LOW, Shari 1967-

PERSONAL: Born 1967, in Glasgow, Scotland; married, March, 1993; children: Callan, Brad.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Sheila Crowley, A.P. Watt, 20 John St., London WC1N 2DR, England. E-mail—readers@sharilow.com.

CAREER: Worked as nightclub manager and area manager, Glasgow, Scotland, 1985–89. Sheraton Hotel, Shanghai, China, manager of hotel nightclub, 1989; Sheraton Hotel, Hong Kong, manager of leisure complex, 1990–91; Hilton Hotel, Glasgow, manager, 1991. Sales-force manager, in London, England, 1994–2000; Pinewood Studios, London, satellite communications salesperson, 2000. Author, 2000–; Daily Record, Glasgow, Scotland, weekly opinion columnist, literary review columnist for Saturday supplement.

WRITINGS:

What If? (novel), Piatkus Books (London, England), 2001.

Why Not? (novel), Downtown Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Double Trouble (novel), Piatkus Books (London, England), 2004.

Also contributor to short-story collection Scottish Girls about Town: And Sixteen Other Scottish Women Authors, published by Simon & Schuster, 2003.

Author's books have been translated and published in German, Russian, and Indonesian.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Developing a sitcom for a British production company.

SIDELIGHTS: Shari Low's characters inhabit a London reminiscent of Sex and the City's Manhattan, where solid friendships among women provide an anchor in a world of sexual exploration, temporary relationships, and so-so marriages. In What If? Carly Cooper suddenly decides at age thirty-two that she is tired of being single, despite five previous engagements, and feeling trapped in a job she hates.

She decides to track down all her old fiancées, sure that one of them has to be "The One." It's a journey that takes her all around the globe, and if nothing else, she knows that at least she'll have some fun stories to share with her friends.

One of those friends, Jess Latham, takes center stage in Low's second novel, Why Not? Almost out of boredom, Jess gives in to the indecent proposals of her married boss, a minister in the House of Commons, only to find herself drawn into the seemingly staid parliament member's kinky sex life. Then she finds him in bed with the wife he supposedly despises and is trying to divorce. As if things were not complicated enough, a tabloid reporter splashes her affair all over the front page, then sweeps her off her feet and marries her—only to cheat on her. Fed up, Jess enlists the aid of her four friends to enact a humiliating revenge on her faithless lovers, and the result "is a humorous London swings romp that like the five musketeers takes no prisoners," according to Best Reviews online contributor Harriet Klausner. Library Journal contributor Aleksandra Kostovski felt that "any reader who has dreamed of revenge on a cheating ex is sure to relate to and live vicariously through Jess's hilarious antics."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, October 1, 2004, Aleksandra Kostovski, review of Why Not?, p. 316.

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2004, review of Why Not?, p. 826.

Publishers Weekly, August 23, 2004, review of Why Not?, p. 35.

ONLINE

Best Reviews Online, http://www.thebestreviews.com/ (November 27, 2004), Harriet Klausner, review of Why Not?

ChickLit Web site, http://www.chicklit.co.uk/ (February 23, 2005), brief profile of Shari Low.

Shari Low Home Page, http://www.sharilow.com (February 23, 2005).