# The Undomestic Goddess

By Sophie Kinsella

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/the-undomestic-goddess-c0cd9169/

Samantha Sweeting has built her life around becoming a partner at a London law firm. After a devastating mistake at work, she flees to the countryside and is mistaken for a prospective housekeeper. She accepts the job with no idea how to do it, leaving her new employers to expect skills she has invented.

## What makes it funny?

Samantha’s ability to explain away a problem starts well before the housekeeping. During a spa treatment she hides a BlackBerry under her towel to send a work email, then has to explain why her underwear is vibrating. Readers in book groups describe laughing at her domestic disasters and feeling acute secondhand embarrassment.

### The comedy at work

Samantha narrates with the confidence of someone who can argue her way out of trouble. The trouble keeps requiring practical skills instead. Her excuses let you see the panic she refuses to admit, whether she’s denying work stress or trying to live up to her housekeeping claims.

### Try this if…

The appeal is in a capable professional making a spectacular mess of ordinary tasks, with romance and a rethink of her priorities alongside the mishaps. Readers discuss it with Can You Keep a Secret? when naming their funniest Kinsella books, though they disagree about which is funnier.

### Good to know

Embarrassment is a big part of the joke. Readers describe setting the book down for a break when Samantha’s predicament becomes too uncomfortable to watch.

## What to expect

- Genre: Romance
- On the shelf: Contemporary romance · Romantic comedy
- Kind of humor: Farce · Situational comedy
- Story ingredients: Incompetent heroes
- Format: Novel
- Length: 400 pages
- Audiobook: 12 hr 3 min
- Published: 2005

## Sources & further reading

- Book information: [The Undomestic Goddess (Unabridged) — Apple Books](https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/the-undomestic-goddess-unabridged/id1418413632)
- Publisher: [The Undomestic Goddess — Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/93082/the-undomestic-goddess-by-sophie-kinsella)
- Review: [Bookreporter review](https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/the-undomestic-goddess)
- Reader discussion: [Reader discussion](https://facebook.com/groups/bookrecommendations/permalink/5624575530950547)
- Publisher: [Publisher](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/93082/the-undomestic-goddess-by-sophie-kinsella)
- Author commentary: [Author introduction and excerpt](https://www.sophiekinsella.co.uk/book/the-undomestic-goddess)
- Publisher: [Publisher and reading sample](https://penguinrandomhousehighereducation.com/book?isbn=9780440335627)