‘Lululemons’: A too-bland brand of ‘Prada’
The Devil Wears Prada was a bestselling phenomenon when it was published in 2003 and proved quite the charm for author Lauren Weisberger.
The author’s debut novel about an imperious Anna Wintour-like magazine editor led to a successful film adaptation in 2006 starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep. Elton John is now working on a Broadway musical version.
But the third installment in the series, When Life Gives You Lululemons (Simon & Schuster, 340 pp., ★★☆☆), is, like its main character, more contrived than charming.
The Devil’s Emily Charlton (Emily Blunt in the movie) is front and center in Lululemons. (Let’s give Weisberger props for a clever title, at least.)
Having gone to Hollywood and become a top stylist, Emily is the go-to image consultant for celebrities. Until recently, that is. Her clients have been dropping her and signing with a new wunderkind, Olivia Belle, whose acumen in social media is far superior to Emily’s.
The new novel opens with Emily be- ing called to New York on New Year’s Eve to handle a situation with a client — only to be unceremoniously dumped by said client, who then hires — guess who — Olivia Belle.
While on the East Coast, Emily decides to drop in on childhood friend Miriam Kagan, who has left her job as a lawyer in New York City and moved to Greenwich, Conn., to be a full-time mom.
It is through Miriam that Emily becomes aware of Karolina Hartwell. A former supermodel and current wife of a U.S. senator from New York, Harry Hartwell, Karolina is arrested for DUI. Her predicament goes from bad to worse when her husband very publicly leaves her. Karolina flees Bethesda, Md., to hole up in the family home in Greenwich.
Through Karolina and her friendship with Miriam, Emily finds an avenue for her own redemption as an image consultant and the perfect project to get her back on top.
Of the three protagonists, Emily is probably the most underdeveloped and unsympathetic. Which is too bad.
Weisberger could have given her more of a soul, more dimension. Instead, the reader is treated to a relentless barrage of vapid observations that soon wear thin.
Even Greenwich, the other major character in the book, does not fare well. The town is filled with stereotypical athleisure-wearing moms whose conversations border on the sophomoric.
Both The Devil’s Andrea Sachs and Miranda Priestly make brief appearances. Andrea is pretty much superfluous; she is now living on a farm in Vermont. Miranda’s moment is critical to a major plot line yet manages to feel glossed over.
Prada fans hoping for an entertaining reunion with their favorite characters may find that life has given them Lululemons after all.