The Diary of Isabella M. Smugge by Ruth Leigh Reviewed by Wendy H. Jones It’s not often a book comes along that makes you laugh, cry, and take stock in a matter of just a few breaths. This debut novel by Ruth Leigh has done just that for me. This is chick lit with passion and a purpose, that purpose being to make you take a look at the way you live your life and the way you portray yourself on social media. It certainly made me take stock of the way I portray my life to others. We all know her name should be pronounced Smug but of course, Isabella herself pronounces it like the word Bruges. Isabella is a pretentious Instagram influencer whose every living moment is catalogued on social media. Her obsession to have the most followers, likes, and comments, means that everything she does, either alone or with her family, is driven by how it will look on social media. Every moment of their lives is capture on camera and shared with millions. At the beginning of the book, she is newly settled in a Georgian pile in the country, having left her life in London behind. She immediately sets to getting to know the neighbours, but this proves more difficult than she first imagines. Her life seems picture perfect, but we soon come to realise that there is more depth to Isabella than can be seen on the surface. As her life begins to unravel, she grows and develops and comes to realise the people around her are more than just an opportunity to diarise her life on Instagram. The more you read the more you come to understand and sympathise with her. My emotions were all over the place and I found myself hoping everything would turn out well for our heroine despite her being a grade A snob.
This book is absolutely fabulous, darlings. It makes you want to break out the champagne and your best crystal goblets whilst realising you should keep both feet very firmly fixed on the ground. It is one of the best books I have read this year and would highly recommend you read it. Now, should I share this on Instagram? Let me think about that.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Diary-Isabella-MSmugge-ebook/dp/B08V5C2N1T/
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