Musings on “I Think I Love You” by Allison Pearson

I've just finished reading (literally, just minutes ago) Allison Pearson’s new book, “I Think I Love You”. It’s a delicious read, and yes, I’ll say it, particularly for women of my age (over 40). In it we met Petra, who at the age of 13 in the early 1970’s is madly in love with her teen idol, David Cassidy. She and her best friend Sharon enter the “Ultimate David Cassidy Quiz”, with a prize to fly to Los Angeles to meet their idol. For two small-town Welsh girls, all right, for any 13 year old girl at the time, the thought of winning and of an upcoming David Cassidy concert consume them.

The book begins though with going-on-40 Petra, finding a letter hidden in her mother’s closet. It’s “the” letter. The one telling the girls that 25 years ago they won the contest! Petra’s mother preferred she spend time practicing the cello to idolizing pop stars, so it’s understandable that she kept this news from her daughter. Petra, with her emotions swirling (not only has her mother just died but on the same day she learned of her mother’s death, she found out her husband was leaving her), Petra calls the magazine that ran the contest, and asks to claim her prize. I won’t say much more, as to do so would spoil the sweet, funny, sad, romantic bits that make this book a real treat.

I should mention that this isn’t a proper book review. I’m not going to critique Allison Pearson’s writing apart from saying that she tells a story that can touch you even if you come from a different time and culture, and she tells it with skill. I’m one of those awful people who sometimes skim the final pages to see if I’ll like what happens. I did that with this book, and still wanted to read it. Not just to see how we got from A to B, but because what Petra goes through, the emotions she experiences, even though different to my own story, touched me. If you have memories of teen idol crushes or if you enjoy a good, well-written story of a woman finding her way through the challenges of life, you’ll enjoy “I Think I Love You”.

Who was your teen idol? The answer will certainly depend on your age. I wasn’t the girl with posters of boys on my walls and I didn’t buy Tiger Beat magazine. I think it might have had a lot to do with having two older brothers. Most of my early taste in music came from whatever they listened to. And they were more of the David Bowie and David Byrne crowd, rather than David Cassidy. But I did have a bit of a crush on him when he played in the 1973 TV series, Police Story. I thought he was hip and cool. I can’t say I listened to his music apart from what was on the radio, or what I caught on reruns of The Partridge Family. I was just a few years younger than the book’s Petra. Girls my age were more into his younger half-brother, Shaun Cassidy. And now it’s really fun to watch old episodes of The Hardy Boys with my own teen daughter, who gets a real chuckle out of that feathered hair and those flared corduroy pants.

So what about you? Did you swoon over Elvis or the Beatles, or was it Donny Osmond for you or maybe someone more recent? Did you spend your babysitting money on Tiger Beat or other teen magazines then plaster your room or school locker with photos? I’d love to hear your stories.

You can follow Allison Pearson on twitter at http://twitter.com/allisonpearson.