★ I think I might just have a touch of writers block! ★
★ I think I might just have a touch of writers block! ★
Member since:06.01.2006
Reviews:57
Members who trust:161
~~ The Plot ~~
Samantha Sweeting, the main character in this book, is a top lawyer for a firm called Carter Spink, in The City. The story begins with her visiting a beauty therapist and filling in a health questionnaire. It is amusing and immediately allows you to relate to the main character. Samantha is stressed at work and is desperately trying to make partner at the firm. Being a top lawyer Samantha has no time for cooking or cleaning and you get a picture of a hard working girl with all the mod cons in her home, but with no time to educate herself in the use of them. Fairly quickly in the story on the day that the partners are due to be announced, it becomes apparent that Samantha has made a huge and very costly mistake and rather than stay and face the music, she does the only sensible thing and runs away.
Samantha ends up asking for directions at a big house, where (as luck would have it) the owners are looking for a new housekeeper. The owners of the house mistake Samantha for the housekeeper and she bluffs her way into a job, despite being completely clueless where to start. As luck would have it, a rather gorgeous gardener also works at the house. Nathaniel, the gardener,
is as clueless of Samantha's background as her new employers are, he believes that she has run away from a bad relationship. His mother is enlisted to help her become a domestic goddess.
Samantha's big mistake soon becomes newsworthy as the full implications are realised and Samantha manages to uncover the real reason for her downfall. Eventually she is offered her job back, but that would mean giving up her new life in the country with the gardener.
~~ My Thoughts ~~
As I am about to use the term Chick Lit, I thought it may be useful to provide a definition of it. "Chick lit is a slightly uncomplimentary term used to denote popular fiction written for and marketed to young women, especially single young women in their 20s, working in the business world." (Wikipedia)
I am going to admit to my love of chick lit. The reasons for this are: It is easy to read It is not challenging I still think I am in my twenties, even though I am in my thirties I can pick up a chick lit book after a hard days work and read without thinking I am slightly shallow and love a happy ending :)
Now that I have got that out of the way I will admit that my love of chick lit has been somewhat challenged recently. I have reviewed some books in this genre on Ciao and have received comments that made me think more about what I have read. If I had read The Undomestic Goddess before this shift in my thinking I would have raved about the book. Now, however, I can think about it on two very different levels.
As chick lit book go this is well written. It is easy to read and flows well. The characters are well developed and are well described allowing you to get a real idea of what they are like. The book is amusing in places. The romance develops quickly and although there are ups and downs it is fairly predictable. The book is 414 pages and has twenty six chapters making it easy to pick up and read a chapter or two at a time. Although you need a slight leap of faith to believe that a well paid lawyer would up sticks to become a housekeeper, Samantha is an intelligent person which means that she is able to pick lots of her new tasks up quickly.
Obviously this is a certain genre of book written for a certain type of reader. At the start of the book when Samantha is at the beauty therapists she is told to leave mobile phones behind. I really wanted to question how Samantha could hide a mobile phone and her BlackBerry down her paper knickers, as we are led to believe she did. I also wanted to question how anyone, no matter how successful in life would be so clueless about how to do washing. Maybe I am wrong and there are people who have absolutely do idea how to cook or clean but I doubt anyone could be as bad as we are led to believe. I also failed to see why such a successful lawyer would walk out of a job without questioning it.
The Undomestic Goddess is the type of book that is worth taking on holiday, or reading after a long day at work, when your brain needs to shut down and escape. If you are looking for anything deeper then this is not the book for you. (This makes the recommend to potential buyers tricky. Yes I would recommend it to people who enjoy chick lit. No I would not recommend this to people who like a depth to the books they read).
~~ Also by Sophie Kinsella ~~
The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic Shopaholic Abroad Shopaholic Ties the Knot Shopaholic and Sister Can you Keep a Secret?
Sophie Kinsella also writes under the name Madeliene Wickham
~~ Other Details ~~ ISBN 0-552-77274-7 Price ~ RRP £6.99 Amazon £3.99 (Lots of new and used from 1p ?!) WHSmith £6.99
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This is such a good book, it really made me laugh out loud!
Hezoid 30.08.2006 20:08
I've been tempted to buy this, and i think i will do now as it sounds quite good!
josparkle 25.05.2006 22:56
Great review - you've captured the book perfectly, somehow I can't seem to get Sophie Kinsella though I've tried a couple of her books, friends all think she's great though Josparkle
May 7th, 2006
very helpful by (100%):
