McLaren, Leah 1975–

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McLaren, Leah 1975–

PERSONAL:

Born 1975, in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Education: Trent University, B.A., 1998.

ADDRESSES:

Home— Ontario, Canada. Office— Globe and Mail, 444 Front St. W., Toronto, Ontario M5V 2S9, Canada. E-mail— [email protected]

CAREER:

Globe and Mail, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, columnist.

WRITINGS:

The Continuity Girl(novel), 5 Spot (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to newspapers and magazines, including London Times, Evening Standard, Sunday Telegraph, and Spectator.

SIDELIGHTS:

Leah McLaren's debut novel,The Continuity Girl, earned her comparisons with such popular writers as Candace Bushnell (Sex and the City), Sophie Kinsella (Confessions of a Shopaholic), and Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones's Diary). The book tells the humorous story of how a Canadian career woman deals with her ticking biological clock. Meredith Moore works as a "continuity girl" on films, seeing to it that all the details of a movie are correct despite scenes being shot out of sequence. Though she loves her job and is happy with her life, she wakes in a panic on her thirty-fifth birthday determined to conceive a child before it is too late. She decides to become a "sperm bandit"; uninterested in a husband, she will seek a man with suitable paternity potential and get him to impregnate her, without his knowledge. Single motherhood, she feels, will be just fine with her. Leaving Toronto and her job behind, Meredith begins her search in London, where she takes a new job with a famous film producer and reunites with her mother, Irma—an eccentric poet. Meredith meets various attractive men whom she considers as possible unknowing sperm donors, including a sexy German and minor English aristocrat; her gynecologist, however, remains the man for whom she has real feelings. As she continues her search for a biological partner, Meredith becomes interested in learning about the father she never knew (Irma had conceived after a one-night stand and never gave Meredith any information about it). Intent on becoming a mother without any messy romantic entanglements, Meredith is surprised when her quest eventually causes her to rethink her attitudes toward love and commitment.

Readers enjoyed the novel's humor and lighthearted take on its subject. A writer for the Digital Journal Web site hailed The Continuity Girl as a "bizarre yet refreshing" book distinguished by a "saucy vibe." The critic went on to say that, by infusing many of the conventions of "chick lit" with a particularly Canadian sensibility, McLaren connects with younger Canadian readers "looking to find themselves." Though the book is funny, light, and youthful, the critic added, it "remains meaningful and intelligent."

" The Continuity Girl is hilarious," observed Stephanie Rollins on the Reader Views Web site. "It's the kind of book you want to immediately tell your friends about." Quill & Quire contributor Caroline Skelton also praised the book, noting that it "teems with vivid detail and nicely drawn characters." Though Skelton ventured that the novel's "giggly, airy quality" might put off some readers, she pointed out that others would enjoy its "wit and candour" and would feel that the book "pushes all the right buttons." Booklist contributor Kristine Huntley deemed The Continuity Girl "quirky fun," while Michele E. Davis, writing on the Armchair Interviews Web site, described the novel as "quippy, sensual, intriguing and humorous…. a bit Bridget Jones-ish with lots of great detail and a super-smart protagonist."

McLaren tried to make her heroine as unlike herself as possible, she explained in an interview posted on her home page. Yet McLaren felt that she could understand Meredith's obsession about becoming a mother. "When it comes to reproduction, I do think that we're hard-wired as women," McLaren said. "Why else would we long so terribly for something as needy, disruptive and—on the surface of it—uninteresting as a baby? It doesn't make sense." Asked what kind of mother Meredith would be, McLaren answered that her protagonist would probably be less ambivalent about motherhood than Irma had been. "One of the great things about women having babies later in life," she added, "is the fact that their children are usually so wanted."