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first Good [ No Hassle 30 Day Returns ] Publisher: The Dial Press Pub Date: 7/21/2009 Binding: Hardcover Pages: 448.

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Overview

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 ...

See more details below

Overview

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. Written with all the irrepressible charm and humor that have made Sophie Kinsella’s books beloved by millions, Twenties Girl is also a deeply moving testament to the transcendent bonds of friendship and family.

  • Sophie Kinsella
    Sophie Kinsella

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Think Topper, that impossibly sophisticated and goofy 1937 ghost tale of blithe spirits bugging the only living soul who can hear them. Kinsella creates an equally vexing and endearing shade, Sadie, a wild-at-heart flapper with unfinished earthly business who badgers 27-year-old great-niece Lara into doing her bidding. Predictable mayhem and the most delicious and delightful romp a ghost and girl-at-loose-ends could ever have in 21st century London ensue. Sadie discovers just how loved she really is, and Lara channels her inner '20s girl to discover the difference between wanting to be in love and finding love. Kinsella, a master of comic pacing and feminine wit (see: the wildly successful Shopaholic series), casts a bigger net with this piece of fun and fluff, weaving family dynamics and an old-fashioned mystery into the familiar chick lit romance. And there's a sweet nod to old folks ("All that white hair and wrinkled skin is just cladding.... They were all young, with love affairs and friends and parties and an endless life ahead of them"). It's a breath of crackling fresh air that may well keep readers warm right through winter. (July)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From The Critics
Struggling Londoner gets the shock of a lifetime when the meddlesome ghost of a recently deceased relative haunts her. Between relationship woes, work dramas and the day-to-day life of a city gal, Lara could probably be excused for having minimal contact with Great-Aunt Sadie during the last years of her life. The woman was, after all, 105 and confined to a nursing home. Still, Lara feels guilty when hardly anyone shows up to the old lady's funeral. Her sadness quickly gives way to confusion, though, as first the voice and then the form of a 1920s flapper appear before her. It's Sadie in her youth, and Lara is the only one she can communicate with directly. Opinionated, loud and self-absorbed, Sadie is primarily interested in retrieving a lost necklace before moving on to her final rest, but she's also determined to squeeze in a bit more action. To this end she sets her sights on a handsome young American named Ed who reminds her of Rudolph Valentino. Using her supernatural powers, Sadie gets into Ed's head and convinces him to ask out Lara, who is still hung up on her ex, the unworthy Josh. This results in an understandably awkward first date during which Sadie dictates, Cyrano-style, what Lara should do to seduce Ed. Lara, for her part, gets a lead on the missing piece of jewelry and uncovers Sadie's tragic past as an artist's muse, unjustly separated from the only man she really loved. In spite of their differences (the whole living vs. dead thing) the two grow close, and Lara takes some steps in her personal and professional life that she probably would not have taken without the freewheeling flapper by her side. Kinsella (Remember Me?, 2008, etc.) is in her element with scattered,wisecracking Lara, and Sadie (and her outfits) are fabulous. But this one goes on a bit longer than necessary.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780385342025
  • Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 7/21/2009
  • Pages: 448
  • Product dimensions: 5.74 (w) x 8.56 (h) x 1.47 (d)

Meet the Author

Sophie Kinsella
Sophie Kinsella
With her winning, witty series of Shopaholic books, British author Sophie Kinsella (real name: Madeline Wickham) has created nothing less than a phenomenon. As Entertainment Weekly puts it, "[Kinsella] gives chick-lit lovers a reason to stay home from the mall."

Biography

When we first meet Becky Bloomwood in Sophie Kinsella's Confessions of a Shopaholic, she's a financial journalist in London who's quickly realizing that though she may be a writer for Successful Saving magazine, she could use help practicing what she preaches. She's helplessly driving herself into debt buying things she can't afford, at one point rationalizing that buying something 30 percent off is actually saving money. Becky was a hit with readers and spawned a franchise for Kinsella. In subsequent books, readers have followed her through a temptingly whirlwind series of adventures, with her best friend, Suze, and Luke, the love of her life, often along for the ride.

