I have a confession to make: I love curling up with a good chick lit as much as I love a fun romantic comedy. I know they aren’t that intellectually stimulating, but like a good sitcom, they are so entertaining. I have always been a fan of Sophie Kinsella and The Undomestic Goddess did not disappoint. I respected the protagonist a lot more than Sophie’s infamous Shopaholic character. Samantha is a high powered, overworked, overstressed lawyer for a prestigious law firm in London. She makes an error and loses everything she’s worked for over the last seven years.
In a daze she wanders onto the train and ends up in a small town and knocks on the door of a nice house, hoping to get directions back to the train. Instead the homeowners mistake her for a housekeeper applicant and hire her on the spot.
What I admire about Samantha is her perseverance. She knows absolutely nothing about cooking or cleaning but she learns and she gets creative in a pinch. Kinsella does a great job with Samantha’s character development and the reader gets a sense that Samantha has undergone a great transformation. This book made me really evaluate my working life and long for a new career of my own choosing. Perhaps I need to be more like Samantha.

So I finally read Confessions of a Shopaholic. I know, it took me forever.
While it was written cute and funny, I just couldn’t identify with the protagonist at all. I’ve never been a big spender. I guess that’s why I just wasn’t that into the story. The whole time I just kept thinking in my head, this girl is a complete moron! She writes for a finance magazine, but she knows nothing about budgeting her money. How can anyone be that dumb? I also think considering the tough economic times we’re in, I identify with her even less. Perhaps if I hadn’t read this book while we were in a recession I might think differently about it.

Still, there were parts that were cute, and I love Sophie Kinsella as a writer, so I won’t say it was a waste. It was such a quick read that even though it wasn’t my favorite, I don’t feel like I wasted my time with it. I still think her book, Can You Keep a Secret was far better than Shopaholic. I still might check out her other books in the series, and see if our main character has grown at all. If she hasn’t matured I think the books will get downright annoying, but if she’s learned something along the way, then it might make for a better read.

I will say that I don’t have any plans to run out and rent the movie adaptation of the book either, despite how adorable Isla Fischer is. I’m afraid the character she plays just might make me hate my beloved actress!