Save the Cat! Writes a Novel

by Jessica Brody

  Sadie agrees, and now we are officially in Act 2: the world of Lara and her magical twenties girl ghost.

  7. Fun and Games (pages 75–211)

  The search for the necklace brings Lara to Sadie’s former nursing home, where the employees believe the necklace was accidentally sold in a fund-raising raffle. Lara goes home with a daunting list of names and phone numbers of people to contact who might have it.

  While at the nursing home, Lara discovers that a mysterious man named Charles Reece came to visit Sadie before she died. Sadie doesn’t remember Charles Reece, but Lara chalks it up to the stroke Sadie had years before her death, which severely affected her memory. They later learn that “Charles Reece” was actually Bill Lington, Lara’s famous uncle, and that he took the necklace from Sadie. But what does rich Uncle Bill want with an old woman’s worthless necklace?

  The promise of the premise of this novel is the hilarious interludes of Sadie and Lara. Sadie is everything Lara is not: spunky, bold, and daring. In comparison to Sadie, Lara is a bit dull, and Sadie never misses an opportunity to tell her so. As most Out of the Bottle magic is intended to do, Sadie will help Lara realize her flaws so she can fix them herself.

  As the two search for Sadie’s necklace, they continue to ruffle each other’s feathers, but ultimately form a friendship. Hilarity ensues as Sadie and Lara culture clash. They’re both twentysomething girls but from very different eras with very different ideas about men, relationships, and living life.

  Sadie points out that Lara shouldn’t be lamenting her ex, Josh. She should be getting back out there and getting on with her life. In many ways Sadie is way more modern than Lara. On page 94, Sadie restates the theme when she says to Lara, “Darling, when things go wrong in life this is what you do. You lift your chin, put on a ravishing smile, mix yourself a little cocktail—and out you go.”

  During this Fun and Games, we also come to understand the rules of the magic, which Kinsella sets up effectively and uses to further the plot. For instance, we learn that no one else can see Sadie except Lara; Sadie can go wherever she wants and wear whatever she wants; and the most unique and creative rule in Kinsella’s supernatural tale is Ghost Sadie’s ability to subtly persuade people to do and say things by screaming comically loudly in their ear. Learning these rules gives Lara an idea. She sends Sadie to spy on her ex-boyfriend, Josh, to try to figure out why he dumped her so she can fix the relationship. Sadie doesn’t approve, but she reluctantly agrees.

  This is Lara fixing things the wrong way. She’s using her magic “curse” to improve her life, instead of learning the theme, moving on, and fixing things the right way. Lara’s wants are to get back together with Josh, so this drives the first half of Act 2 forward. Lara then convinces Sadie to use her powers of persuasion to give Josh a little nudge. She knows Josh still loves her, but she wants Sadie to prompt him a bit so he remembers. As we continue the upward path toward the Midpoint, Josh confesses that he loves Lara and made a huge mistake by breaking up with her. Lara is ecstatic. It’s exactly what she wanted.

  As she gets to know Sadie better, Lara learns that Sadie once had a special boy in her life too—the one who got away. He was a painter named Stephen Nettleton who died young, but not before painting a beautiful portrait of Sadie that was later lost in a house fire. Sadie hasn’t really been in love since.

  Lara also uses Sadie’s help with her failing business, sending Sadie into an office building to solve a problem with a client. While inside the office building, however, Sadie spots a beautiful man named Ed whom she wants to date. Unfortunately, Ghost Sadie can’t go on dates.

  But Lara can…

  8. B Story (pages 111–120)

  Ed is the B Story character and the love interest of the novel. Sadie convinces Lara to ask Ed out on a date so she can third-wheel and live vicariously through Lara. Lara thinks she’s crazy, but Sadie guilt-trips her into agreeing.

  In a hilarious scene in Ed’s office conference room, Lara asks Ed on a date in front of his entire staff. And with Sadie yelling in Ed’s ear, Ed feels obliged to say yes, even though he has no idea why.

  Later, for their date, Sadie makes Lara dress up like a 1920s flapper and act just like Sadie would, completely embarrassing Lara. She convinces herself she doesn’t care though, since she’s only doing this for Sadie and she’s still in love with Josh.

  But slowly Lara will come to fall for Ed (and Ed will fall for her too), helping her get over Josh and move on with her life (theme!)—just as Sadie said she should.

  Ed represents the theme in that he, too, has had trouble getting over an ex. It’s held him back significantly. In recognizing this flaw in Ed, Lara will eventually recognize this same flaw in herself.

  9. Midpoint (pages 231–264)

  Lara attends a huge business dinner with Ed, with lots of important guests (Midpoint party). She uses Sadie to successfully network and help her floundering business, and by the end of the night she has a promising new lead.

  Lara now seems all-around victorious. She and Josh are back together (wants) and her business is on the verge of thriving. Of course, it’s a false victory because Lara had to use magic to achieve all of it, particularly getting back together with Josh, whom she’s clearly not meant to be with.

  After the party, A and B stories cross and emotional stakes are raised as she has a heart-to-heart conversation with Ed and learns about his painful breakup.

  Sadie persuades Ed to take Lara dancing. Even though Sadie is still pushing them together, it’s Lara who, entirely on her own, asks Ed out again, this time to go sightseeing. It seems Lara is already starting to fall for Ed, even if she hasn’t quite realized it yet.

