Unconventionally, Elle
Unconventionally, Elle is a lighthearted romance novel about embracing adventure and learning from one’s past.
A woman with corporate burnout questions her choices in Jourdana Webber’s earthy romance novel Unconventionally, Elle, which is told across dual timelines.
When she was growing up, Elle was taught to pursue financial success. In her thirties, her mental health falters when a coworker usurps her project. She resigns and moves from New Orleans to Boston to chase her dream of becoming a writer—a goal that her grandmother aspired to, too. Memories of a former lover, Jude, intrude, though, even as Barrett, a wealthy real estate heir, pursues her.
In the present, Elle reorganizes her priorities; scenes set in the past focus on her relationship with Jude a dozen years earlier, during a college summer. For much of the novel, Jude is not fleshed out much beyond his good looks, though; his lasting impact on Elle’s life is undersupported throughout because of this, though later disclosures place him in better context. In contrast, Barrett is fleshed out in terms of the tension between his desires and his professional duties at his father’s business; his search for fulfillment is compelling.
Lighthearted references to fashion, text messages, and television mix with weighty admissions, as with Elle’s fears that she’s a failure, to paint a complicated picture of contemporary experiences of being single. Elle depends on her time spent with her best friends; her life is fraught with uncertainty beyond them. Still, her emotional struggles are somewhat undercut by the ease of her transitions: She inherited a condo, alleviating potential housing concerns; she finds freelance work in a lucky fashion, straining credulity; and she makes new friends fast, including with a Pilates studio owner.
With the outward signs indicating that all is flourishing in Elle’s world, her internal ruminations and anxieties come to seem self-indulgent on occasion. More revealing are her brisk conversations with her therapist, who encourages Elle to experiment and to write her novel. But their clear rapport has a too-sporadic appearance in the text, and it, too, is marked most by validation and affirmations for Elle. A few tough topics do arise during their sessions, including related to Elle’s parents, but they are underattended to.
The romance between Elle and Barrett, who is attentive to Elle’s interests, develops in a swift manner, but the scenes devoted to it are also sweet. From their grocery store meet-cute on through their dates at coffee shops, at stadiums, and on Nantucket during the holidays, their connection has an appealing, fairy-tale quality. Their connection is somewhat complicated by Elle’s desire to control the terms of her own future and by Jude’s return—complications that crescendo in an abrupt manner. The satisfying conclusion depends on her ability to be self-aware, to reflect, and to decide to take risks.
In the engaging romance novel Unconventionally, Elle, a woman’s past experiences strengthen her resolve to overcome pain and revive her passions.
Reviewed by
Karen Rigby
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
