TWENTIES GIRL

Author: Sophie Kinsella ISBN: 9780385342025 7/2009 FICTION Publisher: DIAL PRESS

Lara Lington has always had an overactive imagination, but suddenly that imagination seems to be in overdrive. Normal professional twenty-something young women don’t get visited by ghosts. Or do they? When the spirit of Lara’s great-aunt Sadie–a feisty, demanding girl with firm ideas about fashion, love, and the right way to dance–mysteriously appears, she has one last request: Lara must find a missing necklace that had been in Sadie’s possession for more than seventy-five years, and Sadie cannot rest without it. Lara, on the other hand, has a number of ongoing distractions. Her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, her start-up company is floundering, and she’s just been dumped by the “perfect” man. Sadie, however, could care less. Lara and Sadie make a hilarious sparring duo, and at first it seems as though they have nothing in common. But as the mission to find Sadie’s necklace leads to intrigue and a new romance for Lara, these very different “twenties” girls learn some surprising truths from each other along the way.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Sophie Kinsella's TWENTIES GIRL is pure fun! It shows that the bonds of family are stronger than we think, and can stretch between the living and the dead quite nicely!

I got a huge kick out of this story, partly because it's so well written but also because the characters are just so wonderfully endearing. Lara is like many women her age, struggling to find her place in the world. She has a flagging company, a self-centered best friend, and the relationship she thought might be "the big one" has just come to a screeching halt. When her dead aunt appears and demands she search for a missing necklace the timing doesn't seem to be the best, but the quirky ghost is insistent. Lara becomes embroiled in the mystery, and along the way she learns more about herself and life than she expected to. It seems her spirit guide has wisdom to impart, and Lara is the beneficiary of some of Sadie's experience. Watching this pair interact is so many things...heartwarming, funny and insightful, to name a few. While Lara and Sadie come from different realms, their hearts and minds find common ground, bringing this character-driven tale fully to life.

One of the most interesting points in this story comes during a tour of London. Lara finds herself showing Ed around town, and when she mumbles centuries in answer to when this-or-that castle or sight was built, I laughed out loud! It was just wonderfully normal, something any "tour guide" might do. Then, just when towers, Crown jewels and medieval costumes seem almost ready to overwhelm the story, the poignant bit begins and Lara shows she's even more human than ever. Her admission that she felt "stupid" during a breakup is so recognizable. I mean, who hasn't felt idiotic at one time or other when a relationship ends? Lara's believability is unquestionable, and her thoughts and actions make her very endearing. I could easily see why a spirit would want to spend time with her!

Kay James