A woman Googles her own name and finds true love in the bargain in this intelligent, funny, and heartwarming debut novel. Discovering a Web site devoted to her and the lifestyle she's certain she's not living, she searches for the mysterious admirer.
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Publishers Weekly Review
Thirty-year-old Londoner Izobel Brannigan is uninspired by both her middling job at public relations firm PR O'create and her snoozer of a boyfriend, George, but things take a turn for the mysterious when she Googles herself and finds someone has set up a Web site under izobelbrannigan.com. Initially, the site is blank, but it is soon filled with bio clips, recent photographs and glowing testimonials, but nothing that reveals its creator's identity. Izobel and a girlfriend theorize the "stalkie" culprit may be a former boyfriend, but neither woman has the technological expertise to investigate this premise. Enter PR O'create's IT consultant, Ivan Jaffy, who works the tech front while Izobel questions-to no avail-her likeliest exes about their possible involvement. As Ivan teaches Izobel about HTML coding, she discovers he has a seductive artistic side hidden behind his geekery. But could he, with his Web-savvy, be the flattering cyber-stalker? Though Hopkinson's novel is charmingly British ("those spods and boffins had made a mint"), the dilemmas Izobel faces in this techie romp are universal and will certainly resonate with U.S. readers. (Aug. 21) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Googling yourself, blogs, online stalking: all contemporary obsessions that are now the subject of the latest chick-lit novel. When Izobel Branigan comes across a site devoted to her life, work, and social habits, she is not sure whether to be flattered, terrified, or jealous that her Web alter ego seems to be living a much happier, more glamorous existence. In her investigation to find out who's behind the online tribute, everyone's a suspect: friends, coworkers, old flames, and her current boyfriend--who turns out to be a jerk, but not her culprit. Izobel eventually finds her stalker, a new love, and a new outlook on life. At times, it seems that Hopkinson sacrifices a deeper look at her character's feelings of inadequacy for yet another tale of high jinks, but overall it's a satisfying read. Part romance, part mystery, part modern comedy--this novel has a lot to recommend it to fans of chick lit. --Aleksandra Kostovski Copyright 2006 Booklist