When Jennifer Weiner first gave readings, she assumed about 12 people would show up, eight of them women she "knew from Weight Watchers". Weiner was working as a features reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer when she published her first novel Good In Bed in 2001. Soon after, she quit her newspaper job and has since written nine bestselling books.
The American author learnt long ago not just to make peace with fame, but to thrive on it, whether it was tweeting live updates about The Bachelor or fretting about what critics think of her. She doesn't see social media and publicity tours as distractions from her work but as extensions of it, a continuing dialogue between herself and her fans.
“They feel like they know me – and in a way they do,” said the 44-year-old author at a recent book reading in Manhattan. “A lot of times, I feel like I’m talking to a bunch of people I went to summer camp with.”
The author of such bestsellers as Goodnight Nobody and In Her Shoes spoke before about 100 fans eager to learn more about her new novel All Fall Down and to hear the latest from a woman whose stories are in some ways their stories.
They nodded in sympathy when Weiner, the mother of two children, spoke of adjusting her writing time to family life. They have followed her very public campaign to get more women reviewed in The New York Times and other newspapers and magazines and applauded when Weiner revealed that the Times, which had long ignored her work, would be praising All Fall Down.
“She’s very relatable, especially for young women,” said Shira Zeif, 32, a kindergarten teacher. “She gets very personal with her characters and you feel like you know her, too.”
As her followers on Twitter would have already learnt, Weiner has been in a good place. All Fall Down has received strong reviews, with her hometown paper The Philadelphia Inquirer calling it her best, and is in the top 40 on Amazon. The new book, Weiner explained, tells of a woman who seemingly has everything – a big house, a husband and daughter and growing fame as a blogger – yet finds herself increasingly unhappy, hooked on painkillers and is eventually forced to get clean at a rehabilitation centre.
It was a story so wrenching that Weiner dropped her usual happy resolutions for a more ambiguous ending. “You can’t pick up a newspaper or a magazine without the issue slapping you in the face,” said Weiner.
• All Fall Down (Atria Books) is available on Amazon and costs Dh60
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Bawaal%20
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Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Tips to avoid getting scammed
1) Beware of cheques presented late on Thursday
2) Visit an RTA centre to change registration only after receiving payment
3) Be aware of people asking to test drive the car alone
4) Try not to close the sale at night
5) Don't be rushed into a sale
6) Call 901 if you see any suspicious behaviour
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Company%20profile%20
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
