Undomestic Goddess

By: Eva Yunita

Name : Eva Yunita

Class   : XI Science 2      

    The favourite book that I read was “ Undomestic  Goodess”.  This book written by Sophie Kinsela, as the author of the popular Shopaholic series featuring Becky Bloomwood. Published in Jakarta, Mei 2009 as the fourth edition which include 560 pages and the price around 100 thousand in rupiah with the ISBN : 978-979-22-1744-5. This book told us about the goddess in question is Samantha Sweeting a twenty nine year old lawyer on the fast track to becoming partner at the famous swanky law firm Carter Spink. Although Sam loves her job and wants nothing more than to be a partner, she has no social life to speak of, is stressed out beyond belief, and her high powered mother which is a famous lawyer too and her brother can’t even make the time to join her for her latest birthday celebration, actually Sam fell disappointed but she always try to understand their family’s busyness.

All of this seems worth it, though, when she finds out that she has achieved her biggest goal, she has become a partner at Carter Spink. Unfortunately, the joy is short lived. Sam finds some papers buried on her desk that she apparently forgot about the file and that little mistake has cost one of their clients fifty million pounds. In a panic, Sam rushes out of the office, takes a train, and ends up in a small suburb of London, lost and terrified. Unconcious, she ends up on the doorstep which is belongs to a couple of Trish and Eddie Geiger, who mistake her for a housekeeper come to apply for a job, so they are so kind with her, give her medicine when they saw Sam’s condition at the time, but actually Sam only wanting  a place to sleep for one night and to get her head in order, Sam unwittingly takes the job. When she finds out that she no longer has a career at Carter Spink, she decides to stick it out at the Geigers for a while and do the job as housekeeper .  But the big problems are she doesn’t know how to cooking, clean up the house even she doesn’t know how to baking the bread and turn on the oven and though Trish and Eddie are easy to fool, the hot gardener isn’t so gullible. Actually she doesn’t want to be the house keeper , she promise to herself that she will tell the truth to Trish and Eddie Geiger, but there is no chance for her to do that. Unlike Becky Bloomwood, who was a bit too air headed and ditzy for my liking, the character of Samantha Sweeting is smart, gutsy and easy to root for. It’s easy to see why the gardener ends up falling for her, and their chemistry works beautifully throughout the book. Secondary characters also shine with life. Kinsella rarely makes the mistake of creating a character who falls into the ‘good guy/bad guy’ mold and most of the supporting cast are realistic and multidimensional.  Like the Shopaholic series, the plot of The Undomestic Goddess requires the reader to suspend a bit of belief. For instance, it’s a little difficult to buy that a high powered lawyer would changes her way into a job as a housekeeper and even harder to believe that a woman who couldn’t boil an egg learns how to cook gourmet meals in only a few weeks. At the time, the gullible  gardener was confused when he saw Sam’s behaviour to do her job which is cooking in the kitchen, Sam’s look so busy but it’s nothing. She look so confused and don’t know what to do.Then, Sam tell him the truth,   However, if you don’t take the story too seriously, you won’t mind these unrealistic bits and instead focus on the great characters and funny situations. If you liked the Shopaholic series, you’ll surely love Kinsella’s new book. And, if you’re like Becky Bloomwood a bit too flighty, you’ll find much more to like in Samantha Sweeting.

I Think The Undomestic Goddess is recommended to anyone who likes light, cute romances with a generous sprinkling of humor. Never have I laughed as much during a book as I did while listening to The Undomestic Goddess. Samantha Sweeting is a workaholic who is soon to be named partner at her law firm. When it appears she has made an epic mistake at work, she finds herself running away from her old life. She takes a bus, gets off on a random stop, and ends up at Trish and Eddie Geiger's house. Through one miscommunication after another, Samantha ends up being hired as a housekeeper. She fails to consider the fact that a housekeeper is expected to cook and clean, something that is low on Samantha's list of qualifications. Cooking to her means "ordering in", and cleaning is something that miraculously has happened when she gets home from the firm and  the help has taken care of things. It is one comedy after another as she tries to pass herself off as a gourmet cook. With the help of the good looking gardener Nathaniel's mother, Samantha learns the value of a slower paced life. Samantha ends up on an unexpected journey where she learns some valuable life lessons and realizes her priorities are slowly changing. It is a fun, laugh out loud ride that at times, I could totally relate to. I am not much of a cook myself and when I do attempt to make a more sophisticated meal, I find myself at a loss as to what the terms mean. Luckily for me, I married a man who loves to cook - and what a great cook he is! ;) Have you read The Undomestic Goddess or another Kinsela’s books ? If yes, which one would you recommended ?