The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

There’s a great quote (that yes, I wrote in my quote journal) that says sometimes the best way to show your love for someone is to let them fail (I’m paraphrasing hugely). And then, I took a break, I paused and just let myself read without feeling like I needed to control the characters. Take a break, practice yoga, meditate, I thought.

Straight from the start, Samantha’s hectic schedule was getting me down, winding up my mind and sending my thoughts into a frenzy. Luckily, I got a chance to do so straight away whilst reading The Un-Domestic Goddess. If I can’t accept a book character for who they are, then how can I accept a real person who is entirely more nuanced? I want to be able to simply be with the world around me without analyzing it to death. I don’t want to need an opinion on everything I see. Walking around the day after finishing the book, I realized that reading Kinsella’s novels is the perfect time for me to practice non-judgement. Guess what? Everything seemed to work out for her in the end. She wanted to know exactly what to do, but I knew it would be better if she let go. I felt that she was so controlling of her current situation. I got annoyed at Lexi for not enjoying her new life and for not allowing the events to unfold. While I was reading, I kept finding myself telling her what to do and judging her.

Although everything seems brilliant on the outside, she can’t understand what’s going on. She loves her new, thin body with veneered teeth and chestnut hair. Her husband is gorgeous, but she doesn’t know anything about their relationship. In Remember Me? Lexi gets three years of her memory erased after getting into a car accident and wakes up to discover that her entire life has changed. You know it’s not true, but it just might be. It’s a reflection of life in general, isn’t it? You’re listening to your friend talk about their problems and all of a sudden you get an overwhelming urge to tell them ‘DO THIS!’ As if you were the one who knew the answer and held the key. Even if they could, they’d continue their own strong willed journey. Suddenly, I realized something, the reason that these books get so difficult for me to read is because I think that I know better than the characters and I want them to listen to my advice. I was sitting in my family’s nicest chair near the window reading Remember Me? on my kindle.

The words are so fast paced, their minds are always racing. She takes you so completely inside their heads that I feel trapped and want to escape. Despite the fact that I love her writing, there’s something about the characters that always irks me. Finishing a Kinsella novel is like coming off of a candy bar induced sugar high.

I read Sophie Kinsella books the same way that some people might eat a snickers bar, quickly, greedily with an undefinable aftertaste.

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella