Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

In her New York Times bestselling novel, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Sophie Kinsella engages her readers in a truly humorous tale about growing up and finding the most important things in one’s life. At the center of the novel is the erratic and loveable heroine Rebecca (Becky) Bloomwood, a strong, intelligent woman with a big heart and just one major problem – an obsession with shopping. However, Becky’s addiction is hardly supported by her low paying job and pretty soon credit card bills and final notices begin to pile up.

Rebecca Bloomwood lives in Fulham, a trendy part of London, where she shares a flat (an apartment) with her roommate and best friend, Suze. A recent college grad, Rebecca is just beginning to make her way in the grown-up world of tedious jobs, paychecks, and bills - lots and lots of bills. She works as a journalist for a small financial magazine, Successful Saving, the first step on her way to a high-paying job at a top fashion magazine.

Some of Becky’s “exciting” assignments as a financial journalist include: finding a good story to plagiarize for her next article; grabbing a coffee and heading over to Image Store to pick out a cover for next month’s magazine; and sipping champagne at numerous press conferences. This monotony continues until the Brandon Communications press conference, where Becky meets none other than the tall, handsome, and ridiculously rich head of the company, Luke Brandon. In spite of Becky’s absurd money-making schemes and awkward run-ins with Luke, their relationship develops. One day, Becky is invited by Luke to do what she loves best – shop! The pair spends many delightful hours in a luggage store trying to pick exactly the right bag. After finally purchasing a piece of luggage, Luke invites Becky out to lunch; however, the fun ends when Luke explains the luggage they just bonded over is for his girlfriend. Becky is heartbroken when she hears this revelation and she now realizes her for feelings for Luke Brandon had grown stronger than she ever intended.

Shopping eases Becky’s broken heart until the ominous pile of final credit notices grows out of control and the threatening letters from Endwich Bank’s manager, Derek Smeath, become more urgent and intimidating. Becky’s ingenious yet ridiculously insane excuses and schemes to hide from her growing debt are perhaps the most hilarious parts of the entire novel. Her excuses range anywhere from a broken leg to glandular fever to the death of a make-believe dog. She even “forgets” to sign checks or she mis-dates them in order to avoid making her payments. Becky also involves herself in a number of schemes in order to change her lifestyle: living a simple life, buying a get-rich-quick kit, and getting a job, lasting one day, at a local clothing store. However, with each failed attempt to free herself from debt, Becky becomes more discouraged and spends more money, until one day as she is paying for items on a major feel-good shopping spree all of her credit cards are declined. This embarrassment leaves Becky fleeing to the comfort of her parent’s rural home.

However, her parent’s house does not provide the solace and comfort she expected. A few days into her stay, she discovers her parent’s long-time friends and neighbors, Martin and Janice Webster, have fallen victim to a false advertising scheme by their trusted banker, Flagstaff Life, and have lost twenty thousand pounds. At the beginning of the story, Becky blindly advises the couple to switch their investments. Now desperate to undo her previous wrong and to expose the fraud of the company, Becky writes an article about the Webster’s tragedy for The Daily World newspaper. The article stirs up loads of controversy, and before she knows it, Becky is appearing on a morning talk show, Morning Coffee, to discuss the situation.

Five minutes before Becky is to appear on live television before millions, she discovers she will not discuss her article with the show’s hosts but instead, she will debate Flagstaff Life’s recent predicament with company CEO Luke Brandon. Becky crushes Luke Brandon in the debate by taking a common sense approach to the topic and in doing so is offered a permanent position on Morning Coffee as a financial correspondent. The money Becky earns from her television gig finally enables her to pay her outstanding debt.

On a scale of one to ten, Confessions of a Shopaholic deserves a seven. The characters were creative and witty and the story original; however, the story progressed gradually and with many digressions from the overall plot and theme of the novel. Still, I would recommend this book to any girl who is in need of a laugh or a light piece of colorful literature. Finally, one unanswered question regarding the happily ever after of the novel - Do Becky and Luke find the love they are looking for in each other? But the only way to answer that question is to read the novel for yourself!