The Shopaholic books are little tours of fabulousness, where objects are introduced not as incidental to the story but as key players. Becky may not attend to certain life details such as bills or space to store all of her purchases, but she knows how to pay proper homage to the details in a dress or a vintage cocktail table. When she packs for a trip, we get the list of what she's bringing. What's more, she rationalizes and justifies purchases before you can say, "Credit or cash?" (The answer for Becky, by the way, is usually credit.)

Those who value integrity or depth in their fictional characters would be well advised to steer clear of Becky; but Shopaholic fans identify with her weaknesses, finding her more sympathetic than sinister. She can be maddening in her lack of discipline or self-reflectiveness, but Kinsella has taken a cue from Jane Austen's Emma by infusing her character with enough optimism, heart, and generous spirit to overcome her faults. Becky always reassuringly lands right-side-up, making these books a fun flight of fancy.

The author has interspersed her popular series with a handful of stand-alone confections featuring protagonists as charming and deliciously funny as the Shopaholic. Fortunately for her many fans, Sophie Kinsella has a seemingly inexhaustible supply of affection for her characters. May it fuel many books to come!

Good To Know

Some outtakes from our interview with Kinsella:

"I am a serial house mover: I have moved house five times in the last eight years! But I'm hoping I might stay put in this latest one for a while."

"I've never written a children's book, but when people meet me for the first time and I say I write books, they invariably reply, 'Children's books?' Maybe it's something about my face. Or maybe they think I'm J. K. Rowling!"

"If my writing comes to a halt, I head to the shops: I find them very inspirational. And if I get into real trouble with my plot, I go out for a pizza with my husband. We order a pitcher of Long Island Iced Tea and start talking -- and basically keep drinking and talking till we've figured the glitch out. Never fails!"

"Favorite leisure pursuits: a nice hot bath, watching The Simpsons, playing table tennis after dinner, shopping, playing the piano, sitting on the floor with my two small boys, and playing building blocks and Legos."

"Least favorite leisure pursuit: tidying away the building blocks and Legos."

    1. Also Known As:
      Madeleine Wickham (real name)
    2. Hometown:
      London, England
    1. Date of Birth:
      December 12, 1969
    2. Place of Birth:
      London, England
    1. Education:
      B.A. in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, Oxford University, 1990; M.Mus., King's College, London, 1992
    2. Website:

Read an Excerpt

Twenties Girl

A Novel
By Sophie Kinsella

The Dial Press

Copyright © 2009 Sophie Kinsella
All right reserved.

ISBN: 9780385342025

ONE

The thing about lying to your parents is, you have to do it to protect them. It's for their own good. I mean, take my own parents. If they knew the unvarnished truth about my finances/love life/ plumbing/council tax, they'd have instant heart attacks and the doctor would say, "Did anyone give them a terrible shock?" and it would all be my fault. Therefore, they have been in my flat for approximately ten minutes and already I have told them the following lies:

1. L&N Executive Recruitment will start making profits soon, I'm sure of it.

2. Natalie is a fantastic business partner, and it was a really brilliant idea to chuck in my job to become a headhunter with her.

3. Of course I don't just exist on pizza, black cherry yogurts, and vodka.

4. Yes, I did know about interest on parking tickets.

5. Yes, I did watch that Charles Dickens DVD they gave me for Christmas; it was great, especially that lady in the bonnet. Yes, Peggotty. That's who I meant.

6. I was actually intending to buy a smoke alarm at the weekend, what a coincidence they should mention it.

7. Yes, it'll be nice to see all the family again.

Seven lies. Not including all the ones about Mum's outfit. And we haven't even mentioned The Subject.

As I come out of mybedroom in a black dress and hastily applied mascara, I see Mum looking at my overdue phone bill on the mantelpiece.

"Don't worry," I say quickly. "I'm going to sort that out."

"Only, if you don't," says Mum, "they'll cut off your line, and it'll take ages for you to get it installed again, and the mobile signal is so patchy here. What if there was an emergency? What would you do?" Her brow is creased with anxiety. She looks as though this is all totally imminent, as though there's a woman screaming in labor in the bedroom and floods are rising outside the window and how will we contact the helicopter? How?

