Saturday 14 April 2012

Read in 2012 - 9: The Undomestic Goddess

As far as I know, I have read one or two of Sophie Kinsella's books before, and while I found them mildly entertaining, they did not leave a lasting impression with me, and one I remember as having found downright daft. "The Undomestic Goddess", though, I really enjoyed - it is one of those books so readily classified as typical "Chick Lit", but it's all in there: romance, comedy, mystery, and even some good advice on life in general, advice that can be heeded or ignored.
Samantha Sweetings is a high-powered city lawyer in London, coming from a family with similarly high-powered jobs, where career is everything, and even one's own daughter's birthday takes a back seat when work calls. Samantha has dedicated all her adult life to becoming partner in the most distinguished London law firm, practically living in her office and being available for work 24/7, and finally, partnership is offered to her - she is not yet 30, and it seems that she has already reached her ultimate goal in life. Could life get any better?

Well, it could. And it does.
But first, Samantha hits rock bottom: She makes a mistake that costs a client 50 million and wrecks her career. The shock of discovering her own mistake ("I never make mistakes!") is so big that she simply walks out of her office and gets on the next train she happens to catch, without knowing where it will take her or what to do next.
She ends up in a picturesque village in the Cotswolds, and when she comes to her senses and wants to ask for directions at a big, beautiful house, the owners mistake her for an applicant as their new housekeeper. She is offered the job, and everything happens to fast and she is still so much in turmoil that she accepts.

Nothing in her life has prepared her for this - an IQ of 158 and three law degrees from Cambridge do not mean one can cook, organize dinner parties or even know how to make a bed properly or to operate a washing machine, let alone an iron.

Samantha gets unexpected help, though, and her new employers do not guess the truth... until things happen that make Samantha suspect she did not, in fact, make that fateful mistake the day she walked out of her office.

A highly unlikely scenario is described in a way that makes it almost credible; the characters are real enough, and the settings depicted so colourful you can imagine them very well.
Many bits are quite foreseeable - the love interest, what she finds out about her mistake -, but there are some surprises as well. Some of the comical scenes made me almost laugh out loud while I was reading the book on the train yesterday afternoon, and here are a few examples:

When Samantha is first shown the kitchen of the house where she is supposed to work as a housekeeper, the owners tell her she can rearrange all the devices and appliances to her own liking. She has no idea what most of the shiny equipment is for, but of course has to pretend she knows exactly what she is doing. So she says,
"Absolutely," I say in a businesslike way. "Obviously I have my own... um... systems. That shouldn't be there, for example." I point randomly at some gadget. "I'll have to move it."
"Really?" Trish [her new employer] looks fascinated. "Why's that?"
There's a momentary beat of silence. Even Eddie [Trish's husband] looks interested.
"Kitchen... ergonomic... theory," I improvise. "So, you'd like toast for breakfast?" I add quickly.
Not very long after she has met the man who - foreseeably - turns out to become her love interest, Samantha wonders how she should go about letting him know that she fancies him:
Now to the body language. I wrinkle up my forehead, trying to remember the rules from TV. If a woman is attracted to a man, her pupils will dilate. Also, she will unconsciously lean forward, laugh at his jokes and expose her wrists and palms. 
Experimentally I lean towards my reflection, holding out my hands as I do so.
I look like Jesus.
I'll try adding a flirty laugh. "Ha ha ha!" I exclaim aloud. "You just crack me up!"
Now I look like a cheerful Jesus.
In the last quarter of the book, Samantha gets back in touch with people from her former work, and one of the law firm's partners tell her that she has indeed been wronged:
I gape at him in stupefaction. He's admitting it? Getting a lawyer to admit they've made a mistake is like getting a movie star to admit they've had liposuction.
In places, I found the book to be a bit too fast-paced (how things are developing between her and Mr. Love Interest, for instance, and how she seems to have learnt almost everything there is to learn about cooking in one single weekend), and not everything is always logical or consistent, but that does not take away from the entertaining value of this book.
I recommend it to anyone who wants a good laugh that is neither too vulgar nor too shallow, but light enough for a good relaxing read.

14 comments:

  1. Hello Meike:
    This is a wonderful review inasmuch as you give a very good indication not only of the type of novel which it is, but also of the various genre into which it might fit. However, on balance, and whilst we accept all that you say in the way of this being rather different from Sophie Kinsella's other books, we shall probably pass on it!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Jane and Lance,
      had it not been for my Mum, who picked this one up at our local library, read it first and then let me read it, I don't think I would have come across it, either. And no harm would have been done by not having read it...
      But, as it so happened, it provided me with a fun few hours, and that is never a bad thing.

      Delete
  2. Maybe you're more in the mood for a Sophie Kinsella than you were when you read the others? Something about better weather and lighter spirits? I went through a Mavis Cheek phase myself a year or two back - something I wouldn't normally read. And yes, it was Summer....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, of course how much I enjoy a book depends a lot on my mood, and apparently I was in the right one for The Undomestic Goddess. Mavis Cheek? I have never heard the name, would you say her books are comparable?

      Delete
  3. So long as it has lawyers and a happy ending I'm OK with it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Plenty of lawyers, Graham, and of course a happy ending!

      Delete
  4. Sounds like fun, Meike. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was fun, and I liked about the main character that she never tries to impart what she has learnt to anyone else, as in "I know best and can show you how to improve your life". Not everybody needs or wants their lives improved all the time.

      Delete
  5. I always see Sophie Kinsella's books in the bookstore but I've read any of her works. I just though that she's too chick lit for my taste (yeah, I haven't read her but I'm already judging her!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Denise, she IS chick lit, but that can be fun - for me, it does not have to be high brow literature, sometimes I simply want to be entertained.

      Delete
  6. I've never read Kinsella and now you've told me so much about this book that I won't need to read it.
    I like funny and light, but I need the writing to be good. Is it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, Friko, but I have not given away too much, have I? I have not told you how Samantha is found out, what she in turn finds out, who her love interest is and what she decides to do with her life in the end.
      Of course, what consists "good writing" is often subject to the reader... let's say the writing in this one is good enough for me. I even came across two or three words I looked up, just to make sure I got their meaning right.

      Delete
  7. Strange as it may seem I love the occasional 'chick lit', especially if it is a bit deeper than the average. This sounds like fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same here, John. I like to vary in my reading, and every now and then, something like "The Undomestic Goddess" is very welcome.

      Delete