The Undomestic Goddess

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I don’t have time for this. I really do not have the time. But it’s my birthday treat and I promised Aunt Patsy. Light and breezy . . . Samantha is eminently likable, and overworked readers will empathize with her glee at her first full weekend off in years.” — Christian Science Monitor I look up, a bit defensive. What does that have to do with anything? What makes home-cooked meals superior?

If I’ve learned one lesson from all that’s happened to me, it’s that there is no such thing as the biggest mistake of your existence. There’s no such thing as ruining your life. Life’s a pretty resilient thing, it turns out.” It does leave with you a tingling feeling that something more could have been done. It felt a bit flat as compared to the beautiful build-up which proceeded it.

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Anyway, everyone knows the Chinese live longer than we do – so what could be more healthy than to eat their food? And pizza is Mediterranean. It’s probably more healthy than a home-cooked meal. Going into utter meltdown, she walks out of her London office, gets on a train, and ends up in the middle of nowhere. Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she’s mistaken for an interviewee and finds herself being offered a job as housekeeper. Her employers have no idea they’ve hired a lawyer–and Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. She can’t sew on a button, bake a potato, or get the ironing board to open. How she takes a deep breath and begins to cope–and finds love–is a story as delicious as the bread she learns to bake. SOPHIE KINSELLA is a former financial journalist and the author of the bestselling novels Confessions of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Shopaholic Ties the Knot, Shopaholic & Sister and Can You Keep a Secret? She lives in England, where she is at work on her next book. Your skin’s very dehydrated.’ Maya is shaking her head. She runs an expert hand across my cheek and rests her fingers underneath my jaw, looking concerned. ‘Your heart rate’s very high. That’s not healthy. Are you feeling particularly tense at the moment?’

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I put down my pen and clear my throat. Across the room, Maya looks up from where she’s rearranging all her little pots of wax and nail varnish. Maya is my beauty therapist for the day. She has long dark hair in a plait with one white streak woven through it, and a tiny silver stud in her nose. Samantha Sweeting is one of my favourite ever heroines. She’s a bright, nervy, intelligent lawyer who has no idea how to boil an egg or use her washing machine – all she cares about is work. She’s about to be made partner of her law firm, which is the prize she’s always wanted. The characterisation is, well, extreme. No one ever does anything by halves and sometimes they undergo a complete personality change. An avuncular and friendly man turns out to be a villain. The nouveau-riche employers of the housekeeper turn out to have hearts of gold and feather brains. The gardener has hidden depths and an obliging mother. The lawyers get lawyers a bad name. Sophie’s latest novel, Surprise Me, published in February 2018, presents a humorous yet moving portrait of a marriage—its intricacies, comforts, and complications. Surprise Me reveals that hidden layers in a close relationship are often yet to be discovered.

Author of the bestselling Shopaholic novels Sophie Kinsella has delighted readers around the globe with her all-too-human characters caught in an array of zany dilemmas. In that spirit, The Undomestic Goddess tells the fast-paced, riotously funny tale of a high-powered corporate lawyer who trades legal torts for fresh-baked tortes in the riskiest career move of her life. The next day when she wakes up, she is the housekeeper of a beautiful big mansion in rural England and has no clue how to go about her new job. (I have not mentioned any spoiler; all this is already mentioned in the blurb). I am intending to begin a regular regime of swimming. When I have time. Work’s been busy lately, it’s a blip.

Customer reviews

There was a point when I wondered if I would be able to finish this book. It was only the fact that it was a borrowed book that stopped me ripping it up and throwing it in the bin. I found the character of Samantha Sweeting infuriating and totally unbelievable. At the beginning of the book we see her as a competent, if over-worked, lawyer, very much in control of what's she's doing. She's within moments of achieving a partnership when an error comes to light. We then have a complete change of personality. Instead of staying to sort the matter out and acting with integrity she does a runner. She does what an immature schoolgirl would have done. If she was so incapable of handling the pressure she wouldn't have been successful in her job. A good lawyer is calm in that sort of emergency. I thrive under pressure,’ I explain. Which is true. I’ve known that about myself ever since . . . Well, ever since my mother told me, when I was about eight. You thrive under pressure, Samantha. Our whole family thrives under pressure. It’s like our family motto or something. The aim of the Green Tree Centre is to provide a haven of tranquillity, away from all your day-to-day worries.’ Maya presses another button in the wall, and the light dims to a muted glow. ‘Before we start,’ she says softly, ‘do you have any questions?’ The Undomestic Goddess” is the story of Samantha Sweeting, a London-based power-hungry and very successful 29-year-old lawyer who is on the verge of becoming the youngest partner in her firm.