The Ex-Files is not exactly Jane Austen, but you still get a smart, wry and uncertain heroine in Fay Parker, a high-profile model, who's prepared (or so she thinks) to marry sweet chef Mark Hawkins. The couple harmoniously decides, in a fit of magnanimity, to invite their most recent - and serious -- exes.
For Faye, this includes a kind, but ultimately dull boy-from-home and a narcissistic celebrity. Mark's featured "ex" is Kate, with whom he had a long - and primarily happy - relationship.
The catalyst (and of course, there is one) for Faye's sudden cold feet is a near one-night stand with a guy she meets while out. Their chemistry is electric and Faye considers what has led her to this point.
UK journalist and best-selling author Moore offers up an ambitious tale. Moore's lead, unlike many in the genre is far from the everywoman who represents the book's intended audience. Instead of a lovelorn, weight-conscious, awkward put-upon lead, Moore gives us a popular supermodel, confident and carefree. And Moore is nearly successful in getting her reader behind Faye and her dilemma.
The Ex-Files reads almost like a sequel - like a book that challenges its more conventional predecessor. It is as if someone proposed the idea to Moore - "why not examine, in a 'fresh and new' way - an alternative to the happily-ever-after.
And for this novel, it offers this: meaning, Mark's and Faye's pre Ex-Files story is traditional: meet cute, opposites attract - with the icing on the cake: an engagement. The premise of The Ex-Files should work, because as everyone knows, there's almost always a caveat to the happy ending. But Moore eventually becomes burdened by characters that don't ring true. She tells the reader rather than shows them - a mistake a seasoned writer like Moore should avoid. In short, because she doesn't have empathy for Faye and Mark, why should the reader?
Moore also tackles what really seems to be a film and television conceit - and one that is pretty much never happens in reality: the caricatured wedding ceremony. In real life, most weddings are called off before the guests arrive at church, not like in The Graduate, not like in Four Weddings and a Funeral, not like Picture Perfect, not like Sweet Home Alabama. Basically, not like any wedding ceremony in fiction.
That said, there is enough in the premise, enough in the first chapter (which features Faye's pseudo indiscretion) to pretty much give a reader familiar with the genre more than a hint of what will happen. Still, despite the predictability, the ambitiousness of the premise (as it challenges reality), it is a quick and fun read - perfect for the plane ride, the beach or while waiting for your turn at the DMV.
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