English as a Second Language

June 21, 2004
Heads up, world: British university students drink a lot. That's the main conclusion reached by first-timer Crane in this novel about a 20-something American student forging new friendships, swilling lager, kissing boys and generally behaving as if a master's degree is the furthest thing from her mind. When a smug, repulsive ex-boyfriend tells paralegal Alex Brennan that she could never get into grad school in England, she promptly applies, gets accepted and hops onto a plane. She arrives at a small northern university to discover a hideous campus, dreary weather, a gorgeous yet unapproachable professor and a social life that revolves around drinking pints in the double digits and nursing the resulting hangovers. Housemates Cristina and Melanie aid in reconnaissance missions to spy on Sean the professorial hottie, and drinking buddies Toby and Jason hover in the background in various stages of inebriation. Jealous and paranoid fellow student Suzanne embroils Alex in competition over grades, men and anything else she can think of. Meanwhile, the papers are piling up, and Toby's starting to look sort of attractive. Crane, herself a former university student in England, gets points for energy and effort, but this is an awkward jumble of a book with a familiar "Just shut up and kiss me" conclusion. Agent, Julie Barer
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August 15, 2004
What's a girl to do when her smug ex-boyfriend says she'll never get into graduate school? In Crane's charming debut, Alex Brennan proves him wrong, leaving behind her unsatisfying life in New York for a masters of literature program in England. There, she makes friends, drinks a lot, entertains a crush on her sexy professor, and still manages to make good grades. Despite how far she has come, however, she finds that she is the same Alex with the same flaws and insecurities; she decides that she must face those problems in order to grow as a person. Unlike most of the superficial chick lit on the market, this is an engrossing, intelligent read never lacking in drama or humor, with a well-paced plot and enjoyable characters. Add to that the appealing cover, and chick-lit aficionados will snap it up.--Anna M. Nelson, Seabrook Lib., NH

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2004
After several postcollege years working as a legal assistant, Alex Brennan realizes she doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. Her solution is the perennially popular option of going to graduate school. She chooses Oxford because her ex-boyfriend tells her she won't be accepted. It turns out he was right, so she opts for a different university in the north of England and begins her master's studies in English. Alex settles in very quickly, making friends with her housemates and an enemy of another American student, a neurotic woman who likes to force intimacy by spilling her guts to anyone within earshot. Countless pints and late nights later, Alex eventually manages to get a degree and is forced to decide whether she wants her move to England to be a year-long adventure or the beginning of a new life. Debut novelist Crane keeps things very light in this breezy but accurate take on twentysomethings who thought adult life began after college but find that the transition can take a bit longer.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)