07 July,2011 11:43 AM IST | | ANI
A leading psychologist has said that Mills and Boon-style 'chick lit' is making modern women 'idealise' love and sex, thus taking them far from reality.
It is giving them a rose-tinted view of how love should be - when the harshu00a0reality is much more heartbreaking.
Broadcaster and agony aunt Susan Quilliam claimed that while there is a clear place for romantic fiction, its happy-ever-after view is not doing women any favours.
Although such books now depict a more realistic view of the world, there is "still a deep strand of escapism, perfectionism and idealisation" running through them, she said.
"Sometimes the kindest and wisest thing we can do for our clients is to encourage them to put down the books - and pick up reality," the Daily Express quoted Quilliam as saying.
The views have been written in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care.
