I absolutely love Sophie Kinsella. When I read the entire Shopaholic series, I knew I would love anything Kinsella wrote. That has definitely remained true. Yes, she’s probably more chick lit than most writers, but she’s smart about it. She’s a great writer and her heroines are very likable (ever seen the movie ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’? That was a definite unlikable character for me. I’ve never read the book, so I’m not sure what she was supposed to be like, but I hated her from the beginning. Not good.). I knew I had to give her latest book, Twenties Girl, a try.
Lara is definitely a likable character. She’s down to earth, honest, and I could relate to her. Working in a job she spent her entire savings on, Lara can’t believe what has transpired. Her work partner, Natalie, talked her into the business of headhunting and had big dreams for them, claiming that they would instantly be the greatest headhunters in London. Unfortunately, Natalia has slipped away to Goa leaving Lara and her assistant Kate in charge of the company. The other unfortunate thing? Lara knows nothing about headhunting because Natalie failed to teach her anything.
Top that off with the fact that Lara just broke up with her boyfriend, Josh, for whom she’s still pining for in a definite crazy person way, and we have a very fragile main character. But this book isn’t just about Lara’s woes, but about her great-aunt Sadie who recently died at the age of 105. Her family attends the funeral but everyone is preoccupied. Lara’s uncle, Bill Lington, creator of a Starbucks-type coffee chain, is way too up on his high-horse to think that his great aunt mattered an ounce. Among the discussion before the funeral, Lara finds out that no one in her family had even visited her great-aunt at the nursing home she was housed at. Lara hadn’t even been there since she was 6-years-old. No one knows anything about the great-aunt, there aren’t any flowers, no one else even comes to the funeral, and no one thinks anything of any of this – until Lara starts seeing the ghost of a 23-year-old Sadie who is talking about a necklace that is missing.
The necklace, a beautiful beaded gem with a dragonfly on it, made Sadie feel beautiful and she won’t rest until that necklace is returned to her.
From this point forward, Kinsella takes the reader on a heartfelt journey through Lara’s work life, love life, home life, as she learns more about this great-aunt (who turns out to be great in so many ways) and helps her find the missing necklace. She learns a few life lessons from her great-aunt, for whom she is truly grateful for having as a friend – even if she is a ghost. Sadie can be annoying and stubborn at times, but it is all because she thinks she missed out on something great in her 105 years of life – finding true love.
Twenties Girl is a great addition to Sophie Kinsella’s repertoire and if you are a fan of her writing, or even any of the writers deemed as chick-lit authors, you will love this book. It has romance, mystery, drama – and is even a bit of a ghost story. I really enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading more Sophie Kinsella in the future!
