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Aunt Sadie offers a ghost's take on the modern world


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POSTED: Sunday, August 23, 2009

Chick lit queen Sophie Kinsella is back with a new novel, “;Twenties Girl.”;

Adding to her collection of stand-alone stories, Kinsella's “;Twenties Girl”; finds heroine Lara Lington at her great-aunt Sadie's funeral, where a ghostly incarnation of Sadie chooses to haunt the young woman until she helps find Sadie's lost dragonfly necklace.

When Lara falters from her task of tending to the life of the living, flapper girl Sadie lets her strong opinions be known about Lara's choices of outfits, approach to men and style of dancing. When Sadie spies a crowd of people in jeans on London's streets, she cringes over seeing “;blue legs”; everywhere. “;Blue! The ugliest color in the rainbow,”; she exclaims to Lara, who had just pulled on her cutest pair of jeans.

Lara ends up sparring regularly with her invisible aunt, usually losing the battle to Sadie's unscrupulous tactics.

               

     

 

 

        ”;Twenties Girl: A Novel”;
       

» By Sophie Kinsella

       

» Publisher: Random House

       

» $26

       

 

       

Kinsella creates a sympathetic character in Sadie, though readers don't quite hit the point of sadness when Sadie ultimately moves on to the hereafter.

As Lara attempts to fulfill her great-aunt's last wish, she embarks on a new career path, finds a new love and discovers her family's deepest secret.

“;Twenties Girl”; lacks the originality and creative twists that made Kinsella's “;Confessions of a Shopaholic”; series so successful. Her plot points are highly predictable, especially for fans of Kinsella's previous novels. Still, her frothy, optimistic writing style remains and makes the 435-page book fly by. And with Hawaii's year-round sun, who couldn't use another beach read? The paperback should be out by next summer.