U is for undomestic

A few years ago, my sister-in-law (hi, Heather!) was reading Sophie Kinsella's Confessions of a Shopaholic while we were all enjoying a family vacation on the beach in Florida. She was constantly laughing out loud and when she finished it, she passed it on to me. I instantly became a fan of Kinsella's breezy chick-lit style. So for this week's A-Z Wednesday reading challenge, where we are now at U, I chose one of my Kinsella favourites, The Undomestic Goddess.

I have to be honest here. To enjoy this novel, you must suspend all rational thought. The plot is implausible, plain and simple. Simply sit back, grab the book, and prepare to enjoy a lighthearted, amusing story in the classic fish-out-of-water vein. Here's what Publishers Weekly had to say about The Undomestic Goddess:
Samantha Sweeting, the 29-year-old heroine of Kinsella's latest confection is on the verge of partnership at the prestigious London law firm Carter Spink — the Holy Grail of her entire workaholic life. But when she finds she has made a terrible, costly mistake just before the partnership decision, she's terrified of being fired. In a fog, she stumbles out of the building and onto the nearest train, which drops her in the countryside, where she wanders to a stately home. The nouveau riche lady of the house mistakes her for the new housekeeper — and Samantha is too astonished to correct her. Numb and unable to face returning to London, Samantha tries to master the finer points of laundry, cooking and cleaning. She discovers that the slow life, her pompous but good-hearted employers and the attentions of the handsome gardener, Nathaniel, suit her just fine. But her past is hard to escape, and when she discovers a terrible secret about her firm — and when the media learns that the former legal star is scrubbing toilets for a living — her life becomes more complicated than ever.
 
Chick-lit this is, but it's chick-lit at its finest. If you're looking for a great book to take on vacation or read while you're hiberating by the fireplace, you won't go wrong with The Undomestic Goddess. Or any of Kinsella's other novels, for that matter.