"Er . . . I hadn't thought about it. Mum, I'll pay the bill. Honest."

Mum's always been a worrier. She gets this tense smile with distant, frightened eyes, and you just know she's playing out some apocalyptic scenario in her head. She looked like that throughout my last speech day at school; afterward she confessed she'd suddenly noticed a chandelier hanging above on a rickety chain and became obsessed by what would happen if it fell down on the girls' heads and splintered into smithereens?

Now she tugs at her black suit, which has shoulder pads and weird metal buttons and is swamping her. I vaguely remember it from about ten years ago, when she had a phase of going on job interviews and I had to teach her all the really basic computer stuff like how to use a mouse. She ended up working for a children's charity, which doesn't have a formal dress code, thank goodness.

No one in my family looks good in black. Dad's wearing a suit made out of a dull black fabric which flattens all his features. He's actually quite handsome, my dad, in a kind of fine-boned, understated way. His hair is brown and wispy, whereas Mum's is fair and wispy like mine. They both look really great when they're relaxed and on their own territory-like, say, when we're all in Cornwall on Dad's rickety old boat, wearing fleeces and eating pasties. Or when Mum and Dad are playing in their local amateur orchestra, which is where they first met. But today, nobody's relaxed.

"So are you ready?" Mum glances at my stockinged feet. "Where are your shoes, darling?"

I slump down on the sofa. "Do I have to go?"

"Lara!" says Mum chidingly. "She was your great-aunt. She was one hundred and five, you know."

Mum has told me my great-aunt was 105 approximately 105 times. I'm pretty sure it's because that's the only fact she knows about her.

"So what? I didn't know her. None of us knew her. This is so stupid. Why are we schlepping to Potters Bar for some crumbly old woman we didn't even ever meet?" I hunch my shoulders up, feeling more like a sulky three-year-old than a mature twenty-seven-year-old with her own business.

"Uncle Bill and the others are going," says Dad. "And if they can make the effort . . ."

"It's a family occasion!" puts in Mum brightly.

My shoulders hunch even harder. I'm allergic to family occasions. Sometimes I think we'd do better as dandelion seeds-no family, no history, just floating off into the world, each on our own piece of fluff.

"It won't take long," Mum says coaxingly.

"It will." I stare at the carpet. "And everyone will ask me about . . . things."

"No, they won't!" says Mum at once, glancing at Dad for backup. "No one will even mention . . . things."

There's silence. The Subject is hovering in the air. It's as though we're all avoiding looking at it. At last Dad plunges in.

"So! Speaking of . . . things." He hesitates. "Are you generally . . . OK?"

I can see Mum listening on super-high-alert, even though she's pretending to be concentrating on combing her hair.

"Oh, you know," I say after a pause. "I'm fine. I mean, you can't expect me just to snap back into-"

"No, of course not!" Dad immediately backs off. Then he tries again. "But you're . . . in good spirits?"

I nod assent.

"Good!" says Mum, looking relieved. "I knew you'd get over . . . things."

My parents don't say "Josh" out loud anymore, because of the way I used to dissolve into heaving sobs whenever I heard his name. For a while, Mum referred to him as "He Who Must Not Be Named." Now he's just "Things."

"And you haven't . . . been in touch with him?" Dad is looking anywhere but at me, and Mum appears engrossed in her handbag.

That's another euphemism. What he means is, "Have you sent him any more obsessive texts?"

"No," I say, flushing. "I haven't, OK?"

It's so unfair of him to bring that up. In fact, the whole thing was totally blown out of proportion. I only sent Josh a few texts. Three a day, if that. Hardly any. And they weren't obsessive. They were just me being honest and open, which, by the way, you're supposed to be in a relationship.

I mean, you can't just switch off your feelings because the other person did, can you? You can't just say, "Oh right! So your plan is, we never see each other again, never make love again, never talk or communicate in any way. Fab idea, Josh, why didn't I think of that?"

So what happens is, you write your true feelings down in a text simply because you want to share them, and next minute your ex- boyfriend changes his phone number and tells your parents. He's such a sneak.

