Surprise Me

November 13, 2017
Kinsella’s heartfelt latest, after My Not So Perfect Life, concerns the secrets that are unearthed after daddy’s girl Sylvie Winter and her husband, Dan, agree to continually surprise one another in an effort to make the most of their lives. Thirty-two-year-old Sylvie idolizes her dead father Marcus Lowe, a larger-than-life charmer whose charisma hijacked even Dan and Sylvie’s wedding video. Despite their simpatico relationship, Sylvie suspects that Dan envies her father and resents her family’s wealth. The couple agree to give each other treats, and they tend to go comically wrong (a boudoir shoot, a reunion with the wrong person), until a visit to a garden that Dan helped design appears to awaken his interest in Mary, an old girlfriend Sylvie never knew about. Sylvie notices Dan’s sudden spaciness and irritability as well as his surreptitious conversations with others; she also uncovers a secret phone that throws her marriage into question. At the same time, she attempts to deal with trouble at the quirky museum where she works; her boss’s nephew Robert Kendrick is threatening to turn the place into condos if they can’t monetize their business successfully, and soon. Sylvie matures along with her narrative: what at first seems like a light novel book about familiar woes turns into a deeper story about trust, family, and perception.

June 25, 2018
Hardingham turns in a charming performance in this light confection, capturing the winsome humor of Kinsella’s novel. When young Londoners Dan and Sophie are informed by their doctor that they might both live to be 100, they begin to question whether their marriage is built to last that long. Thus is born “Project Surprise Me,” in which each attempts to invigorate the marriage by surprising the other, often to disastrous and comic effect. Hardingham is at her best when handling the over-the-top humor of these situations, which range from an inedible breakfast in bed to sexy lingerie that’s inadvertently revealed to the wrong person. Hardingham magnificently captures the bright demeanor of Sophie, whose people-pleasing tendencies mask long buried sadness and insecurity, as well as the working-class pragmatism of Dan and the cheerful tenacity of their five-year-old twins. The host of quirky neighbors and coworkers are rendered with affectionate individuality. Hardingham’s entertaining performance subtly reveals the novel’s more serious themes even as it revels in the many droll moments. A Dial hardcover.