Jemima J.

Jemima Jones writes a newspaper column in London. She is sharp and kind, and for years she has been overshadowed by thinner, more polished colleagues. Her officemate Ben likes her quietly and says nothing.

Then Jemima starts an online romance with Brad, who owns a gym in Los Angeles. To keep it going she sends him a doctored photo, and she sets out to turn herself into the woman in the picture. The plan costs her a hundred pounds.

The new body brings what she hoped for: a plane ticket to California and a chance at the glossy American life she has been chasing on screen. In person, though, she and Brad have little in common. She also learns how he really feels about his assistant.

The novel is a comic romance that moves quickly, a modern take on the ugly duckling story. It deals with body image, online deception and self-worth, and it sets them against a plot that leads Jemima back toward the man who liked her all along. The question is what the makeover actually changed.