"It was through a chance conversation with her Norwegian publishers following her first book that Pearson realised her vague idea of writing about a teenager in love with David Cassidy might be something to pursue. As she recalls, all the women around the table immediately started to talk about their own teenage crushes—apart from one who remained completely silent: "I remember thinking, ‘oh gosh, she thinks this is stupid, girly prattle about some teen idol'—then there was a silence in the conversation and she said, ‘But he was mine'. And I heard that and I thought, okay, you have to write this now.""From the article by Alice O'Keefe on Alison Pearson's upcoming (and eagerly awaited?) novel I Think I Love You about a 13-year old girl "riddled with teenage angst and nursing a full-on obsession with 1970s heart-throb David Cassidy."
Please raise your hand if you are no longer thirteen but still nursing a full-on obsession with David Cassidy. Ok, so you'd call it a mild obsession? ;-
Pearson's first novel, I Don't Know How She Does It, resonated with a lot of women (almost half a million, if I understand the sales figure correctly). I suspect this one will too. David Cassidy was young baby boomers' most popular idol and they form the largest segment of the population. While most soon-to-be middle-aged women don't want to be thirteen again, I suspect many would enjoy revisiting those heady feelings of a first crush through a novel. I know I certainly did via the internet. If Pearson has fleshed out her young protagonist properly, readers should also recognize their idealism and dreams in her.
Who's pre-ordered the book? (Clever title by the way. Surefire reference for anyone in her target audience.)
Can anyone think of a post-David Cassidy teen idol that would spawn a novel like this?
Here's "I Can Feel Your Heartbeat" because he made our hearts beat quicker (and I recently posted ITILY). The twenty year old version, just as high energy as the first, follows.
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