Nobody does silly chick-lit quite like Sophie Kinsella. 'Confessions of a Shopaholic', where I first met her scattered and spacey heroine Rebecca Bloomwood, made me an instant fan.
Rebecca Bloomwood is just like you and me - after graduating from college, she is offered a line of credit by her bank and gets a job writing for the financial magazine called Successful Saving. Sounds like a model citizen? Well, not quite - Becky has a problem. She can't stop shopping even though she's in debt many times over. Things are so bad that she is using a credit card to pay off old credit card bills, she hides/ throws out all the new credit card bills, she avoids her banker like the plague and tells a string of white lies more implausible than the previous - and still, when she passes by any store that has a sign saying 'SALE', she can't help but shop yet again.
Becky finds a self-help book that promises to help her deal with her debt. First line of business, scaling back! Becky earnestly tries this out by going to the museum, and attempting to cook her own food etc... all with hilarious results where Becky only ends up spending more money! Horrors!
Next, Becky tries earning more money, such as trying to apply for a new job with a resume that has been 'polished' and ends up in more trouble. She even briefly considers seducing the young cousin of her roommate (who also happens to be an aristocratic millionare) with hilarious shenanigans.
Finally, in a fit of panic, Becky ends up hiding in her parent's home with a string of lies behind her. How does she get out of this mess? Well, she does this quite brilliantly in the end while attracting the attention of young millionaire Luke Brandon. Happy ending! Well, that part reads like a fantasy to be honest, because I can't quite believe that someone like Luke would actually fall for someone like Becky, but I guess that stranger things have happened in real life!
Check out Confessions of a Shopaholic on Amazon!
