I think I must have come across this while browsing Borrowbox. I reserved it, there was probably a two month wait. I haven’t read anything else by Sophie Kinsella, but I have seen the movie version of Confessions of a Shopaholic, which I enjoyed.
Here’s the blurb …
Sasha has had it. She cannot bring herself to respond to another inane, “urgent” (but obviously not at all urgent) email or participate in the corporate employee joyfulness program. She hasn’t seen her friends in months. Sex? Seems like a lot of effort. Even cooking dinner takes far too much planning. Sasha has hit a wall.
Armed with good intentions to drink kale smoothies, try yoga, and find peace, she heads to the seaside resort she loved as a child. But it’s the off season, the hotel is in a dilapidated shambles, and she has to share the beach with the only other a grumpy guy named Finn, who seems as stressed as Sasha. How can she commune with nature when he’s sitting on her favorite rock, watching her? Nor can they agree on how best to alleviate their burnout ( manifesting, wild swimming; drinking whisky, getting pizza delivered to the beach).
When curious messages, seemingly addressed to Sasha and Finn, begin to appear on the beach, the two are forced to talk—about everything. How did they get so burned out? Can either of them remember something they used to love? (Answer: surfing!) And the question they try and fail to ignore: what does the energy between them—flaring even in the face of their bone-deep exhaustion—signify?
I really enjoyed this and the narrator (Bessie Carter) was fabulous. It’s a romcom so you know what to expect, but the dialogue is clever and witty, and all of the minor characters are hilarious, particularly Cassidy, Herbert, Simon and Nikolas – the hotel employees. It is quite long (over 12 hours) and could have been edited to be a bit tighter (but I always think things need editing, so it’s probably just me).
A review