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It is a truth universally acknowledged that all girls hitting puberty will have an eternal fling with romance novels.
From time immemorial this statement holds true.
Romeo and Juliet showed the world of such dying love (both literally and figuratively), Jane Austen made us fawn over the ever so arrogant Mr. Darcy and Mills and Boons crafted such Greek Gods (which disappointed us with the men the world has to offer. I still believe men are better in books), were what we voraciously read over those tedious NCERT textbooks part of our syllabus.
Over time, the timeless classics were replaced with our every-day reading habits gradually evolving to the ever-popular chick-flicks penned in modern context and of course language we can decipher more easily than Shakespeare.
Even today, women irrespective of age, from ten to eighty have fallen prey to the addictiveness the common chick-flick has to offer.
According to our ever so conservative Amma's, it was taboo reading them as their scandalous covers suggested it was filling our innocent minds with “nonsense.”
Therefore a creak on our bedroom door would instinctively make us hide the forbidden fruit of our wildest fantasies under our quilt and we pretend to read a copy of Mark Twain.
And yet, many a time we were caught red handed at our endeavors while reading Sidney Sheldon and Meg Cabot within our fat guides. Yes, we were too engrossed at the sizzling chemistry between Stella the beautiful blonde and heiress and Robert the tall dark handsome billionaire, who epitomizes the word chivalry and fighting tooth and nail vying to get her attention amongst a plethora of her suitors.
And Meg Cabot arrived with “The Princess Diaries”. Like Burger to Mc Donalds, Pizza to Dominos and icecream to Häagen-Dazs, we reminisce Meg Cabot to her teen-fiction fantasy “The Princess Diaries.”
Before Suzanne Collins phenomenal “ Hunger-Games” struck a chord with the teen readers, it was Meg Cabot's “The Princess Diaries” we quenched our adolescent thirst with.
Ten volumes and six stories webbed around an average girl Mia Thermopolis living in NYC who only wanted some attention from her best friends brother Michael Moscovitz is suddenly burdened with a big secret that they've been hiding all her life- She is the heir to the throne of Genovia.
Alas, the story line captured the covert desire every girl who grew up on Disney movies harboured. A wish to be recognised as the daughter of lovely royal parents who had lost their beloved princess in a terrible ploy.
Well, Cabot penned this chick-lit with a theme unfolding in the present era as opposed to the staple opening line, “Once upon a time.” It captured many hearts at her struggle to conquer Algebra, a challenging task many of us try our best to scrape through unscathed and yet many fail.
When her sophisticated Queen grandmother arrives to NYC in a pursuit to train her to become a perfect princess, it only adds to her impending woes along with having her algebra teacher as her step-dad.
Her life becomes so estranged in chaos with so many events simultaneously unwrapping she finds the perfect cathartic method to relieve her of this stress, journals.
Journals have always been the best cathartic bet. And what's even better? Reading someone's journal is always fascinating. You can't blame us. We women are by default genetically programed to be curious about everything. Being privy to Mia's secrets and life gave us a sense of absolute satisfaction.
Being part of her life and sympathizing with a plethora of problems like her unpopularity, high school drama and politics and boy crushes and flop love stories which we could truly empathize with. Her life which suddenly took a turn to glitz and glamour made us feel ever so hopeful of our mundane existence. It gives us a realistic inanimate Disney story, still giving many teens false hopes but promoting a sense of optimistic outlook in life.
Maybe we can call it the teen version of Disney stories which hooks the teen-audience who has outgrown the old tales.
Upon the launch of the tenth part of the popular series in 2009, Cabot had divulged the series will be suspended for an indefinite time to give her bestselling book a break and to give Mia Thermopolis and herself a vacation.
Five years after the hiatus, she has declared a comeback of our favourite book character as teens, Mia Thermopolis.
For those of us who grew up on Princess Diaries and has been itching for a sequel, your wait is finally over.
Cabot has announced two books which are planned to hit the shelves next year as part of the 10th Princess Diaries anniversary celebrations.
Weddings and Scandals,a lethal combination we all gladly dig on are the central focus of her upcoming books. But like all royal weddings, there seems to be nothing short of a storm involved.
Cabot is also targeting young adult readers to draw new fans which will introduce us to the new-kind-in-the-bloc or castle in this case, Olivia Grace who is Princess Mia's long-lost half sister which stirs the hornets nest in Genevia.
Will the once bestselling book which garnered billions of dollars and bagged a deal from Disney which launched two movies based on the series woo the audience once again?
Well, like always the readers will tell. Once the books are on the racks of course.
Till then, lets keep our fingers crossed and clutch our tiaras closer and pray upon our Princess Diaries “Collectors Editions” for another amazing sequel. Amen.
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