These days the market is flooded with books belonging to the chick-lit genre, and indeed, even lad-lit is picking up speed. They’re all usually British-themed, following the trail blazed by Helen Fielding’s hugely successful Bridget Jones Diary, and seem to have, by and large, a common theme. In such times, to not only write an innovative chick-lit book but also keep repeating the magic over and over again seems next to impossible; indeed, even Fielding herself hasn’t been able to duplicate her original success so far. But Sophie Kinsella has done this with ease with her Shopaholic books and the imitable heroine Becky Bloomwood, who’s an endearing oddball, a cross between the fashion-conscious women from Sex and the City and Lucy Ricardo. Whether she’s sending out ingenious pleas to her bank manager or buying copious amounts of useless stuff, Becky is as entertaining as she was when Kinsella first introduced her in Confessions of a Shopaholic. She’s funny without meaning to be, her reluctance to make difficult choices and face tough decisions feels very human, and her warm, tolerant nature endears her to the readers. Also, Luke’s character is more fleshed out and developed here, and readers get a poignant look at why he is the way he is. The hectic dual wedding preparations, the atmosphere of New York and various other side characters and plot lines, all contribute to the general mayhem and fun. Emotional seesawing together with copious doses of humor makes Shopaholic Ties the Knot another must-read book by Sophie Kinsella.

© 2003 by Rashmi Srinivas for Curled Up With a Good Book