The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

The Undomestic Goddess

Sophie Kinsella

Rating: 5 stars

Amazon UK

Samantha thrives under pressure. A high-powered London lawyer, all she can concentrate on is taking the next step in her career; eating, sleeping, seeing friends - even taking a breath - will have to wait.

But just when she's about to get everything she has ever wanted, Samantha makes a mistake. A fifty-million-pound, career-destroying mistake. Unable to face the consequences, she does the unimaginable and runs away...

Catching the first train she can, she finds herself in the countryside, outside a beautiful grand house. Mistaken for another woman, she falls into a new job as the family's housekeeper.

Disaster ensues. In a blink, her life has shifted from writing briefs to washing them - and she has no idea how to work the washing machine. Let alone the oven. A former master of the takeaway menu, she's now expected to whip up fine cuisine.

But gradually, she falls in love with her new life in a wholly unexpected way. Will her employers ever discover the truth? Will Samantha's old life ever catch up with her? And if it does... will she want it back?

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I'll be honest and admit that I wasn't expecting much from this novel. I saw it in Morrisons, liked the simple cover and thought - Well, I enjoyed Sophie Kinsella's other novel, I'll give this a go. And I was so glad that I did! Once I got home, I looked it up on Goodreads and was a little shocked to find out that it was nearing 10 years old but the cover had had a little revamp! This was also part of the reason why I wasn't expecting much. Sure, Sophie Kinsella is an amazing author but I hadn't read any of her earlier work, so wasn't sure what to expect.

However, I didn't need to be worried because it was great. It was humorous, lighthearted, and I couldn't put it down. I love the new look cover wise that Sophie Kinsella is going for, I love the simplicity and I love the hot pink! It starts with Samantha working as a lawyer in London and her trying her hardest to get partner at the law firm (I think that makes sense - I don't understand lawyer talk!). You can just see how much Samantha wants this, so much so that everything else has been put on the back burner - friends, family, you name it. I mean, she hasn't seen her mum for 6 months!!! So, as you  can imagine, Samantha is pretty bummed out when she makes a little (read, big) mistake and she is let go from the company.

Still in shock as to what she's managed to do, she flees from the office and legs it onto the closest train she sees. She ends up in the countryside and with a splitting headache, knocks on the door of a nice house and asks if she could have a drink of water and some tablets. Unfortunately, this is where the confusion begins! - and the humour!!! Samantha is mistaken for someone who is applying to be their housekeeper, so she plays the role and says the next day she is going to tell them the truth. However, this doesn't happen and soon Samantha finds herself loving her new life. However, whatever you run away from, it always has a way of catching up with you...

It was a fabulous novel and I was really glad that I picked it up in the end, I know now not to judge a book on how old it is! And shall definitely be looking into buying some more novels by Sophie Kinsella as it was really enjoyable.