The Kari AnnAlysis

Lara is kind of at an awkward point in her life. She and her boyfriend are broken up, although she may be stalking him a little, she opened a head hunting firm with her BFF who happens to have left on a vacation, married someone and has no plans to come back, leaving Lara to run a business she really is only learning about.

Cue the funeral for Lara’s great-aunt Sadie. No one really knew Sadie well. She was older than dirt and lived in a funeral home for decades.  It wasn’t until Sadie’s funeral did Lara realize how sad she felt for her great-aunt, with only seven people at her funeral. Well, eight when Sadie shows up as a ghost. Lara is the only one who can see Sadie and the only one who can help Sadie cross over by finding her most prized possession, a diamond dragonfly necklace from back in the 20s.

Of course we’d all want to get our heads checked after seeing our dead great-aunt in the form of a ghost, especially in her 20-year-old age form, a form you  never saw in real life. But Lara embraces it, bound and determined to get this annoying ghost out of her life, and she has no clue the adventure she’s about to go on and the things she’ll learn about her great-aunt Sadie.

I absolutely love Sophie Kinsella. I’ve read every book under Kinsella’s name and even one under another pen name (the only one I didn’t love to pieces). They are all such light, fun reads that make you fall in love with the characters and call them by their first name. I always have a hard time diving into another book after I finish one of Kinsella’s because I know it’ll be hard to top.

This book was different from all of the other Kinsella novels. The others are all very believable and although fiction, could happen in your life. This one, a little more on the fiction side, but just as much loveable. It’s one that really gets you thinking about your family and what you know and don’t know. When I think of the 20s, I think of prohibition, Babe Ruth and flapper dresses. We all have seen the fashion, but in black and white. Kinsella paints it for us in color and brings it back to life meshing the 1920′s with the 2010′s.

I love books that dive into the past because I always feel like I learn so much. Granted, an author could be making up the stuff they are writing, it is fiction, but I read an interview about Kinsella and how she researched everything, down to the makeup for that era. It’s amazing what you can learn through fiction.

At Easter, I found a picture of my great-great-grandma. It was obviously black and white, she was sitting outside with family members and I had so many questions I wanted to ask. I don’t get to see my grandma but once every few months and every time we’ve been together recently, we break out the stories of the past. Like what my grandpas parents did for a living and how my grandma came up with the names of her eight children. She didn’t just randomly pick a name. They all have a story, which I love. This book is a good reminder that there may be secrets, good or bad or just plain fun, hiding in your families past and if you don’t take the time to ask questions to find them, they may be lost with your family.

I give Twenties Girl 5 bookmarks.

ISBN: 978-0739383247
Published: July 21, 2009
Author Website
Kari got this book in a buying frenzy when Borders was closing stores

May I add that if you have a chance, check out the “Books” section of Sophie Kinsella’s website. I always love the see the different covers for the different countries the books are published and decis 

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