The Undomestic Goddess

"I suppose just occasionally I do feel as though someone's piling heavy weights on me. Like big concrete blocks, one on top of the other, and I have to keep holding them up, no matter how exhausted I am..." (p.4)

"I just... I can't do this, Iris. I can't pretend to be this. I'm not a bread maker, OK? I'm not a domestic goddess. I don't know who I am anymore. I have no bloody idea. I don't know who I am. Or what my goal is... or where I'm headed in life. Or anything."

A few moments later Iris comes and squats down beside me. "It doesn't matter", she says her voice soft. "Don't beat yourself up for not knowing all the answers. You don't always have to know who you are. You don't have to have the big picture, or know where you're heading. Sometimes it's enough just to know what you're going to do next." (p. 215)

"If I've learned one lesson from all that's happened to me, it's that there is no such thing as the biggest mistake of your existence. There's no such thing as ruining your life. Life's a pretty resilient thing, it turns out." (p. 309)

Samantha Sweeting is a Type-A, workaholic lawyer for the most prestigious law firm in London, Carter Spink. For seven years, she has put in long hours, worked through the night and basically gave up her life for the firm. Samantha thinks it has been worth it because she's about to become a partner.

On the morning her partnership is to be announced, she discovers a memo that was buried on her desk. The deadline was weeks ago and she is frantic. Samantha never misses a deadline nor does she make a mistake. In just a matter of minutes, the life that she knows is over. Feeling out of control for the first time, Samantha escapes her office and finds herself on a train to the country. She has no idea where she's headed; all she knows is that anywhere has to be better than facing the other partners at her law firm.

She stops at the first house she comes to, only to rest and ask for a drink of water, when she is mistaken for an applicant for the housekeeper position. Soon Samantha finds herself working as a housekeeper. Only problem is Samantha doesn't know anything about cooking, vacuuming, chores, etc. Little does Samantha know, this will put her on the path she's been striving for.

When Samantha accidently learns information regarding the day she was to become partner, she has a choice to make: return to her old life or stay with the one she is just starting to make. (4/5)