| Jemima J | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Jane Green] |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Publication date | 2000 |
| Media type | Hardcover |
Jemima J: A Novel About Ugly Ducklings and Swans is a 2000 novel by British author Jane Green.
Jemima Jones is an overweight writer for a small-circulation newspaper in England. The alpha male of the office, an attractive young man named Ben Williams, does not notice her intense crush on him. Depressed and forlorn, Jemima lives in a house with two other girls, both of whom are attractive, promiscuous, and condescending toward Jemima due to her physical appearance.
Jemima begins using the Internet, which has only recently become accessible at her newspaper office, to converse with people in chat rooms. Surprisingly, she develops an online relationship with a handsome gym owner named Brad from Santa Monica, California. Afraid of his rejection, Jemima re-invents herself online, changing her name to "JJ" and claiming she is a television news reporter With the help of photo alteration software, she and her friends create a fake picture of what Jemima would look like if she were thin and athletic. Brad immediately invites her to visit California and stay at his home. Jemima accepts the invitation and quickly sets to lose over eighty pounds in a few months to fit the image Brad saw in the fake photograph.
Meanwhile, as Jemima tries to re-create her physique, Ben Williams leaves the newspaper to become a television news reporter. By this point he is one of Jemima's few platonic friends and views her as a confidante.
Jemima goes to California, having lost the weight, and is met by a thrilled Brad, who takes her to his impressive Santa Monica home. They enter into a relationship and Jemima enjoys her time in the state. Soon, however, she meets Brad's assistant, an overweight young woman who is immediately hostile to her. The young woman rebuffs all of Jemima's attempts to seek rapport, including Jemima's admission that she herself was once overweight.
One day Jemima accidentally discovers that Brad actually harbors a fetish for overweight women and only wants her as "arm candy" to keep up public appearances...Brad is actually in a relationship with his overweight assistant. Jemima, upset and horrified at the betrayal, leaves.
Ben Williams, by happenstance, has become a celebrity in England for his good looks and charm as a newscaster and is, at the moment, on a trip to California. Through a mutual acquaintance, Jemima and Ben reconnect with each other in California before returning to England and starting a relationship.
Green, Jane. Jemima J: A Novel About Ugly Ducklings and Swans. New York: Broadway Books (2000)