What happens when a person decides to let their life decisions be guided by a self-help book, and not just one book, but the principles of one self help book per month for a year? Well, that’s exactly what Marianne Power did, and she documents the moving, and oftentimes funny journey of self-discovery in her book, called Help Me!
So, what got Marianne started on this quest in the first place?
Well, she was feeling ‘stuck in a rut’; she was single, home was a rented room in London, and she was constantly broke! Then several years ago, whilst nursing quite the hangover, she had the idea to explore self-help books and then write up her experience via a blog. This was not a big leap for her as she was already a freelance journalist. The blog got under way in 2014, and it wasn’t long before its garnered interest from book publishers, but Marianne didn’t say yes at first, trusting her gut instinct that the timing was too soon – maybe the self-help was paying off! But eventually she did strike a deal, with the publishing house Picador, and it is probably no surprise that she felt so comfortable with them, as they also were responsible for turning Helen Fielding’s column for the Independent into Bridget Jones Diary. There have of course been plenty of comparisons and parallels drawn between Marianne as being the modern-day version of a Bridget Jones character. (more…)