"Lara, I know you were very hurt, and this has been a painful time for you." Dad clears his throat. "But it's been nearly two months now. You've got to move on, darling. See other young men . . . go out and enjoy yourself . . ."

Oh God, I can't face another of Dad's lectures about how plenty of men are going to fall at the feet of a beauty like me. I mean, for a start, there aren't any men in the world, everyone knows that. And a five-foot-three girl with a snubby nose and no suntan isn't exactly a beauty.

OK. I know I look all right sometimes. I have a heart-shaped face, wide-set green eyes, and a few freckles over my nose. And to top it off, I have this little bee-stung mouth which no one else in my family has. But take it from me, I'm no supermodel.

"So, is that what you did when you and Mum broke up that time in Polzeath? Go out and see other people?" I can't help throwing it out, even though this is going over old ground. Dad sighs and exchanges glances with Mum.

"We should never have told her about that," she murmurs, rubbing her brow. "We should never have mentioned it-"

"'Because if you'd done that," I continue inexorably, "you would never have got back together again, would you? Dad would never have said that he was the bow to your violin and you would never have got married."

This line about the bow and the violin has made it into family lore. I've heard the story a zillion times. Dad arrived at Mum's house, all sweaty because he'd been riding on his bike, and she'd been crying but she pretended she had a cold, and they made up their fight and Granny gave them tea and shortbread. (I don't know why the shortbread is relevant, but it always gets mentioned.)

"Lara, darling." Mum sighs. "That was very different; we'd been together three years, we were engaged-"

"I know!" I say defensively. "I know it was different. I'm just saying, people do sometimes get back together. It does happen."

There's silence.

"Lara, you've always been a romantic soul-" begins Dad.

"I'm not romantic!" I exclaim, as though this is a deadly insult. I'm staring at the carpet, rubbing the pile with my toe, but in my peripheral vision I can see Mum and Dad, each mouthing vigorously at the other to speak next. Mum's shaking her head and pointing at Dad as though to say, "You go!"

"When you break up with someone," Dad starts again in an awkward rush, "it's easy to look backward and think life would be perfect if you got back together. But-"

He's going to tell me how life is an escalator. I have to head him off, quick.

"Dad. Listen. Please." Somehow I muster my calmest tones. "You've got it all wrong. I don't want to get back together with Josh." I try to sound as if this is a ridiculous idea. "That's not why I texted him. I just wanted closure. I mean, he broke things off with no warning, no talking, no discussion. I never got any answers. It's like . . . unfinished business. It's like reading an Agatha Christie and never knowing whodunnit!"

There. Now they'll understand.

"Well," says Dad at length, "I can understand your frustrations-"

"That's all I ever wanted," I say as convincingly as I can. "To understand what Josh was thinking. To talk things over. To communicate like two civilized human beings."

And to get back together with him, my mind adds, like a silent, truthful arrow. Because I know Josh still loves me, even if no one else thinks so.

But there's no point saying that to my parents. They'd never get it. How could they? They have no concept of how amazing Josh and I were as a couple, how we fit together perfectly. They don't understand how he obviously made a panicked, rushed, boy-type decision, based on some nonexistent reason probably, and how if I could just talk to him, I'm sure I could straighten everything out and we'd be together again.

Sometimes I feel streets ahead of my parents, just like Einstein must have done when his friends kept saying, "The universe is straight, Albert, take it from us," and inside he was secretly thinking, "I know it's curved. I'll show you one day."

Mum and Dad are surreptitiously mouthing at each other again. I should put them out of their misery.

"Anyway, you mustn't worry about me," I say hastily. "Because I have moved on. I mean, OK, maybe I haven't moved on totally," I amend as I see their dubious expressions, "but I've accepted that Josh doesn't want to talk. I've realized that it just wasn't meant to be. I've learned a lot about myself, and . . . I'm in a good place. Really."

My smile is pasted on my face. I feel like I'm chanting the mantra of some wacky cult. I should be wearing robes and banging a tambourine.

Hare hare . . . I've moved on . . . hare hare . . . I'm in a good place. . . .

