Can You Keep a Secret — Sophie Kinsella
A bumpy plane ride leading Emma Corrigan, a budding Marketing Assistant to spill out her secrets to a complete stranger sitting next to him, who turns out to be her boss, Jack Harper and what follows when Jack makes no effort to shy away from Emma and is keen on comparing what she said on the plane with the real life is the main gist of the book. There are very few books that grip me right from the first chapter and this one is among them. You may not like the shallow plot but it’s fun to read just like most chick-lits are.
Overview
The story starts with the secrets of Emma, some trifle some funny while some really deep. And also that she was in a meeting for the first time representing her company at Glasgow, Panther Corporation all the while thinking about everything else except the meeting. The meeting turns out to be a disaster and she makes a complete fool of herself at the airport. An air hostess takes pity and upgrades her and thus she ends up sitting in the Business class seat next to an American stranger. The plane hits turbulence and Emma thinks that this is the moment when all of them are going to die. She incoherently spills out even her deep secrets and, guess what, they land safely. A really embarrassed Emma hopes never to meet the stranger again and tries to move on with her life.
The next day at the office, the entire office is on their toes as one of the co-founders, Jack Harper is coming for a weekly visit. And look who he is, none other than the stranger sitting next to the plane. The first encounter includes Jack asking Emma how the coffee was and she faintly remembers telling him on the plane, the worst coffee in the world is the coffee at work, absolute poison. :P
She also remembers telling about the fake A in Maths on her resume, feeding orange juice to her colleague’s spider plant, breaking her boss’s mug, she’s a size 8, G-strings are uncomfortable, what she would like on a date, how she thought that her boyfriend looked more like Ken (Barbie and Ken) and on and on.
Meanwhile, Emma is constantly fighting for a place and support at her house. Her cousin Kerry moved to her house after her parents died and she instantly grabbed attention with being good at everything. Everybody praised her and Emma felt a little disappointed and even aloof in her own house. Kerry married Nev who likes to joke on Emma as much as her father and has a successful business while Emma is still struggling to find a right career.
Gradually, Emma starts to fall for Jack and breaks up with Connor. Apparently, Jack had his own secret which he was unwilling to let Emma on to, which was ironical considering he knew everything about Emma. Moreover, he just spills everything about Emma in an interview and Emma’s world goes crazy, what with everyone knowing everything about Emma.
I liked
I really enjoyed the spilling of secrets by Emma and how she was reminded of it at some point or the other. It was fun to see how Jack would bring up different questions to the mortified Emma which made her more and more miserable.
The connection between Emma and her grandpa was really adorable. Emma puts a discount coupon in the magazine that his grandpa and his friends subscribed so that they could stock on the Panther bars which they loved when the company decided to end the product.
One time during the meeting when Artemis was trying to blabber the marketing jargon and Jack simply asks her to speak in English is cool. It’s just that in the corporate world, people like to complicate even simple things and go on fussing. A brilliant idea in simple terms is looked down as foolishness or mediocrity while a dumb concept with lots of frills and feathers is much appreciated.
I didn’t like
There is nothing to not like in the book apart from the fact that like most of Sophie’s books, this one too had an almost similar plot. One could guess the entire plot and hardly be wrong. The female character is always plotted as a weak one, although in every book, she boosts her career, gets a great man, who apparently is also a millionaire. But there is nothing about her character, strengths or something to admire or inspire from.
Bottom Line
If you are looking for a serious or realistic book, this one is not for you. In fact, none of the Sophie Kinsella’s book will suit you. It’s just a fun read and will take your mind off your worries for time being.
Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport. — Unknown
