The more I read Sophie’s books, the more I want to read! Though her books are categorized as “fiction”, many a time, one can relate to it. At times, when “weird” things have happened to me, I’d ask myself “why only me?” but her books made me rephrase it as “ ok… so, its not just me…” or “It was so wrong to be thinking about myself, a nut case!” J J hehe… Even if you are in one of those clumsy moods, you can always pick her books and start reading. Believe me you will feel a lot lot better! She’s growing to be my most favorite writer! J
Like her other books, this also is a total entertainer and absolutely hilarious! Its about how Lara meets her great grand aunt Sadie’s ghost, who would have died of old age (105years) and wouldn’t “rest” until she finds her most loved dragonfly necklace. Lara initially thinks that she is hallucinating her grand aunt, due to the miserable state of mind she'll be in, resulting from various mishaps – her boyfriend dumping her abruptly, lack of support from her best friend/partner at the newly set up hiring firm apparently doing bad at business. Sadie adds to her misery pestering Lara to look for her necklace and gets her to patronize with her telling that it was her “last wish”. But it doesn’t end there….
While Lara treasure hunts with the ghost, she finds Sadie very jubilant and so very young at heart (or soul rather). J She is one of those crazy and fun loving 1920’s girls that leaves Lara at awe! Eventually, Sadie uses her ghostly skills that help Lara in realizing that the guy who dumped her wasn’t really a right choice for her and also improve her business a great deal! The story takes a big leap when Lara discovers that Sadie is not like what her family thought her to be - an ordinary, achieved nothing in life, old woman. She is a part of history which even Sadie herself wouldn’t be aware of. On the other hand, Lara’s uncle, Bill Lington who claims to have started out a coffee business with 2 pennies and grew to be millionaire with Lington coffee outlets all around the world, would have actually used Sadie’s fortune to turn into one. When Sadie learns the truth, she sees no end to her overwhelming happiness (to have been part of history) and terrible vengeance on Bill. Her retaliation to Bill is "wow"! Finally, Lara finds her necklace and Sadie’s ghost never comes back….
Take aways:
What I liked the most other than the story was, Sadie’s attitude towards life. As I read through, I have to admit, I fell for the character “Sadie”! Life is not about leaving behind miseries and moving on, but also moving up and look forward to the best. Sadie compares it to an escalator - keep going on while moving up… Her young-at-heart, her twenties fantasies (which she infects to Lara) , enthusiasm, never take life too seriously attitude is all like magic!
We do face a lot of hardships in life but what really matters is how one handles it. After all, “you are not the only one….” A must read ! A must read !A must read !A must read ! (Hope Sadie hasn't gotten into me!) :)))
Its a 10/10 for this one! *****
