Twenties Girl; Sophie Kinsella

Twenties Girl is my very first Sophie Kinsella book. I know, I know I must be the very last woman on earth who hasn't read the Shopaholic series. I've been living under a rock reading other stuff, I guess. I will be up front and say I received an ARC from Random House for the purpose of this review. Link to Ms. Kinsella's site in the title above. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have picked this up on my own- and I would've missed a fabulous, funny book.

Twenties Girl is the story of two young women, Lara and Sadie, who have opposite temperments using their individual strengths and weaknesses to help the other cope with and transcend the vagaries of life. That sounds very serious, but truly Ms. Kinsella has a deft touch for comic yet true to life situations that would curl your hair if it was you, but are somehow hilarious when it happens to someone else. In a way I think this is also Lara's coming of age tale. By helping Sadie Lara must let go of preconceived notions and castles in the air and learn to be assertive and cope with life as it is, not life as she wishes it would be. For Sadie's part, well- she needs to learn to put others' needs ahead of her own, to be more forgiving.

Lara Lington is a mid twenties age Londoner who gave up her job to open an executive search firm with her 'best friend' Natalie. Lara's problems result from impulsivity and a pronounced tendency to be chameleon-like in the face of even the barest criticism. Sadie is Lara's long ignored elderly aunt. Rather, Sadie's ghost is haunting Lara. In her own mind, at her death Sadie is twenty three. At the height of her beauty and happiness, feeling as though she's at the top of the world. Except she's actually one hundred five. And very dead. Sadie wants Lara to find her favorite necklace and she threatens to haunt Lara until and unless she finds the necklace and returns it to Sadie.

Lara and Sadie are hilarious and heartbreaking. I found Sadie the more compelling character despite the book's primary focus on Lara's arc. Sadie manages to prod, drag and hound Lara into clarity of purpose and determination via Sadie's compelling need for a missing art deco dragonfly necklace. Throw in a smarmy coffee chain magnate uncle and his family, parents who know something's wrong but who won't corner Lara into honesty and the reader has a mixture of plot and character that are sure to keep you laughing as you devour the story.

Laughter's a formidable weapon in Ms. Kinsella's arsenal as she leads readers into a superficially shallow, fun storyline that has at it heart, a compelling narrative about family, love, and self respect. Full of fun anecdotes about life in the roaring twenties I loved reading about, Twenties Girl makes for a laugh out loud, "oh no she didn't" kind of read sure to make you smile.

P.S. The funeral at the end was a unique and touching tribute to Sadie! Just the right send off, I think.




Image found on Random House Library.

The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns; Elizabeth Leiknes

This is, I believe, Ms. Leiknes' debut novel published by Bancroft Press out of Charm City (aka Baltimore MD), up the road a bit from Bookwormom Central.Link to author's website in title above. I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review. The flap lists this as romantic comedy, my assessment is that it's paranormal chick lit- a subgenre that's currently selling well & is popular. I like the voice & the pacing & the story is cute and hides its deeper meaning pretty well. I wish Ms. Leiknes much success & future book deals.

The plot is your classic Faustian bargain: as an eleven year old Lucille Burns' older sister is hit by a truck and is hospitalized with a coma. Lucy writes a letter 'to whom it may concern' and promises that if Ellen is ok she will 'be forever in your debt' and put the letter in their magic mailbox. The next morning Ellen is miraculously healed. In the magic mailbox a note appears, "it's a deal..I'll be in touch."

Fast forward nineteen years: Lucy has had to give up her family and forgo personal relationships with men because her job requires her to be on the down low all the time. What is her job? Lucy's a facilitator for the Devil. She's to ensure that evil people get to their final destination. To do this she's given a few paranormal powers, a magic basement that leads to hell, and a type of were-dog that's alternately a normal scruffy mutt and satan's minion. She has inhumanly perky breasts and never breaks out during her period. She can eat lots and lots of chocolate and never gains weight.

For all of the her superficiality and her physical perfection, Lucy is unfulfilled and lonely. Although she's good friends with the earth mother neighbor and her kids next door Lucy misses her sister and really wants a steady man in her life. Kids of her own maybe. None of which are available to her unless she can figure out how to break the contract she made as an eleven year old. The turning point comes when the earth mother neighbor takes Lucy to a concert to see Lucy's favorite easy listening idol perform.

The novel hangs together tightly- which I loved. Sometimes story elements are unevenly treated in shorter novels, but the author avoids that this time around. Ms. Leiknes touches on some deeper themes than your usual genre novel: the disconnectedness of modern life, wish fulfillment vs. personal development, morality, ambiguity, and others. I did have some problems with the narrative, mostly to do with characterization and plot details and the too neat wrap up at the end. Mostly minor, and not enough to stop me dead in my tracks. The story fit well for the length of the book (only 167 pages). The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns is a light quick read- good poolside or beach umbrella reading. Or, if you prefer, it can be a meditation on modern life,moral ambiguity and easy listening lyrics! Enjoy!

Image found on B&N.

P.S. I Love You, C. Ahern

I finished this a couple of days ago & needed some time to sort out my thoughts before posting about it. Cecelia Ahern is the Irish Prime Minister's daughter. Not that that affected what I think about the book or the author, I just thought that was an interesting tidbit. Set in contemporary Ireland, P.S. I Love You is about Holly. Just turning thirty, newly & unexpectedly widowed after the sudden death of her husband Gerry, PSILY follows Holly's emergence from grief into a new life of her own. I guess it's a chick lit, but the subject matter was surprisingly serious for what appeared (my mistake for judging the cover & the blurb) to be more light hearted than it turned out to be.

Gerry has written ten letters to Holly & mailed them to her parents' home, Holly doesn't pick them up until Gerry has been dead two months. One letter per month until the end of the year (March through December inclusive), each letter gives Holly a new task to help her move on. Some are funny (karaoke) and some are poignant & painful (sorting through his belongings). Holly & Gerry had quite a close circle of friends who helped her nurse Gerry through his illness & attempt to help her through grief.

My biggest problem is the fact that Holly's friends, while patient & supportive to an extent, all eventually tell Holly she 'needs to get a grip and move on.' One of the friends goes so far as to say so to Holly's face- and then says 'don't tell so & so I was here (his wife) 'cuz she doesn't know I came.' Oh & BTW, the wife is preggers & needs Holly to stop grieving & be a supportive friend. Someone else is getting married & tells Holly to stop moping & help her celebrate the upcoming wedding. Poor Gerry hasn't even been in his grave a year!

All of my problems revolve around Holly's buddies. I don't think they were truly friends. As far as I'm concerned they were shallow & thoughtless & drank like fish. On more than one occaision they drag Holly out to some event & proceed to get so drunk one or more of them black out- friends who help you like that? Don't need 'em. Finally Holly lands a job she loves & works like the devil to earn her boss' respect & help herself move on. What do the friends do? Berate her for suddenly becoming a workaholic. Never mind that Holly needs the cash & has no real work history & so does need to prove her worth to the boss.

In all honesty, I really like Holly. She sees most of her shortcomings & her strengths & copes admirably with all life throws at her. Her family, like everyone else's, is a mixed bag of ok, pain in the bum & supportive. I thought the letters were a wonderful construct to show Holly's personal growth & her close relationship with Gerry. But the friends? Could've been better. Then again, no friend can be everything you need in a time of crisis, but jeez. Too, Holly could've spoken up earlier & more often and told them what for. None of us are perfect though.

For all of my disike of Holly's friends I enjoyed Ms. Ahern's story about Holly & Gerry. Holly was a likeable person who measured up in the end & became a better person. I'm on the lookout for more of Ms. Ahern's work.