Lost & Confused. Lies & Deceit. Love & Redemption. - The Undomestic Goddess by. Sophie Kinsella

So I finished "The Undomestic Goddess" two days ago...and I must say that it was just as, if not more refreshing this time around than it was the first time. The book is seriously a great read.

We have Samantha Sweeting. Great person. She's hardworking, determined, super smart, a hidden beauty, a bit uptight, a worrier, a perfectionist, a people-pleaser, out of touch with her self...and a lawyer.

Readers of course are introduced to her uptight side when she's at a massage clinic and stressing out about filling out the pre-evaluation thing and having to be without her cell phone and blackberry....this is the story of her life. She has no real identity...she is her law firm. Point blank. Period. Fast forward a bit...she's on the partner track, they have the partner making meeting where they'll name her the youngest partner and simultaneously Samantha uncovers kind of a big deal...a set of contract papers that haven't been filed yet...her brain starts working and while she can't remember receiving the papers, she has definitely gotten to the point where she realizes this is no laughing matter and without the papers being filed one of the companies stands to lose a ton of money. Random loser colleague "Guy" comes in and she re-hashes her ordeal...having it repeated by someone else Samantha does what any normal adult would do....she runs....like literally

She leaves her building and gets on a train going anywhere but there. On the train she's essentially having the world's worst panic attack and after de-boarding she finds herself lost in a new town. She wanders quite a bit to the humble abode of Trish and Eddie Geiger...this unsuspecting posh, upper echelon couple welcomes her into their home as their...housekeeper...Samantha of course is the opposite of well-versed in the domestic world of cleaning and such...but once she realizes that she has unknowingly walked into this role she adopts it at an attempt to find a new her.

As the new haut monde housekeeper she also runs into the rather delicious grounds keeper Nathaniel. He instantly uncovers her secret, but liaises with her to help convert some of those lies to truths and Samantha truly commits to her life as the new help.

I'll say for now that life happens...Sam continues to learn about the Geigers. She and Nathaniel get close and she also begins to learn important household skills (e.g. cooking, cleaning, ironing, washing) from Nathaniel's mom.

At some point the Geiger's open their home to Trish's niece and that coupled with the increased seriousness of her and Nathaniel's relationship seems to inadvertently set Samantha on a path toward rectifying and confronting (wait, scratch that; reverse it) her past so that she can successfully move on with her future. This involves uncovering the scandal of all scandals...covert operations in London...and more than enough reclamation.

I shan't spoil the rest of the story...but I will say Sophie Kinsella does a very good job of helping the reader feel and live as Samantha does. The plot is follow-able and though one might be able to presuppose how this novel will close the ride getting to that ending is well worth the read and clearly (from my second read) worth additional rides. The book is truly lovely and Samantha though foibles are embedded in her character she is lovely and joy to learn and follow through her journey.

Rating: 5/5

~La Linda Lector