‘POSSESSIONS’ BY JUDITH MICHAEL

OK, first things first: you must know by now that author Judith Michael is actually a pen name for a married couple who have written 11 best-sellers so far. Yep, they are Judith Barnard and Michael Fain. I have no idea of their whereabouts except for the fact that Miss Barnard has written other efforts, most recently CROOKED BRANCHES ON THE FAMILY TREE published by Mill City Press in 2015. Are they still together? Who knows? But if they ever are I doubt that they’ll produce a 12th effort. It’s been too much of a long time for it to happen. And besides, readers nowadays are much more fickle. They probably don’t even remember that, along with the other two Judiths, Krantz and Gould, Judith Michael was hot stuff in the ‘80s and beyond, just before the new Millennium. 

I too wanted to embark on the Judith Michael bandwagon, especially after seeing the sensational miniseries DECEPTIONS on NBC starring Stefanie Powers in 1985. I remember getting a hold of the novel on which it is based not long after and attempting to read it. I say attempting because it took me a few tries before finally finishing it. The reason mostly was the deception (pun intended) I felt that it didn't read like a Jackie Collins novel. It was too vanilla, in my opinion, too Harlequin-like. I had to adjust my expectations to enjoy it, and I did, to a certain degree. 

The same could be said regarding her second novel POSSESSIONS (1982, Pocket) which I finished a couple of days ago. Clearly Judith Michael is scarcely my cup of tea. The whole premise of a young mother of two who gets dumped by her indebted husband then turns her life around by making a name for herself in the jewelry business and gets involved with another member (two, actually) of her husband’s family is OK in itself but compared to other trashy novels this one is in general as unexciting and as predictable as, well, a Harlequin romance novel.  

Don’t get me wrong, all the elements are there: a likeable heroine, a debonair hero, luscious settings and a jet-setting lifestyle worthy of any glitzy novel, but the overall delivery just doesn’t cut it as it should. Barely do you end up getting involved with these characters or the cookie-cutter plot. And that’s where it pains me, for Judith Michael is a solid storyteller. Her narrative is strong without being too descriptive, and the flow of the story does do justice to the overall theme (independence). But as a whole, POSSESSIONS possesses (pun intended again) nothing more than an unsophisticated streak which in the end hurts the story. 

But since it’s a ‘80s book–set mostly in San Francisco—and we all know how soapy those years can be, we can easily forgive Miss Michael for having executed a subpar effort or, more importantly, for having included a sole gay San Franciscan character who is a billboard of clichés. For despite this being less than stellar it is still far better written than some other fluffy efforts published during that same time. I won’t name them or reveal the publishing houses from which they mostly come from but I will say this: it takes a lot of dedication and drive to write a great ‘80s novel. Take it from me, an expert in the genre. I have to go through a lot of junk before finding something fruitful, and I’m sorry to say that POSSESSIONS, despite all of its evident efforts to please places itself in the former category.

 

 

Until next post—Martin 

UK PB Edition