The Wedding Girl - Madeleine Wickham

I have read a few of Sophie Kinsella's 'Shopaholic' series, which were light hearted and fun and written under a different name. This is the first one that I have read of hers where she has been writing under her real name. It is a really good read, still quite light hearted (but not so much so as the Shopaholic series) and with serious undertones.

The main character of the book is Millie who, in the prologue of the book, is seen marrying an American so that he can stay in the country. She is 18 and thinks that it is a fun thing to do - but perhaps is quite naive.

The main stor of the book jumps on 10 years where Millie has probably changed a lot and grown up a bit but she is still naive. She is now getting married to Simon Pinnacle, whose father Harry is an extremely wealthy businessman. Millie's mum, Olivia, has been organising the wedding of the century for Millie and Simon and now - in the run up to the wedding - nobody knows anything about Millie's other wedding. Millie hasn't thought of mentioning it to anyone and thinks that the whole business will just go away if she forgets about it.

I am not going to tell you if Millie's secret comes out, you wil just have to read it yourself to find out. I will say that while some of the book is predictable, there are a few surprises in it too - one being Millie's sister, Isobel, who comes home for the wedding with a secret of her own.

I thought that this book was a really good read - hard to put this one down once you start reading - and it has lots of twists and turns and good characters. I would definately recommend it to anyone for a good read. I got my copy from my local lbay, where you could try too - or if you want to buy your own copy , you could try ebay or amazon.

Things work out nicely for Millie, perhaps too nicely given her circumstances - you think that this wouldn't have happened in real life, but then you have to tell yourself that it's only a story. There is a moral to the story, and I think that is when you are getting married to somebody then it is the marriage that is the most important part and not the wedding itself.