Chick Lit is a much derided genre, yet its snazzily packaged offspring nestle comfortably at the top of the charts. People accuse these books of being tired and formulaic. But here is a new contender on the scene: Karina Mellinger works within and subverts that formula to depict the myriad nuances of marital breakdown, and achieves something well sculpted, sharply written and bitingly amusing. 

The action is confined to a Saturday in the Denver-Barrettes’ (‘Barrette with an e’) six-bedroomed mansion on Cheyne Walk. Laura Denver-Barrette awakes next to her distinguished lawyer husband David (‘blah blah judicial review, blah blah Queen’s Bench writ’). Their marriage is the envy of London. Laura is eye-wideningly beautiful, David