 'A new perspective on the world's oldest profession.' Honey : From the Author: What was your inspiration for the Call Girl novels? : In the summer of 1999, I decided to tell the story of a Y2K call girl, Nancy Chan. Nancy's been working since her teens. She began in the 1980s, without a cellphone or a website, yet can pass for a new girl when she has to. I saw that as a down to earth way of looking at the new millennium. : Reading Moll Flanders changed my life, my inner life, and planted a seed that -- many years later -- evolved into Nancy Chan. I'm a big fan of pop and domestic fiction. As a child, I had a long Enid Blyton phase. She created a closed universe for her characters, and I liked that. Colette's been a big inspiration, too. Her Claudine series, which helped pave the way for modern chick lit, is still relevant. Two of my favorite fictional diarists are Adrian Mole and Bridget Jones. They're not as savvy as Nancy when it comes to sex -- but that doesn't mean Nancy has all the answers. : I want prostitutes to have a place at the expandable table that chick lit has become. If that's a domestic metaphor, I think it suits the occasion. My latest Nancy Chan novel is about a married call girl trying to be a picture-perfect wife! : Why do you feel strongly about issues that affect the sex industry? : For the call girls in my novels, the sex workers' movement is challenging the way they've always lived, urging them to be more open. Nancy's afraid of change, but her best friend Allison is more adventurous, so Nancy gets dragged into situations almost against her will. I find this tension between the uptight married call girl and the radical hooker inherently funny, but the conflict is universal. Living the life you already know, or learning how to deal with a changing world. A lot of readers know that feeling, it's a human dilemma. Many issues affecting prostitutes are broad human problems affecting us all. : Are the characters based on anyone you know? : Yes, but sometimes I don't realize until the book is in print! And sometimes it's deliberate.: Nancy's double life was never supposed to be mine. I based that on another call girl who had such a complex existence, I was really intrigued. Later, I came to see that Nancy's way of life was also based on mine because I was keeping my novel a secret. I discovered that a writing project would go more smoothly when people close to me didn't know about it. : The sex Nancy has with her favorite client, Milt, is based on a relationship I had. She's emotionally attached, he's sexually attached, and it works for them. If she didn't feel this way, she might find his sexual demands overwhelming. : Some of my characters surprise me - they aren't who they seem to be. Female characters - like Nancy's cousin, Miranda - are based on my male friends, while male characters contain parts of myself. A lot of decisions are made at the unconscious level. : What message do you want your readers to take away with them?: Anybody who lives with another person knows that there's a moment in each day when you feel unfaithful to your partner - it may have nothing to do with sex. Often, it's your work which makes you feel this way, because it's the key to your identity. I've chosen to explore this in a rather extreme way - with a prostitute married to a banker -- because that's a world I know about, and also because I think we need to retain our sense of humor about this problem. . : Have you ever kept a diary? : On and off, yes. But not while I was in the sex trade. I recently tried to keep a totally anonymous blog that nobody knew about. I used it as a personal diary for about two weeks. I didn't talk about my work or my neighborhood because I wanted the freedom to say all kinds of things about my personal life without being detected. But talking about feelings without any geography or work mixed in was not as fulfilling as I thought it would be. So I stopped. : So what's next in the pipeline for our heroine Nancy? : Nancy's a quintessential New Yorker. It's hard to leave Manhattan, but forces beyond her control will make her want to travel. Some things will change, others not. There are people who wonder if Nancy will embrace activism, confess to her husband or be cured by her therapist. If she did all this, I would find her intolerable! We need to embrace Nancy's flaws so we can understand our own. Her relationship with activism is antagonistic - but doesn't go away. Some of the most important parts of our lives are things we struggle with, rather than things we embrace. As for marital bliss, Nancy feels that honesty is overrated. Nancy's in therapy for girly selfish reasons, not to become a more honest woman or better person. So, wherever Nancy goes, and I have to keep some of that under my hat for now, she'll have a good alibi. : Do you have a message for your fans? : If you don't control your own story, somebody else will. Size: 13 x 2.3 x 19.7 cm. 326 pages. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 500 grams. Category: Fiction; Paperback; ISBN: 0007228627. ISBN/EAN: 9780007228621. Inventory No: F245-1116.. 9780007228621