Bestselling author of Confessions of a Shopaholic, Sophie Kinsella crafts an engaging and flirty narrative in her latest novel Twenties Girl. Kinsella’s first ghost story is devoid of the chills, darkness, and creatures of the unknown. Instead, the novel is inhabited by a Charleston dancing, flapper clad, mischievous, ghost from the twenties.

Juggling with the 21^st century demands of work life, family drama, and relationship woes, Lara Lington becomes entangled with the ghost of her beads twirling, gregarious great-aunt Sadie. While attending the funeral of her 105-year-old great aunt, Sadie’s spirit, unexpectedly crashes into Lara’s life. She appears in her former glory as a flapper fashionista from the 1920’s. Sadie’s sudden apparition leads Lara on a wild chase for a missing necklace, handsome men, and Charleston dancing. Like her ghoulish counterparts, Sadie also channels her supernatural powers, screaming mercilessly in people’s ears to get her way. But she also brandishes unique charm and sass, which makes her an endearing character for readers. What begins as a vain and superficial pursuit, the narrative unfolds into a story of regained history, new romance, and a chance to reclaim lost legacy.

Twenties Girl, parallels the lives of the 21^st century woman to the ladies of the Roaring Twenties. In many respects, the women of the twenties were the original rebellious crowd donning boyishly short locks and dresses showcasing their legs. The breezy style was a clear rejection of the Victorian age of corsets and frilly gowns. The twenties also redefined what it meant to be a woman as the social atmosphere allowed women to smoke and drink in public. Dancing also became more liberal as dances like the Charleston and Tango rivaled our version of the bump and grind. Today’s popular culture, music, and style can also be traced to this carefree decade.

Kinsella’s novel is a wink to that classic, fun, and wild era. By bringing this time period to life, the novel demonstrates, history, is more than antiquated words on a page. The twenties was a jazzy period filled with vitality and flavor. Furthermore, the novel testifies that beneath the age and frailty of our grandmothers and grandfathers, lay the spirit and zest of their former days. Their lives possess stories full of laughter, wisdom, and knowledge.

Kinsella’s novel flows like a summer breeze with quick and witty dialogue. Throughout the narrative, Sadie and Lara butt heads but the dichotomy of the (nineteen) twenties girl and today’s twenties girl reveals the similarities of women regardless of the decade they live in. This 435-page novel makes a wonderful beach read with style, substance, and humor the reader can devour.