Review: The Undomestic Goddess

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I only recently started reading Sophie Kinsella's books. Her books move along smoothly, and at the end of the read, you feel good. This one is no exception.

Samantha Sweeting is a lawyer at a leading firm in London. She has built up a solid reputation with hard work and intellect. Her days are long and there is little or no personal life - a price to be paid for corporate success. Just when she is about to become a partner in the firm, it seems she has made a disastrous mistake. Once she realizes this, she just takes off from the place, distraught and stressed. As she wanders, she is mistaken for an applicant for a housekeeping job which she accepts.

Her new life as a housekeeper seems to bring alive aspects of her life and personality which she has never had a chance to explore. Time seems to slow down and she discovers more of life which really matters - including love.

The book addresses a great subject and the turmoil Samantha goes through is not different from what many in stressful jobs face. And yet the book only skims the surface of true emotions, content with generics.

Overall a book you can relax with, but keep your expectations to that.


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Review: My Life in Orange

My Life in Orange by Tim Guest
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a book about the period when Tim's mother was a close follower of the controversial guru Osho (Rajneesh). His mother starts by attending a lecture and gets deeply involved - visiting and living in the Pune ashram of Osho and later Europe, America as well.

As he was a small boy at the time, Tim recounts much of this later. That is one of the problems of the book. There is no insight on what Tim's mother found attractive in Osho's teachings, and whether she suffered any self-doubt during much of her time as a follower. There is a touch of humour as Tim narrates the going-ons at Osho's various centres, and many episodes are fun to read.

Nevertheless, what the book lacks is depth and comes across as a very shallow recap of much of what happened at the time. Quite a bit of the latter part of the book is public knowledge as well. The story being a deeply personal one for Tim and his family is a to the book's credit though.

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