Published by The Dial Press
Publication date: February 7th 2017
Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Humor
Oh, happy day! Sophie Kinsella is back and she still has her fingers on the pulse of the twenty-something woman (and the older women who often like reading about them). To anyone who knows me, Kinsella leads off my chick-lit, make-it-all-go-away reading. And lately, that’s about all I can seem to manage. In My (Not So) Perfect Life it is Katie Brenner (or Cat as she likes to be known because it sounds more hip) who’s trying to make it at a London, cutting-edge, marketing firm. Her only aspiration is to be as glamorous and powerful as her boss, who has a legit fabulous life—high powered job, handsome loving husband, and tons of money, parties and friends.
Cat does a reasonable job of faking it with an enviable Instagram life even if the truth is her apartment is the size of a shoebox and she’s lucky to afford ramen for dinner. That is until she’s let go from her job and has to move home to Somerset. At which point desperation sets in enough that she helps her father and his wife turn their quaint (OK, shabby) farm into a glamping experience for pampered Londoners. With her ideas and marketing skills, Ansters Farms becomes a success and life is good, until her former boss shows up.
If the plucky, suburban English girl theme sounds familiar, yes, it is a mainstay of Kinsella’s books. The thing is—it doesn’t get tiresome. My (Not So) Perfect Life is still filled with all the trendy details that make for great fluffy reading, but Kinsella tweaks the theme away from some of the more common chick-lit tropes in a way that feels fresh and timely. In playing to the cultural zeitgeist without being boring or insulting she remains in the starting position of authors I read for pure fun.
Eva @ The Paperback Princess says
January 24, 2017 at 10:32 amWoohoo! Still firmly on my list. I will never get tired of her books (I don’t think). Her books are SO funny and they really are perfect for what ails you. Looking forward to getting my hands on it.
Catherine says
January 24, 2017 at 2:50 pmYou and I are peas in a pod on Kinsella! This one is fun- you’ll really like it.