I do not normally read books like Twenties Girl. It's straight up fiction, modern day, set in London. The last couple of times I've read similar fiction have not, honestly ended well. There was The Spoiler, which left me wondering how all of the reviews (and NPR - NPR, for God's sake!) had gotten it so wrong; I could not even bring myself to finish Last Night at Chateau Marmont. But Clio wrote a fantastic review and since she (almost) never steers me wrong, I figured, why not? Twenties Girl is absolutely laugh-out-loud hilarious. It is the funniest book I have read since Good Book and that was a year ago.
Here's the set-up: Lara Lington's life is a trainwreck. Her boyfriend has inexplicably walked out on her, and her business partner has decided to stay in Goa somewhat indefinitely. Lara has no money, no life, and she's desperate to remember which lies she's previously told her parents so not to confuse the story line when they come to pick her up for the funeral of 105-year-old Great Aunt Sadie, whom Lara has never met.
Life goes from bad to worse at the funeral when dead aunt Sadie, whose casket is just there, feet from Lara, refuses to go to her grave quietly, but rather begins to haunt Lara. See, she has lost her necklace and she's in a sort of purgatory unless Lara can find it. She's also rather bossy and saucy and reappears at the most inopportune times. In addition to finding her necklace, Sadie is obsessed with the Charleston and determined that Lara will learn.
Twenties Girl is completely and utterly over-the-top. It is ridiculous in the best sense of the word and it is hilarious pretty much from start to finish. Sophie Kinsella has created a lighthearted masterpiece here and I'm sorry I doubted for a minute whether I should read it.
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