Kathy Lette – After the Blues: What Debbie Did Next (Literature Review)

For years, the story of teenage girls Debbie Vickers and Sue Knight has captivated millions. In a brutally honest way, it shined a light on how teenage girls grew up in the 1970s. Puberty Blues became something of an Australian cult classic and has been adapted for both film and TV, with many fans questioning what happened to the girls later on. Now, Kathy Lette has the answer in After the Blues: What Debbie Did Next.

To be fair, After the Blues isn’t all original content. In this highly anticipated sequel, Lette has adapted her previous novel Girls’ Night Out to reconnect with the original characters. Debbie and Sue have run away from home in search of a more exciting life in Byron Bay. But something unforgivable happens along the way. The girls are torn apart and left to explore their newfound freedom separately, rather than return home in defeat.

As we follow Debbie and Sue on their respective journeys into adulthood, there’s still that familiarity with which fans fell in love the first time around. The straightforward, engaging writing style that made Puberty Blues such a success and catapulted Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey into literary fame is ever-present – a fact which long time followers will appreciate.

There are areas, in my opinion, where things seem a little different than the rest of the novel – probably due to the combination with Girls’ Night Out – but essentially After the Blues is like visiting old friends. And for those who read Puberty Blues upon its initial release, that is probably the case.

After the Blues is a good novel, if not a little surprising. It’s a combination of Lette’s original and current writing styles that fans of her previous work – and particularly those who love Puberty Blues – will no doubt devour.

After the Blues: What Debbie Did Next is published by Penguin Random House. To find out more about this book or others they have published, click here.

[Editor/Author Note: This review was originally published by Good Reading Magazine.]