I adore Sophie Kinsella – her books, to be accurate. Unlike most people, I haven’t gotten too deeply into the Shopaholic series. I think the first book of hers I read was The Undomestic Goddess. And from there I was hook. So when she published a new book about #agencylife and social media, I knew I had to read it.

The friendly folks at Penguin Random House sent me a copy, and between work (doing social media at an agency) and posting #TBTs on Instagram, I read about Katie Brenner, her boss Demeter, the awkward office love interest, and the lives of deception everyone leads.

More than meets the eye

Growing up on a farm in Somerset, Katie has dreamed about moving to London and living a life of glamour her whole life. But the reality is that work in the big city is scarce, and affordable lodgings less than posh. And then it all goes wrong when she’s fired.
Moving back home on a “sabatical”, she doesn’t let on how miserable she is and how unlikely it is that she’ll get back to London and a life she yearns for.
However, things look up when her former boss-from-hell books a family holiday at Katie’s dad’s farm. It’s time for payback. Bespoke farm activities and an eventual mud bath ensues, and Katie discovers that she and Demeter may have more in common than what she thought.
In an unlikely alliance, Katie and Demeter bring down the office bullies, saving Demeter’s job in the process.

Oh, and that little love interest? That ended differently than you would normally expect in a lovely light read like this.

The verdict

I enjoyed the book, although it didn’t quite hit the spot like Sophie Kinsella’s other books.
If you work in the cut-throat agency world, secretly post a life on social you only dream about, or fantasise about getting even with your boss, you should definitely get stuck into these pages.

Grab it at any leading bookstore at a recommended price of R295.