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Unabridged book on CD
9 CDs (approx. 10.5 hours)
Narrated by Kate Reading
I’ve found another excellent reason to listen to audio books: illness. You know those days when you can’t do anything but lie on the couch in a semi-comatose state? That’s the perfect time to lie back, close your tired eyes, and pop a book into your CD player. And Can You Keep a Secret? is a great choice.
This book by Sophie Kinsella of Shopaholic fame (see Shopaholic and Sister) stars Emma Corrigan, a young woman who’s finally getting her act together. After loads of dead-end jobs and career tracks that just ended, Emma’s found a job in marketing for the Panther Corp., a gigantic corporation that markets Panther Cola and more. And she’s got a wonderful boyfriend, Conor. She even gets to go to Scotland on a business trip—and it might just land her a promotion. But then the business trip goes horribly wrong, and a near-death experience on the flight back to London has her babbling her life’s secrets to the silent man seated next to her. She tells him about her uncomfortable underwear, her insecurities about her job (and how she lied to get it), her dislike of her coworkers, and her so-so relationship with her bland boyfriend. And then, disaster averted, she gets off the plane, and that’s it…
But not really. On Monday, Emma shows up in her office to find that the Panther Corp.’s head, Jack Harper, has flown in from the States for a visit, and she’s devastated to discover that he’s the man from the plane—and he actually remembers everything she told him. But somehow, he doesn’t care about the lies she told to get her job. Instead, he gradually makes Emma realize that Conor’s not right for her—but Jack himself might be. After a few disastrous dates, things seem to be going well…until Jack spills all of Emma’s secrets on national TV—with her family, friends, and coworkers watching.
Can You Keep a Secret? is a fabulous work of chick lit. Kinsella takes romance, humor, and typical female paranoia and mixes them to create a great story—not to mention a great character who’s easily relatable. Though we all know how it’s going to end, the challenge with chick lit is getting there—and Kinsella gets there in style. The book is sweet and honest and full of laughs. Kate Reading also does an excellent job of getting inside Emma’s head and making the book a captivating listen. If you’ve got a road trip in the near future—or if you find yourself with nothing to do but blow your nose and watch endless Law and Order reruns—you can’t go wrong with Can You Keep a Secret?
