SAVE AS DRAFT by Cavanaugh Lee (Simon & Schuster 2011)

This is a romance novel told entirely through various forms of electronic communication--primarily e-mails, but also texts, tweets, Facebook status updates, and even eHarmony profiles. That's not as tedious or distracting as it sounds. I got used to it pretty quickly, and because such forms of communication have really exploded into constant ubiquity in the last few years, it doesn't seem contrived for the relationships to be chronicled so exhaustively through these digital trails. The title names the twist--there's a lot that these characters write to each other, but decide not to send. They want to say, "I love you," but know it's too soon. Or they go on rants that they know would do irreparable harm. I like the way this reviewer puts it:

More telling than the e-mails sent are those that are not, the missives relegated to the "Saved as Draft" folder for further consideration. Some blow off steam, and while they should never be sent as they stand, the emotion they exhibit should be acted upon. Some should be shared, just not with the intended recipient. Others, particularly those saved as drafts meant for Peter, Izzy or Marty, should have been sent instead of repackaged into a breeziness that hides the original emotion.

The story concerns a love triangle between the heroine, a guy she met through eHarmony and had a great first date with, and a guy who's been "just friends" with her for two years despite mutual attraction and a few drunken almost-hookups. This turns out to be almost straight-up roman a clef/memoir. Lee even addresses, in the Dedication and Acknowledgments, the men with whom she was involved by the names in scare-quotes of the characters who represent them! I've mentioned before how little I like the "write what you know--all about yourself!" approach to fiction, but Lee actually crafts a pretty solid narrative here, that works as a story and doesn't reek of self-indulgence. Though the characters are all revealed through forms of communication not particularly known for warmth or richness, they do, for the most part, come convincingly alive.

Obviously, this is pretty far removed from my usual fare; if you want a second opinion, other blogs more devoted to that genre seem to rave about it. The reason I picked it up is because it was voted "Best New Local Book" by Connect readers in Savannah, where I now live. For that reason, I was disappointed to find it set in Atlanta, though I'm not sure a Savannah setting would have made much difference, filtered through all those e-mails and tweets.

One minor but recurring source of irritation was Lee's use of dashes and asterisks to spell profanities. I can't imagine why she did that, rather than spell them honestly or skip them altogether. The "List of E-mail Abbreviations" in the beginning also perplexed me. I suppose I could understand if someone's grandmother would need to be told what LOL stands for, but does anyone really need to be told that "blah blah blah" is "used as an expression for words or feelings where the specifics are not considered important to the speaker or writer for emotions"?

Overall, this was a quick, entertaining read. If this review has piqued your interest, you might want to check it out.