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Can You Keep a Secret?

by Sophie Kinsella

"Can You Keep a Secret?" is a standalone romantic comedy by Sophie Kinsella about Emma Corrigan, a young marketing employee at a London soft-drinks company. Convinced her plane is about to crash during a bout of terrifying… more

First published 2003 · 368 pages · English

25 quotes ★ 3.82 (482,881) Fiction

Quotes from the Book

Relationships are all about trust and equality. If one person shares, then the other person should share, too.
The truth is, some relationships are supposed to last forever, and some are only supposed to last a few days. That’s the way life is.
If you can't be honest with your friends and colleagues and loved ones, then what is life all about?
It’s the way he had a cup of tea waiting for me when I woke up. It’s the way he turned on his laptop especially for me to look up all my Internet horoscopes and helped me choose the best one. He knows all the crappy, embarrassing bits about me that I normally try to hide from any man for as long as possible… and he loves me anyway.
I've always had this deep-down conviction that I'm not like everybody else, and there's an amazingly exciting new life waiting for me just around the corner.
Emma, I'm sorry, I can't help you. This is a disaster. You're completely vulnerable. It's like going into battle in a nightie.
I hurl the glass teapot to the ground. we both stare at it, stunned. "it was supposed to break," I explain after a pause, " and that was going to signify that yes, I would throw something away . If I knew it wasn't right for me.
Relationships are a battle. They are a chess game. And what did I do? I just threw all my chess pieces down on the board at once, and said, "Here! Have them all!
Carried away. He got a little carried away. This is like saying Hitler was a tad aggressive.
I feel all agitated, like one of those snow globes you see resting peacefully on shop counters. I was perfectly happy being an ordinary, dull little Swiss village. But now Jack Harper’s come and shaken me up, and there are snowflakes all over the place, whirling around until I don’t know what I think anymore. And bits of glitter, too. Tiny bits of shiny, secret excitement.
So", says Jack at at last..."you broke up with Connor". Wow. So we're straight to the point. "So", I reply defiantly. "You decided to stay". "Yes, well...", "I thought I might take a closer look at some of the European subsidiaries." He looks up. "How about you?" "Same reason." I nod. "European subsidiaries".
Honestly, do these people have nothing better to do than engage in stupid mindless speculation about people they don't know?
Mummy always told me, you should never let a man see your feelings or the contents of your handbag.
Emma, your granddad’s on the line,” says Artemis, putting her hand over the receiver. “Something about the night bus and he’ll never trust you again?
Never tell a man all about yourself, it's bound to lead to trouble.
Is your life ruined? Is it such a disaster for people to know the truth about you?
When the dog bites, when the bee stings... I simply remember I have a boyfriend and suddenly things don't seem quite so completely shit.
Relationships should be built on trust and truth.
Oh God. I'm losing it. Everyone knows this is how criminals get caught. They add too many details and trip themselves up.
The atmosphere in the admin department also seemed very false. My suspicions were aroused when two employees spontaneously started singing the Panther Corporation song. I didn't even know there was a Panther Corporation song.
A relationship is a game of chess.
She believes in love and romance. She believes her life is one day going to be transformed into something wonderful and exciting. She has hopes and fears and worries, just like anyone else. Sometimes she feels frightened." He pauses, and adds in a softer voice, "Sometimes she feels unloved. Sometimes she feels she will never gain approval from those people who are most important to her."s
If you want to get ahead, you have to create your own chances. You have to carve out your own opportunities.
We should confide in each other. We shouldn't keep things fro each other. I mean, we've known each other for over twenty years,for God's sake.
He leans forward, and this time there’s no hesitation. His mouth lands on mine, sweet and firm. He’s kissing me. Jack

Did you know?

  • The book is a standalone novel, not part of Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series.
  • Sophie Kinsella is a pen name; the author's real name is Madeleine Wickham.
  • The novel's inciting incident is a terrifying bout of plane turbulence during which the heroine confesses all her secrets.
  • The US edition of the book contains additional scenes not present in the original UK version.
  • A feature film adaptation was released in 2019, directed by Elise Duran.

About Sophie Kinsella

Sophie Kinsella is the pen name of British author Madeleine Wickham, best known for her bestselling Shopaholic series of comic novels. She is one of the most commercially successful writers of contemporary romantic comedy.

More about the author →

About the book

"Can You Keep a Secret?" is a standalone romantic comedy by Sophie Kinsella about Emma Corrigan, a young marketing employee at a London soft-drinks company. Convinced her plane is about to crash during a bout of terrifying turbulence, Emma blurts out every embarrassing secret she has to the calm stranger sitting beside her. She survives, expecting never to see him again, only to discover days later that the stranger is Jack Harper, the elusive American CEO and founder of her own company, who now knows every humiliating detail about her life.

The novel plays its central premise for maximum comic mortification, building on the confessional first-person voice that made Kinsella a bestseller with her Shopaholic series. Emma's cascade of small lies, insecurities and workplace anxieties drives both the humour and the romance, as her forced honesty with Jack gradually reshapes her relationships, her career and her sense of herself. Its themes are the tension between the face we show the world and our private truths, the awkward intimacy of being fully known, and the freedom that can follow.

First published in 2003, the book became one of Kinsella's most popular standalone titles and was adapted into a 2019 feature film. It remains a defining example of the breezy, self-deprecating comic voice associated with the commercial "chick lit" fiction of the era, and continues to be widely read as a lighthearted, feel-good romance.

Key characters

  • Emma CorriganProtagonist, a young marketing employee who confesses her secrets to a stranger
  • Jack HarperThe stranger on the plane, revealed to be the elusive CEO and founder of Emma's company
  • ConnorEmma's boyfriend
  • LissyEmma's close friend and flatmate

Book details

First published
2003
Length
368 pages
Reading time
8 hours
Genre
Fiction
Goodreads rating
3.82 (483k ratings)
First line
“Of course I have secrets.”

Movie & TV adaptations

  • IMDb
    Can You Keep a Secret? 2019

    Feature film directed by Elise Duran, starring Alexandra Daddario and Tyler Hoechlin

If you liked this, read…

  1. 1
    Confessions of a ShopaholicSophie Kinsella's signature comic first-person heroine and confessional humour
  2. 2
    Bridget Jones's DiaryDefining British romantic comedy with a self-deprecating female narrator
  3. 3
    The Devil Wears PradaWorkplace-set comedy about a young woman navigating career and love

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