Secrets & Laughter: A Review of Can You Keep a Secret?

After the somewhat heavy reading of The Given Day, I was in the mood for some light and easy reading. With this in mind, on my next trip to Eloor Library, I picked up Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella. I have read and enjoyed Sophie Kinsella’s Shopaholic series of books, but I had mixed opinions about her other books.

Reading this book did not change my opinion that Sophie Kinsella is essentially a one-trick pony, reworking her characters and situational comedies over multiple books. This approach is not wrong—great writers like Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse have perfected this strategy.

The story takes place in London. The heroine, Emma Corrigan, works for a cola company called Panther Corporation. When she flies back from a bad meeting, she blurts out all her most embarrassing secrets to the stranger sitting next to her, thinking the airplane bouncing around because of turbulence will crash. Surprise! the next day, she finds out that the stranger is the CEO of Panther Corporation, and he remembers her and all her secrets. The rest of the story deals with their romance and how they get together in the end.

You may think I have hardly provided any details here, but I could find very little of note to mention. There are the usual misunderstandings from both parties before it all resolves into a happy ending.

I can’t say that I did not enjoy this book. I was interested enough to read it within a couple of days. However, I also found the book too Cinderella-esque for my taste. I mean, an affair between a CEO of a company and one of the most junior-most employees? I mean, how much more fairy-tale can you get?

I also found that it would have helped if Emma had grown up a little bit more during the course of this book. The book starts off with a list of secrets that she keeps and ends with a list of secrets. I was not too impressed by that.

I guess I am also getting very tired of the write-by-numbers style of chick-lit fiction that is available these days. After the ginormous success of the Bridget Jones series, almost every other chick-lit book seems to have the same formula. Don’t get me wrong, I love Bridget Jones, just cannot stand her various clones floating around through countless novels.

Most chick-lit books now seem to have the same standard formula, which I have attempted to outline below:

• Blond, flaky British heroine living in London working in a boring office, with a manager who hassles her and colleagues who boss over her. One question: Is it common practice for managers in British companies to use four-letter words in the workplace? I thought people could get fired for that!
  
• A hero who is slightly aloof. The heroine catches his attention by doing something goofy or kind, embarrassing herself thoroughly, and the hero comes to her rescue. Repeat this scenario as many times as required throughout the novel.
• The obligatory other man/other woman. The other man is usually a dolt who creates a messy scene for the girl in front of the hero. The other woman is usually extremely beautiful, catty, and is all out after the hero. Can You Keep a Secret? slightly diverges from this formula. No gorgeous woman is throwing herself at the hero, but I also kept getting a vague suspicion that he might be gay! 🫢 So, yes, the chemistry was a bit lacking.
• Series of misunderstandings that threaten to derail a relationship.
• Interfering / helpful friends and roommates who play a part in getting the two lovers together.
• THE END!

I guess what I am trying to say through this rambling, wordy review is that I think I am over chick-lit books. Unless, some kind commentator can recommend something that is a little different from the above formula, but still light n enjoyable!

So, please send in the recommendations! Am waiting with bated breath 😊