Dad and Mum exchange looks. I have no idea whether they believe me, but at least I've given us all a way out of this sticky conversation.

"That's the spirit!" Dad says, looking relieved. "Well done, Lara, I knew you'd get there. And you've got the business with Natalie to focus on, which is obviously going tremendously well. . . ."

My smile becomes even more cultlike.

"Absolutely!"

Hare hare . . . my business is going well . . . hare hare . . . it's not a disaster at all. . . .

"I'm so glad you've come through this." Mum comes over and kisses the top of my head. "Now, we'd better get going. Find yourself some black shoes, chop chop!"

With a resentful sigh I get to my feet and drag myself into my bedroom. It's a beautiful sunshiny day. And I get to spend it at a hideous family occasion involving a dead 105-year-old person. Sometimes life really sucks.

As we pull up in the drab little car park of the Potters Bar Funeral Center, I notice a small crowd of people outside a side door. Then I see the glint of a TV camera and a fluffy microphone bobbing above people's heads.

"What's going on?" I peer out the car window. "Something to do with Uncle Bill?"

"Probably." Dad nods.

"I think someone's doing a documentary about him," Mum puts in. "Trudy mentioned it. For his book."

This is what happens when one of your relations is a celebrity. You get used to TV cameras being around. And people saying, when you introduce yourself, "Lington? Any relation to Lingtons Coffee, ha ha?" and them being gobsmacked when you say, "Yes."

My uncle Bill is the Bill Lington, who started Lingtons Coffee from nothing at the age of twenty-six and built it up into a worldwide empire of coffee shops. His face is printed on every single coffee cup, which makes him more famous than the Beatles or something. You'd recognize him if you saw him. And right now he's even more high profile than usual because his autobiography, Two Little Coins, came out last month and is a bestseller. Apparently Pierce Brosnan might play him in the movie.

Of course, I've read it from cover to cover. It's all about how he was down to his last twenty pence and bought a coffee and it tasted so terrible it gave him the idea to run coffee shops. So he opened one and started a chain, and now he pretty much owns the world. His nickname is "The Alchemist," and according to some article last year, the entire business world would like to know the secrets of his success.

Continues...

Excerpted from Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella Copyright © 2009 by Sophie Kinsella. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Interviews & Essays

JEWELRY PIECE - SOPHIE KINSELLA

When I was at college I had a bicycle which I rarely used and which sat, week after week, in the bike racks. One day I went to get it out-and found a diamante necklace twined round the spokes of the front wheel. It was an old, vintage-style necklace, one of the prettiest things I'd ever seen. On my bike! How had it got there? Had someone borrowed my bike and dropped it? Was it a romantic gift from a secret admirer? (OK, unlikely...)
I put up a notice in college - but got no claimers. It was mine! I wore that necklace over and over - and felt as though it had somehow magical qualities. Would it have felt so magical if it were a scarf or a hat or a purse? I don't think so.
Jewelry has a magic all its own. Precious stones have always attracted legends, myths, crimes, lust. Quite sane women will go to pieces at the sight of a big enough diamond. Even as a tiny child I was fascinated by beads, jewels, tiaras... anything that glittered. And, like books, I find it hard to give pieces of jewelry away, even after I've stopped wearing them.
The biggest symbol of jewelry is love. Whose heart doesn't stop on being presented with a little velvet box? Who secretly doesn't crave a diamond, however teeny? Of course true love is putting out the rubbish every night... but that won't make you gasp and tilt your hand to catch the facets of light.
When I was writing Twenties Girl I knew I needed to give Sadie, my ghost character, a mission. There was something in the world she still wanted-and it didn't take long to decide on jewelry. A ring seemed too obvious... bracelets too inconsequential... but a necklace was perfect. I wanted it to be tactile,romantic, and the kind of piece you could imagine wearing with anything. Guided by research into jewelry of the 1920s, I conjured up in my head a long necklace of glimmering yellow glass beads, with a dragonfly pendant set with rhinestones. Not priceless.... but special. I could imagine Sadie twirling the beads as she danced, I could imagine her gathering them and letting them drop. I could see it as an iconic, timeless piece.
A dragonfly seemed a perfect emblem for Sadie, too-beautiful, fragile, and darting around like quicksilver. The dragonfly symbol has different meanings for different cultures-for some it's a symbol of change, for others it represents the subconscious. In Japanese paintings, dragonflies can mean new light and joy. To some Native Americans they're the souls of the dead. All of these interpretations are perfect for the character of Sadie-a ghost who needs to "move on" and for whom the dragonfly necklace has a meaning all its own.
The more I wrote about Sadie's dragonfly necklace the more it came to mean to both her and me-and I hope it does to readers, too.
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  • Posted September 9, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    Great read as usual

