Kinsella formula adds up to another predictable chick-lit hit

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Sophie Kinsella (CP)

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Readers who pick up a Sophie Kinsella novel (typically boasting a bold pink cover emblazoned with trendy, flirty fonts) are not expecting too many surprises.

They're expecting light commercial fiction, with delightfully crass supporting characters, chirpy British slang and neurotic nemeses who fall on the wrong side of skinny.

That's exactly what they'll get with the British superstar's latest chick-lit special, I've Got Your Number. Our heroine and first-person narrator, Poppy Wyatt, is overwhelmingly reminiscent of Rebecca Bloomwood, the protagonist of Kinsella's popular Shopaholic series.

Both flighty women unwittingly become embroiled in an executive-level industry, where handsome men find they bring a surprisingly refreshing perspective to the business; meanwhile, their personal lives are unravelling.

In Poppy's case, she's terrified to admit to her overbearing in-laws-to-be that she's lost her engagement ring, a family heirloom. Moments later, in an inopportune coincidence common in chick lit, Poppy's mobile phone is stolen.

"My phone's my life," Poppy says. "I can't exist without it. It's a vital organ... It's my world. It's everything."

Not one to cave under pressure, Poppy asks herself, "What would Poirot do?" but adds, "Thing is, I'm not sure Poirot had three glasses of pink champagne and a mojito before he solved the Murder on the Orient Express."

A frantic search ensues for the ring, but turns up only -- conveniently enough -- an abandoned cellphone that she claims as her own. On the other end of the line is Sam Roxton, an overworked executive who allows her to keep the phone (it was his personal assistant's) if she promises to forward all his messages.

Of course, this is where the fun begins.

"Sam's text messages are randomly mixed up with mine," Poppy muses. "I've never shared an inbox with anyone in my life. I didn't expect it to feel so... intimate. It's as if we're suddenly sharing an underwear drawer or something."

In the hands of a lesser talent, this could easily be a condescending commentary on society's crushing dependence on our mobile devices. By Kinsella's pen, it is merely a classically romantic story told with a modern twist via text messaging and smiley emoticons.

Poppy and Sam's exchanges are cute and captivating. They could easily give Becky and Luke a run for their money in the cutest couple contest. Readers will be rooting for Sam and Poppy to take their relationship from the phone wires to real life. Unfortunately, they're both engaged to other people.

During many chapters, it is clear that Kinsella (her pseudonym; she had actually published seven novels under her real name, Madeleine Wickham, before gaining fame with Confessions of a Shopaholic) is writing with the silver screen in mind.

A handful of situations -- like the Beyoncé sing-along -- are slightly too contrived, but when imagined on the big screen, promise to deliver rom-com gold.

Another fun feature of the narrative is Poppy's penchant for using footnotes. She often feels inferior around her intellectual fiancé and his professorial parents, all of whom have published in fancy journals. But she finds she's quite good at footnotes.

"I've totally got into them. Aren't they handy? You just bung them in wherever you want and instantly look clever."

To her credit, Kinsella builds a few bumps into the path of Poppy and Sam's budding romance, but in the end, it's a perfectly enjoyable through predictable story.

Jennifer Ryan is a Winnipeg writer.

I've Got Your Number

By Sophie Kinsella

Random House,

433 pages, $35

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 18, 2012 J10