Can You Keep a Secret?

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Sophie Kinsella's I've Got Your Number.

With the same wicked humor, buoyant charm, and optimism that have made her Shopaholic novels beloved international bestsellers, Sophie Kinsella delivers a hilarious new novel and an unforgettable new character. Meet Emma Corrigan, a young woman with a huge heart, an irrepressible spirit, and a few little secrets:

Secrets from her mother:
I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom with Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben-Hur.
Sammy the goldfish in my parents’ kitchen is not the same goldfish that Mum gave me to look after when she and Dad were in Egypt.

Secrets from her boyfriend:
I weigh one hundred and twenty-eight pounds. Not one eighteen, like Connor thinks.
I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.

From her colleagues:
When Artemis really annoys me, I feed her plant orange juice. (Which is pretty much every day.) It was me who jammed the copier that time. In fact, all the times.

Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world:
My G-string is hurting me.
I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is.

Until she spills them all to a handsome stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger.

But come Monday morning, Emma’s office is abuzz about the arrival of Jack Harper, the company’s elusive CEO. Suddenly Emma is face-to-face with the stranger from
the plane, a man who knows every single humiliating detail about her. Things couldn’t possibly get worse—Until they do.

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Already a white-knuckle flyer, Emma goes to pieces when her flight from Glasgow to London encounters severe turbulence. Thinking the end is near, she spills every secret she has ever had to the stranger next to her. How she lost her virginity, what she really thinks of her boyfriend, the petty stunts she pulls on co-workers, the way she killed her parents' goldfish while they were on vacation and replaced it without their knowledge, her deepest thoughts on g-strings, cousins, Charles Dickens, and more. When the plane miraculously lands, Emma is thankful she will never again see this man who knows every little secret of her life.

Emma returns to her job as a junior marketing executive and as she attempts to climb the corporate ladder, every embarrassing secret of her life is exposed. How Emma combats this public humiliation and discovers another person's secret makes for a rollicking good read.

Emma is very reminiscent of Kinsella's other heroine, the shopaholic Becky Bloomwood. Equally appealing are Emma's two flatmates---her life-long friend Lissy and the irrepressible Jemima who will have you laughing hystericaly at her thoughts on men, jewels, and all things fashionable.

This is a quick and fun read, sure to satisfy fans of the Shopaholic series or chick-lit in general.

36 of 38 found the following review helpful:

Promise you won't tell!Apr 14, 2004
By Joseph Haschka
Readers who've been enchanted by the Becky Bloomwood character of Sophie Kinsella's SHOPAHOLIC series will not be disappointed by CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?

Emma Corrigan is a Junior Marketing Assistant in the London HQ of Panther Corporation, which makes, among other things, Panther Cola and Panther Bars. Sent solo to Glasgow to conclude the formalities of a marketing alliance with Glen Oil, thought to be a sure thing, the deal suddenly falls apart. Attempting to salvage the agreement, Emma spills a can of Panther Cola all over the shirt of a Glen Oil VIP. Distraught, Emma boards a plane for the flight back to London - and she's afraid of flying. Unusually strong air turbulence makes the flight terrifying. Her tongue loosened by the certainty of impending death, Emma blabs all her personal secrets to her seatmate, a reserved American. As a matter of fact, she spills her guts: her relationship with her boyfriend, girl roomies, family, and co-workers, and the details of her sex life, her underwear, and the little lie she put on her Panther Corp job application. You get the picture. Absolutely everything, including the fact that she accidentally killed her parents' pet goldfish and substituted a look-alike.

The following Monday, the quiet Yank shows up at Panther Corporation. As it turns out, he's multimillionaire Jack Harper, the company CEO and one of its co-founders, who's making a tour of his European offices. Corrigan's life will never be the same. But Jack has a secret also.

Except that Emma doesn't have Becky's relentlessly spendthrift habits, the two are soul sisters. Both are young, naive, just a little ditzy, otherwise intelligent, pretty, generous, charming, kind-hearted, and with a propensity for infinite self-deception. Both are incredibly endearing despite their faults.

Author Sophie Kinsella is a genius at creating absurd situations from which her heroines must extricate themselves. Her books are gems in the genre of Humor. As I read CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET on the train to work, fellow travelers must have looked at me strangely as I occasionally giggled.

This is light reading with a capital "L", but I heartily recommend it.

26 of 28 found the following review helpful:

a fun vacation readApr 08, 2004
By Amy B
I read Can You Keep a Secret in about one day, and I really enjoyed it. I found Emma to be a good character- one that I actually enjoyed more than Becky from the Shopaholic series. Becky always made me cringe because of her actions (I can't watch movies like that either), but Emma had a good, solid head on her. I laughed out loud at Emma's actions, and really empathized with her, whereas I always wanted to sit Becky down and give her a good talking to.

The plot was a tad predictable, but so were all the Shopoholic books, and that didn't stop me either! I really enjoy British chic-lit (it's my guilty pleasure), and I hope that Sophie Kinsella keeps writing fun books with engaging characters.

9 of 9 found the following review helpful:

Kinsella's Best Work!Jun 20, 2005
By Kelly Houser
Sophie Kinsella's latest novel "Can You Keep A Secret?" relates the hysterical tale of Emma Corrigan and one plane ride that changes her entire life. After a disastious meeting in Scotland, Emma has a few to drink in the airport and on the plane. When the plane hits some turbulence and Emma thinks she is about to die, she blurts out ALL of her secrets to the man sitting next to her. She tells him absolutely everything. Come Monday morning, Emma thinks everything is A-OK until the owner of the corporation she works for shows up and is none other than the man from her flight, the one who knows all of her secrets.

I adore Kinsella's work and this is definitely her best! Her writing style is witty, fun and fresh. Kinsella is a major player in the chick lit genre and I recommend that everyone give her a try (if you like chick lit). You will absolutely adore Emma and the jams she gets into!

8 of 8 found the following review helpful:

Great for laughterFeb 21, 2007
By Jane
Normally, I only want to read romance novels. This is not a romance novel. There are no intimate love scenes. This is a cross between chick lit and romantic comedy. I loved it, because I laughed so much. At first I did not like reading about Emma, who was in the habit of telling lies. She lied for many reasons including office politics and politeness. However, once Jack entered the picture at her office, it became hilarious. Her white lies made great comedic material. I didn't want to put it down. After I read the book, I went back and reread all of the Jack conversations. I loved the twinkle in his eyes as Jack asked Emma questions in front of other people, and as she answered the questions with lies, she knew that he knew she was lying.

Sexual content: none. Setting: current day Scotland and England. Copyright 2004. Genre: chick lit, romantic comedy.

To date, I've read the following Sophie Kinsella books.
5 stars. Can You Keep a Secret? Copyrt 2004. Review Date 2/21/07.
1 star. Confessions of a Shopaholic. Copyrt 2001. Review Date 3/14/08.
1 star. Remember Me? Copyrt 2008. Review Date 8/11/08.

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