    Twenties Girl: I love the Shopaholic series, and I've read all of her other novels. Twenties Girl is definitely right up there for me as far as Sohie Kinsella goes. It was fun, believable (if you believe :O)) and funny! I enjoyed Lara and Sadie both, and genuinely felt the connection between the two as friends.
    On a more serious note, I thought it was wonderful how Lara had never known this person, never bothered with her, then learned so much about her when she met her ghost. It's sad because the older generation is out there, and they hold so much history, and they are so often forgotten about.
    Searching for Sadie's necklace only brought her into Lara's life...everything else that came after is where the real story was.
    Sophie Kinsella has never disappointed me and she is one of the few authors I will go out and buy as soon as her books are in stock. I absolutely thought this was a fantastic story, and it very much had Sophie Kinsella's touch. I highly recommend it.

    7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 5, 2009

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    LOVED this book!!

    I have read all of Sophie Kinsella's books and always look forward to her next. Her books are fun - great chick lit. This one was different though. Still fun, but the story was deeper. It was very original. The main characters Lara and Sadie were well developed and there was such an emotional connection between them. I laughed (out loud) and cried. I did not want this story to end!! Tally ho Sadie - I miss you already!

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 15, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    couldn't put it down

    Sophie Kinsella always entertains me with her novels. I walked with Becky Bloomwood to all the shops in the "Shopaholic" series, I went along on Lexi's adventures of amnesia in "Remember Me?", and I laughed as Samantha goes from being an office flunky to an amateur housekeeper in "The Undomestic Goddess". I was thrilled to see this book, "Twenties Girl", in the library as a quick read and snatched it right up.

    And there was no false advertising. This was a quick read. I was at the library on Thursday, and closed the book after the final chapter today, Tuesday, only 5 days later. I loved it. I devoured it. It was a great way to distract me from any stress or any other issues going on in my life. I needed a quick, light, entertaining read, and Sophie indulged me.

    Her characters are just so easy to relate to. I don't know what that says about my life, but it's true. And adding a ghost to the crazy mix was an adventure that I just couldn't pass up. Lara and Sadie make a great pair. Two completely different viewpoints and generations thrown together in one erratic enterprise. Something new happened with each page turn and I was so excited to find out what happened next throughout the whole novel. I love books like this.

    I admit it proudly: I love chick lit. Life can be so stressful and ridiculous that it's nice to sit and relax with an easy read and a cup of coffee (or tea, depending on your preference). And if Sophie Kinsella isn't the queen of chick lit, then she should be. All of her books are great, and I recommend any of them.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted April 25, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    Slow Start but Good Story

    I do recommend this book. But hang in there, the first few chapters I found slow going. I did not like either of the two main female characters for several chapters. Although they were adults, their behavior was a bit "middle school" (think 11- 13 year old girls). I almost gave up on the book, but kept on reading. After 4 or so chapters, the story picked up steam, the characters become stronger emotionally and intellectually. The story became a entertaining mystery. This book is a fast read, I finished the book in approximately a day.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 7, 2009

    love it

    twenties girl is a funny, quick read. the story is touching and really interesting. i would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting a fun book to read.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 4, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    One of My New Favorite Books!!!

