Twenties Girl

by Sophie Kinsella

[Leah]

Lara Lington thinks of herself as a fairly hip twenties girl, living in the 21st century. But the last thing she expects at her Great Aunt Sadie’s funeral is for Sadie herself to appear and demand for the whole thing to be stopped. Lara thinks she’s going mad: how on Earth can she hear and see a dead person? It turns out Great Aunt Sadie is actually a ghost and a ghost with a mission: to track down her missing Dragonfly necklace. Sadie eventually manages to convince Lara to help look for the necklace. Can they find it, and can Sadie ever rest in peace?

I received Twenties Girl way back in July just before it was released but never thought of picking it up until now because I was worried I wouldn’t like it. I am in no way inclined to read a ghost story and I’ve never wanted to before. I also wondered exactly how it would work writing a ghost story, would it be a real ghost story or a magical-type ghost story in the vein of Alexandra Potter? I can thankfully reveal that it is a fantastic ghost story with a hint of magic that really sells it.

Twenties Girl really is an outstanding read. It took me a few pages to get into it and I was worried I wasn’t enoying it, when up popped Sadie and I was glued to the book from then on in. I thought the plot of the missing necklace was well thought out and I enjoyed Lara and Sadie’s search for the aforementioned necklace. I would love to see the Dragonfly necklace in real life, I have to say, as it sounds really beautiful.

The whole story is narrated by Lara and is greatly enjoyable, particularly when Sadie comes into the picture and Lara wonders if she’s going bonkers. Not only does Lara have to contend with an at-times-annoying ghost, but her best friend (and business partner) has done a bunk and her boyfriend has just dumped her, so you can see why she thinks she’s going mad; the scene in the funeral parlour where Sadie first appears was beyond hilarious. I thought Lara was a lovely character and I enjoyed her interaction with Sadie. I also thought it was hilarious when Lara decided to spy of her ex-boyfriend Josh and she bugged his table – that had me laughing out loud. Lara was funny, likeable, and yes, she probably was a bit bonkers, but I loved her regardless.

For me, the real star of the show, though, was Sadie. I thought Sadie was a fabulous character – outgoing, talkative but also incredibly nice and rather prone to teenage strops. I enjoyed unravelling the story of Sadie’s life and finding out exactly why the Dragonfly necklace was so precious to her. I didn’t find Sadie’s constant chanting when she wanted attention annoying, I merely found it endearing and, also, quite amusing. She told a great tale about her life and growing up in the Twenties. I thought Sophie Kinsella described the 1920’s fabulously. I could imagine the dresses Sophie described, and the music playing throughout, and I enjoyed learning the 1920’s slang, it all added to the charm of the book and I really couldn’t put it down.

I loved everything about the book and once Sadie made her appearance I couldn’t put the book down. There are a few other characters in the book, Ed Harrison being a favourite of mine. I loved how he went along with Lara when she asked him on a date (spurred on by Sadie, of course) and thought Ed made a fantastic male character. I also liked Lara’s family, the Lingtons, and was so so pleased Uncle Bill got his comeuppance. The story really takes a turn halfway through the book and I wanted to race to finish it to find out if all would come well in the end.

I have got to say that the ending gave me tears in my eyes. I knew it was going to happen. All through the book I just knew how it was going to end and I still didn’t expect it at all. I didn’t want to leave Sadie and Lara’s world and you have no idea how sad I was to leave it! This really was an outstanding book – making me laugh, making me cry and giving me an unputdownable read. A truly outstanding novel from Sophie Kinsella, her best to date and truly one of the best books of the year.