London, England - Present Day

February 2004...

Lexi Smart loves to go clubbing with her friends in downtown London, letting off steam every Friday after slogging away the day in the flooring department of Deller Carpets. Tonight, her friends, Fi, Carolyn, and Deb are celebrating their huge bonuses, (courtesy of a profitable year at Deller’s), while Lexi bemoans the fact that she didn’t get one. On top of that, her boyfriend, Loser Dave, stood her up tonight, and her father’s funeral is tomorrow. Add in too many banana cocktails, and Lexi isn’t singing with her friends, but she’s definitely not up to walking home. Cab after cab passes them by in the pouring rain. Fi, Carolyn, and Deb are still singing on the sidewalk, oblivious to the fact that they’re soaked to the skin, so Lexi dashes up a flight of stone steps where she's sure to spot a taxi higher up. Sure enough, a cab screeches to a halt, but a stranger gets there first and opens the door. No! That’s Lexi’s cab! She runs down the steps, and slips...

May 2007...

Lexi wakes up in a hospital bed. She remembers falling through space, the cement coming closer and closer, and then... nothing. Now she’s in a private room of a classy hospital, sporting long, red manicured nails and a new face. Well, almost new. Her crooked teeth are straight, and her face is, well, different. Her hair is colored, and she’s thin! The nurse explains she crashed her Mercedes. Mercedes??? Lexi doesn’t even know how to drive! And when her mother enters the room, Lexi almost doesn’t recognize her. Is her hair a little grayer? This is just a bit too weird. Lexi wonders if she's lost her mind. They say she’s married -- the nurse hands her a diamond ring the size of a small boulder, and the newspaper in her hands is dated May 6, 2007.

How could she have lost three years out of her life?

Poor Lexi. Nobody is listening when she asks, REMEMBER ME? Her face, her hair, and her body are someone else’s. She goes home to a gigantic palace in the sky -- a loft apartment that’s home to the newest and most modern conveniences invented -- and a housekeeper! That diamond Lexi’s wearing is her engagement ring, and her husband is drop-dead gorgeous! She still works for Deller Carpets -- but she’s now the boss in flooring! And – ohmygosh -- she’s old! Twenty-eight!

Phenomenal author Sophie Kinsella does it again! This new offering is a fantasy story about Lexi Smart’s rise to fame and riches -- but she doesn’t remember getting there! One day she’s just plain Lexi, assistant junior sales manager, plugging away at her job and having fun with her friends. The next morning she’s mysteriously lost three years of her life and wakes up feeling much like a princess in a fairytale. Except this fairy tale has some bad spots. Lexi’s sister isn’t the sweet twelve-year-old she remembers; Little Amy has turned into the teenager from you-know-where, and Lexi’s mother is as annoying as ever. Her friends, Fi, Carolyn, and Deb don’t want anything to do with her now -- they call her the bitch boss from hell! Her husband, Eric, is kind and sympathetic, a bit pompous, and he writes Lexi a manual she can refer to so she’ll know what to do, even down to making love! His business partner, Jon, is a thorn in Lexi’s side -- he hints at a past relationship, and her new best friend (or so they tell her) is Rosalie, but the woman isn’t at all like Fi, whom Lexi’s known since she was six years old. (She misses Fi.)

REMEMBER ME? is a great story! This fast-paced tale is the perfect answer to the “what if” question we ask ourselves sometimes. This book is a wonderful selection for spring reading.

Diana Risso