“Can You Keep a Secret?” by Sophie Kinsella – The Irony of Fate

Emma Corrigan is about as normal as a person can be: she has caring parents, a loving boyfriend, a fulfilling career, and countless secrets never meant to be shared with people. These secrets include the replacement of her mother’s goldfish with an imposter, weighing ten more pounds than she claims to, and constantly jamming the printer out of pure spite. 

We all have a collection of skeletons in our mental closets, and everything goes well until someone opens the door and they all fall out… metaphorically of course. 

Such is the path Emily’s life takes, as one day she spills virtually all of her secrets straight into the lap of a handsome stranger on a plane. The only problem is that, as she finds out soon enough, said handsome stranger is actually the CEO of the company she works for, and things only go from bad to worse.

Can You Keep a Secret? By Sophie Kinsella is basically all about how Emily can balance and navigate her life now that the one person who wasn't meant to know about her secrets came into the possession of all of them. 

Fortunately, this novel takes a very light-hearted and comedic approach to the matter, as Jack Harper, the CEO, is trying to make the right decisions considering all the impromptu information he was handed, all while Emily is fumbling left and right, trying to pick up all pieces of her perfect life before the picture falls apart.

I have to admit, though the book did have me laughing out loud on more than one occasion with some deadpan and raunchy humor, some of the characters got on my nerves a little bit. It seems that Kinsella is trying so hard to show how funny, witty, smart, quick-thinking and opinionated women can be that she forgets the fact that we are all humans, and on the whole, men and women aren’t so different that you can attribute specific behaviors to any gender on a large scale. 

As a result, her portrayal sometimes feels a bit forced and dabbles in annoying, and in some cases, even somewhat unbelievable territory, as if she is fighting against someone’s criticism, trying to prove him or her wrong at all costs.

Despite its small flaw, Can You Keep a Secret? nevertheless remains a charming and heartwarming comedy that will keep a smile on your face and send you into occasional fits of laughter. This is one of those books which I believe is perfect for making the hours pass and can even be read bit by bit rather than being swallowed whole.

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Sophie Kinsella Personal site Sophie Kinsella is an English author from London who specializes in chick literature. She is best-known for her first two novels which are part of the Shopaholic series, titled The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Abroad, both of which were adapted into a major motion picture, Confessions of a Shopaholic.