    Sophie Kinsella is an amazing writer. I could read this book over and over again. This book was funny and moving all at the same time. Didn't want it to end.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 2, 2009

    I loved this book!!!

    this was a book that made me laugh out loud. The story was original and I couldnt put it down. Can't wait to read more of her books.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted August 2, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    Wonderful Book

    Sophie Kinsella books simply make me smile. This is a book that you will not want to put down until you are finished.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted January 23, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    not as good as her other books

    I like this book but by the middle of the book i lost my steam to read it and thats never happened to me before when i was reading this author. I still think remember me and undomestic goddess are my faves form this author. Still love and can't get enough of miss Sophie kinsella

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 4, 2012

    Amazing

    Love all her books!

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  • Posted December 12, 2011

    Great Read!

    What a wonderful feel good book.

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  • Posted November 12, 2011

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    Review from Worn Pages and Dusty Shelves

    I could have loved Twenties Girl. It had amazing potential and I¿m really disappointed that it didn¿t give me any feel good feelings. I hated most of the characters. I really hated Natalie, Lara¿s headhunting partner. I have an intense dislike for Sadie, her great aunt, she was always yelling if she didn¿t get her way, and she did some infuriating things. I¿ve never met a character that I just wished would shut up and be killed off, oh wait, this character is already dead. Sadie was just awful. She hurt Lara so many times by ¿yelling¿ at someone who was alive. Sadie could make anyone into a puppet by ¿yelling¿ in their ear, excluding Lara, and it got old fast. There really aren¿t enough ways to say how much I disliked Sadie. Lara has an evil sister, parents who never quite believe her, an uncle who didn¿t play his part well enough to be called a villain, and lest I forget Lara who is pining after a guy who dumped her. Of course, there are some things I liked. The search for the necklace had a few great moments. Our Mr. American Frown (Ed Harrison), who doesn¿t come in until the story is about halfway done, starts off as a really good love interest, until the end when he just seems bleh and I thought, ¿Why is he here again?¿ He made the story bearable, he had a personality that wasn¿t dreadful, and his interaction with Lara was cute. Basically all the parts without Sadie were good, or the parts where she wasn¿t acting like a spoiled child. I¿m battling with the rating. I¿m not sure if I want it to be two stars or three, but I think I¿ll leave it at three because of Mr. American Frown.

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted October 31, 2011

    A Must-Read!

    I absolutely loved this book! Sophie Kinsella illustrates such a good picture of each character and all of their outrageous events that I felt like I was there the whole time. This book really digs deep into the characters' (and your own) emotions to keep you laughing, on your toes, and wanting more! I HIGHLY recommend this book to any girl who thinks reading was "boring"!

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  • Posted October 26, 2011

    Good book

    Not as great as her other books like The Undomestic Goddess, but still very enjoyable.

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  • Posted October 13, 2011

    more from this reviewer

    Abrupt beginning but a charming and heart touching read!

    I do not agree with Kirkus, I wish it went longer! I would have loved to see a series with Lara and Sadie!

    The book jumps in with both feet in the first chapter - it can leave you a little shell-shocked, but the writing style is charming after the police "scenes"- stick with it because it is absolutely worth it. The book is touching and romantic in a best friends for life type of way. It reminiscent of a coming of age story but the Lara is in her 20's and the ghost is a 23 year old version of a 105 year old with amazing life experience. Grandmother teaches granddaughter who she is and how to live life before she dies, but this is the great aunt and niece afterwards.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 13, 2011

    Different than her other "Shopaholic" books

    I love Sophie Kinsella, and I have read the entire "Shopaholic" series. It is rare that an author can make me laugh out load, but Kinsella can. I found this book just okay. I guess my expectations were a bit high.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 12, 2011

    Another great one!

    This was a really fun and entertaining book, possibly one of my favorites by this author. I loved the characters. Was sad to finish it because I was so wrapped up in it.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 9, 2011

    One of my favorites

    Really fun read

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  • Posted July 14, 2011

    loved this book!

    As usual, Sophie Kinsella gave me a book I couldn't put down. I read through this book in 5 lunch hours and a 2 hour session at home. I just finished it last night and I'm already dreading not being able to read it tonight!!! Highly recommend any of Kinsella's books...they are hilarious!

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  • Posted July 8, 2011

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