This post was inspired by the novel, "Following Polly" by Karen Bergreen. "Following Polly" is a featured selection of the virtual book club, From Left to Write, founded by Linsey Krolik.
Alice is a shy and quirky Harvard educated 30-something woman who walks through the streets of New York City as if shielded by a two-way mirror. She sees the details in the everyday, noticing everything yet is not noticed herself. Oblivious to her own beauty, she prefers to be the fly on the wall, barely noticed.
That makes Alice the worst candidate for social media addiction. It's not her style to draw attention to herself. It's not her style to connect with a network of people from past and present. Alice is not on Facebook, she doesn't tweet and or update her location on Four Square. She rarely has her cell phone at hand.
Alice spends her days following people. She follows Polly and Charlie and Rosalie and William Redwin. Hours fade to days and there she is, waiting. Stalking.
If only she'd had an iPhone!
Certainly, the glamorous and showy Polly would have had a Facebook fan page for her lingerie business, Principessa. Would this have been enough to get Alice to join Facebook and become a fan of Principessa?
She and Alice might have even been Facebook friends, with Polly never noticing that she is Alice's only "friend."
The fan page would likely have listed important upcoming events which Alice might have duly noted. Then perhaps Alice might not have spent so many hours waiting in the cold.
What would have happened if Polly had been addicted to Twitter or to Four Square?
Then Alice might have known at once when Polly had checked into a Chinese restaurant. She would have known the name of the restaurant and could have even passed the time reading its Yelp reviews.
She wouldn't have had to follow these people on foot; it could have been a virtual pursuit.
What if Alice had used her camera phone to find clues? She could have studied the photos in detail at home, memorizing faces.
And in true Alice style, she would have checked in on Four Square as soon as she'd seen Polly check in. She would have left a trail.
Alice prefers to live her life in what Four Square calls "off the grid" and I applaud her character for that. She finds love in the end with someone who sees beauty in her unconventional ways. Alice Teakle may be quirky, but she is genuine.
This is an original post to Chalk and Cheese Chronicles.
I really enjoyed this book. I'm a big fan of understated beauty. The dust jacket illustration of "Following Polly" bothers me because the woman on the cover is not the Alice as I imagine her to be. Alice Teakle would never wear such bright lipstick or fashionable sunglasses.
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