The Rise and Fall of Chick Lit: From 'The Devil Wears Prada' to Fragmentation

The Devil Wears Prada, released as a film in 2006, marked the peak of chick lit, a genre born from Helen Fielding's 1996 Bridget Jones's Diary. Lauren Weisberger's novel, published by Broadway Books in 2003, became the genre's ur-comp, according to agent Deborah Schneider. Fox bought film rights in 2003 before the novel's completion, and Meryl Streep's casting in 2005 greenlit production. Chick lit focused on young, upwardly mobile women navigating work and love in big cities. By October 2003, Publishers Weekly reported oversaturation and possible decline. Critics attacked the genre as frivolous; Alex Kuczynski in the New York Times (1998) called Bridget Jones 'ill,' and Beryl Bainbridge labeled it 'froth.' Authors like Sophia Kinsella and Jennifer Weiner distanced themselves from the label. By 2012, chick lit no longer dominated shelves; imprints like Harlequin's Red Dress Ink closed in 2014. Authors shifted to darker themes, domestic drama, or thrillers. Today, rom-coms and women's fiction absorb chick lit's elements, with Emily Henry as a current ur-comp. Novels like The Other Black Girl and Such a Fun Age center women of color. Millennial and Gen Z authors write darker stories, as seen in My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Normal People. Jessica Pryde notes the genre's fragmentation may lead to more equitable categorization.