How To Be Perfect by Holly Wainwright

How to be perfect

The social media tsunami generated by the Stylish Mumma should see Holly Wainwright translating the vicarious glow of this air brushed virtual star into a televisual box set light years away from those warts and all Neighbours and the golden era of the Antipodean soap opera.

Paul Robinson has morphed into Elle Campbell, a character so Machiavellian that she makes Ramsay Street’s devil incarnate appear no more threatening than a fair dinkum troll.

The Elle-ness established her amoral credentials with jaw dropping antics at the Blog-ahhs, the social media Oscars whose eagerly awaited evening of back slapping ended in a public humiliation that went viral. Yet the segue from the depths of personal ignominy, suffered in the Mummy Bloggers, to the apparent state of perfection she now exudes has been achieved in the bat of an emojis eye-lid.

This now mystical goddess extols the virtues of an ethereal vegan lifestyle, beyond the reach of her new legion of followers. But her resurgent media presence is both controlling and contrived – this is an allegory in many ways for the power of this medium to conceal reality with a mask of artificiality that relies on images and snapshots that bear only the slightest resemblance to the truth.

The pace of character development from the earlier book is seamless with the Green Diva particularly evolving as a force of nature potentially able to shift the balance of power. A battle of the egos, between Elle and Abi, is humorously described with the many sub-plots combining to create a heady mix of ambition and emotion that struggles to recognise a controlling presence that threatens to derail the contrasting lifestyles they both embody.

Wainright’s obvious empathy with her characters ensures that the reader is able to wallow in the excesses of materialistic angst and gushing self-importance with only the merest twinge of guilt and possible jealousy. Yet the twist in the tale that leads to a questioning of these Hollywood nirvanas is more physical than mystical and reminds us that there will always be a Paul Robinson around the corner.


How To Be Perfect by Holly Wainwright (Published by Legend Press. Price £8.99). Buy the book at amazon.

  • Rich Review's rating
3
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