The Undomestic Goddess

I read ‘The Undomestic Goddess’ by Sophie Kinsella a few weeks ago. And then I reread it. It’s the first laugh out loud book I’ve read in a while.

This evening I told a friend about it and asked why there wasn’t a middle ground. Why did the story have to involve a woman choosing between a full equity partnership at a prestigious law firm on one hand and cleaning some else’s loos – Royal Doulton (I think that’s what they were) or not – on the other.

My first response to that was that it was probably because it made good reading. Had she become something else, she wouldn’t have been able to try to melt chick peas, or to manage to bleach her hair while cleaning the loo.

Thinking about it though, if one actually wanted a complete break from a high pressure job, what would one actually do? Become a librarian? Spend time renovating renaissance art? Turn into a shopgirl? The trouble though is that none of those jobs is necessarily low-pressure’. And neither is staying home and doing nothing.