Younger, the 2005 novel by Pamela Redmond Satran about a 44-year-old suburban New Jersey woman who's able to pass for a 29-year-old and re-enters the work force and dating scene, has just been reissued by Gallery Books to tie in with the debut on Tuesday, March 31, of the TV Land series based on it. (The series stars Hilary Duff, Sutton Foster and Debi Mazar; executive producer and director is Darren Star of Sex and the City fame.) In a cool twist for everyone in the book business, Younger has a book publishing angle: besides dating a 20-something man, the middle-aged protagonist lands a job at a book publisher.
The age dynamics and deception create entertainingly awkward moments. As for the work angle, Satran noted that when the novel was published in 2005, "I was new to the world of book publishing myself and was stunned by how much had changed since I worked as an editor at Glamour magazine in the 1980s. The heroine of my book deals with all these mid-oughties innovations such as the predominance of chick lit, popular authors being used to sell classic books, and hot new cover art taking the place of gauzy antique watercolors."
And, of course, in the 10 years since Younger's appearance, there's been even more change in the book world. The show reflects that, as illustrated by this bit of dialogue between the heroine, named Liza on TV, who is interviewing for a job, and the two younger women interviewing her. They recount some of the changes since Liza left the publishing world 15 years earlier to raise her only child:
Julie: "Well, it has been quite a long hiatus, Liza. Things have changed."
Ellen: "Facebook, Twitter, iPhones..."
Julie: "iPads, eBooks, YouTube..."
Ellen: "Instagram, Snapchat, Skype..."
Julie: "Pinterest..."
Ellen: "Bang with Friends...."
Still, Liza gets a job as a marketing assistant at the fictional Empirical Publishing, where she's ordered to set up a Twitter account for Jane Austen--and sign the author up for an account on Christian Mingle. Needless to say, Liza's able to bring a lot to the job--maturity, some basic knowledge and her familiarity with the reading habits of middle-aged women, based on her experiences in suburban book groups--giving her an edge over younger colleagues.
Satran herself has been making many transitions, divorcing and moving to Los Angeles from New Jersey. She's been "to the shoots and visited the writers' room. It's amazing for a novelist who creates these worlds sitting alone in a room to be among literally hundreds of people all working on bringing a scene to life. You can't believe how many people are involved in creating a TV show, from Darren Star, who wrote the pilot along with other episodes himself and presided over the writers' room and the shoots, to the cinematographers and lighting people and costumer Patricia Field, who created Sex & the City's iconic look. And then there are the famous actors--Sutton Foster, Hilary Duff, Debi Mazar, plus fantastic newcomers Nico Tortorella and Miriam Schor--bringing these people who sprang from my head to fuller life."
As for what she calls "younger hunger," most industries, including publishing, want "the younger professional with solid experience and mature thinking--kind of the package that Liza is presenting." But like her character's life, Satran said, that person is "a fantasy." And a wildly entertaining one.
