The Continuity Girl.

Britta Santowski is a freelance writer in Victoria, B.C.

In her first novel, The Continuity Girl, Leah McLaren writes the life of Meredith Moore. Cast to the periphery of film production, Meredith’s role as continuity girl is to ensure the seamless transition of objects and characters from one scene to the next on film sets.

The transitions in Meredith’s life, however, are not so seamless. First, she walks off the set of her current job in Toronto. Then, aware that her biological clock is ticking, she bolts for London to recruit an unwitting father for her yet-to-be-conceived unborn child. There she reunites her Torontonian eccentric friend, Mish, and re-encounters her new (and very handsome) gynecologist Dr. Joe Veil. Life’s adventures unfold, and this tale sees her through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.

This novel provides high-quality entertainment. Leah McLaren’s writing is lively and her characters all come alive. Her novel is comparable to that of England’s very prolific and successful Marion Keyes, another bubblegum romance author writing for the enjoyment of her female readers. The formula works: a handful of female friendships, a dash of gay men (one or two will do), and three cups of rocking adventure destined to delight and entertain.

Leah McLaren is best known for her popular weekly column in the Globe and Mail’s Style section. Her writing has been published in The Times of London, the London Evening Standard, the Sunday Telegraph, and The Spectator magazine. She now divides her time between Toronto and a farm in Grafton, Ontario. This is her first novel.