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Two reviews from Nausheen Rahman

Keeping readers on stitches ...
TIRED of all those tomes? Well, put the volumes aside and take a little time out for something light and witty.
In Confessions of A Shopaholic, Sophie Kinsella's very likeable but exasperating heroine has readers (especially us womenfolk) in stitches, on tenterhooks and in tears alternately, with her escapades. Many of us can identify with her at some point or the other. Being addicted to shopping is nothing alien to women in today's image-conscious, materialistic world. It's just not knowing when to stop that invites disasters!
As we read how Rebecca Bloom'wood (Becky), the protagonist, falls deeper and deeper into debt, we cannot help but sympathize with her while losing patience with her at the same time.
Becky is a compulsive shopper and comes across as a flippant “head-in-the-clouds” young lady. She is a financial journalist, apparently with nothing going for her. She cannot manage her money matters, her self-esteem seems to be ebbing and she invariably gets herself into knotty situations.
The really riveting part of the book comes when Becky discovers that she is capable of good journalism; it is at this juncture that she feels motivated and committed enough to turn in a really good story. Several other good things trail along as a result of this and our heroine undergoes a drastic change for the better.
It gives one a good feeling to read how someone can go through a perfectly credible change of personality particularly when the writer shows up the person’s foibles without being at all didactic.
Kinsella's descriptions of Becky's scrapes, all of which revolve around her urge to buy and to keep on buying, are amusing, as well as thought-provoking.
The other characters and her interaction with them are interestingly portrayed. There's Suze, her flat mate, who’s just as crazy as her when it comes to shopping, there’s Luke Brandon, a very successful entrepreneur with whom her relationship goes through various stages, there's Tarquin Cleath-Stuart, the “15“ richest man in the country" (who has a big 'crush' on her, but by whom she's not at all attracted). There's Derek Smeath, her relentless bank manager and several others.
The letters from the bank to Becky add a delightful flavour.
Some of Kinsella's other Shopaholic novels arc: Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Shopaholic lies the Knot and Shopaholic and Sister. Sophie Kinsella, a former financial journalist, has been adjudged "The New York Times Bestr Selling Author"
Read this book and who knows? You might become a Sophie Kinsella bookaholic!