Reviewed by Chun Yin Wah
Immediately I noticed one novel arriving on my desk. It was The Wedding Girl by Sophie Kinsella, alias Madeleine Wickham (2010, Black Swan, 366 pages). Of course, I looked forward to reading it. Having devoured nearly everything by Kinsella, I hoped for another treat.
An introduction explained that before Kinsella's success with her Shopaholic novels, she wrote other books as Wickham, among them The Wedding Girl first published in 1999. With Kinsella now a recognizable name, the publisher appears to insult readers by assuming that anything this author did in the past should sell too.
The writing style in The Wedding Girl has a roughness that reflects inexperience. Neither the logic, nor plot, makes much sense. Undeniably, it feels like someone's first book. But lots of good writers approach perfection on the first try.
This story predates the email-and-mobile-phone era, reminding us about sending faxes. Freshly graduated from high school, 18-year-old Milly goes to Oxford. There she meetings a good-looking couple, Rupert, who is British, and Allen, an American. Within a week, they're pals. Then Allen asks Milly to marry him so he can stay in the country. Being young and a good friend, Milly agrees, and the marriage proceeds. Rupert and Allen express thanks and promise to get in touch, but Milly never hears from them.
Fast forward 10 years, and by then Milly wants to marry Simon, the son of multimillionaire Harry Pinnacle, which makes her proud mom ache to show off with the biggest wedding possible. She's unaware that Milly already has a husband.
With four days until the big day, a photographer recalls Milly from shortly after she and Allen left the wedding-registry office a decade earlier. Worried that he may spread the word, Milly decides to find Allen and solve the problem before her “real” wedding.
“ ‘Milly?’ Simon's voice interrupted her thoughts and she jumped guiltily.
‘Hi’, she said. ‘Did you send your fax all right?’
‘Yes.’ He took a sip of champagne and looked more closely at her. ‘Are you OK? You're looking tense.’
‘Am I?’ She smiled at him. ‘I don't feel it.’
‘You are tense,’ persisted Simon, and he began to massage her shoulders gently. ‘Worrying about the wedding. Am I right?’
‘Yes,’ said Milly.”
Who can help Milly? Well, there's her older sister, Isobel, who has problems too – being single and pregnant. Together, they locate Rupert who has married and initially refuses to talk to Milly.
“ ‘Of course,’ said Isobel, ‘if your charming friend Rupert had bothered to call back, you might be in touch with Allen by now. You might know, one way or the other.’
‘I know,’ said Milly. ‘Bastard. Ignoring me like that. He must know I'm in some sort of trouble. Why else would I ring him?’ Her voice rose incredulously. ‘How can someone be so selfish?’
‘Most of the world is selfish,’ said Isobel. ‘Take it from me.’ ”
To Milly's dismay, Rupert doesn't know where to find Allen because they broke up three weeks after the ill-advised wedding. Apparently, Rupert tried to confirm his gay tendencies by sleeping with women and then left Allen, who vanished from his life.
To help Milly, Rupert must revisit his old life and learn that Allen died from leukemia, facilitating Milly's new plans. But he also must reconsider if he's really happy with his wife.
Clearly, the story needs a happy ending. But the flawed writing forced me to grit my teeth. I nearly tossed the book aside before finishing it. Maybe I should have.
Approval rating: 30 per cent
For more information: www.sophiekinsella.co.uk
(March 8, 2011)
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Sophie Kinsella: this time,
more torture than treat.
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