  10. Bad Guys Close In (pages 212–319)

  Things start heading downhill for Lara after the party: Josh starts acting strangely toward her (is he changing his mind?). She comes close to getting Sadie’s necklace back but loses it at the last minute. Lara’s former business partner, Natalie (who had left Lara in the lurch), comes waltzing back into the office and starts taking credit for all the progress Lara has made with the business. And tensions are high between Sadie and Lara. Sadie is still highly disapproving of Lara’s getting back together with Josh; Lara and Sadie fight, and Sadie declares that Josh got back together with Lara only because Sadie convinced him to do it.

  Lara realizes Sadie is right after an awkward dinner with Josh where he can’t come up with one good reason why they’re back together. Lara breaks it off with Josh, proving that she’s getting closer to learning the theme.

  Meanwhile, Lara and Ed continue to bond during a fun sightseeing trip. Ed confesses that he likes her, but Lara can’t bring herself to believe it. She guiltily thinks that Ed is still under Sadie’s spell, just like Josh was. But during a romantic moment on the London Eye, Ed kisses Lara, and she realizes she has feelings for him.

  Unfortunately, Sadie sees them kissing and becomes furious. Ed was supposed to be hers. Lara tries to apologize to Sadie, but only ends up looking crazy in front of Ed, who has no idea who she’s talking to.

  Sadie falls into a depression when she realizes she’ll never fall in love again and no man will ever want her again because she’s dead. She also laments that her life meant nothing. She left no mark. No one came to her funeral.

  11. All Is Lost (pages 319–329)

  The next morning, Natalie reveals that she spoke to Ed and told him that Lara was headhunting him—and not really interested in him. When Lara tries to call Ed to set the record straight, he’s extremely cold and rebukes Lara for playing him to get ahead in the business world. Lara yells at Natalie for what she did and leaves the company.

  Now, Lara has lost Sadie, Ed, and her business—all in less than twenty-four hours.

  12. Dark Night of the Soul (pages 330–359)

  Lara looks everywhere for Sadie, hoping to make amends with her. But the longer she searches, the
more she falls into despair. In a mirror of the Debate, Lara again wonders whether Sadie really was real or Lara had made her up.

  Lara’s search leads her to Sadie’s home town, where she visits an old vicarage and discovers something astonishing: a print of a painting depicting an “anonymous” young girl in her twenties, painted by a very famous painter whom she soon discovers was Sadie’s lost lover. This is a print of the painting Sadie thought was lost in the fire! In the portrait, Sadie is her twentysomething self and is wearing the dragonfly necklace they’ve been searching for.

  The woman guiding the tour of the vicarage explains that this is a copy of the famous painting called Girl with the Necklace. The original is hanging in the London Portrait Gallery, and no one knows who the subject was. But Lara does! (Dark Night epiphany.)

  All of this time, Sadie felt like she’d left no mark on the world and died completely unnoticed and unloved. But the truth is quite the opposite: Sadie is famous, and her portrait is admired by millions!

  13. Break Into 3 (pages 360–361)

  After all Sadie’s done for Lara, now it’s time for Lara to help Sadie. But with Sadie still missing, she’ll have to do it without the magic. To get Sadie acknowledged as the subject of the painting, Lara goes to the London Portrait Gallery to talk to the collections manager, Malcolm.

  14. Finale (pages 362–425)

  POINT 1: GATHERING THE TEAM. As a team of one, Lara gathers information. Malcolm tells her they purchased the painting in the 1980s from a contractually anonymous seller. He won’t tell Lara who sold him the painting.

  POINT 2: EXECUTING THE PLAN. Lara has to let Sadie know that her painting wasn’t lost in the fire and that she died a famous woman. Lara finally finds Sadie at a jazz festival and they have an emotional reunion. But before Lara can tell Sadie about the painting, Sadie points out Ed (whom she persuaded to come there) and tells Lara to go talk to him (Sadie’s way of apologizing for what happened at the London Eye).

  As Ed and Lara reconcile, Sadie tries to convince Ed to do something by screaming in his ear. This time he rejects Sadie’s influence, proving that he really loves Lara on his own. Without the magic.

  Lara explains about the painting to both Sadie and Ed. She takes them both to the London Portrait Gallery to see it.

  POINT 3: HIGH TOWER SURPRISE. While at the gallery, Lara and Ed bump into Malcolm, and Lara tricks him into pulling out the sales contract for the painting so Ghost Sadie can surreptitiously read it.

  Sadie reveals that the seller was Bill Lington. Uncle Bill! He never told Sadie (his aunt) the painting was salvaged from the fire and he’d sold it to the National Portrait Gallery for 500,000 pounds!

  POINT 4: DIG DEEP DOWN. Lara puts all the pieces together: Bill Lington didn’t start Lington’s Coffee with twenty pence. He started it with 500,000 pounds that he stole from his own aunt. The “Two Little Coins” seminar that has made him famous is a sham. And he wanted the necklace so badly because after Sadie lost her memory, it was the only thing linking Sadie to the portrait and revealing him as the fraud he is.

  Lara vows to avenge Sadie and give Bill his comeuppance.

  POINT 5: THE EXECUTION OF THE NEW PLAN. Because of her ghostly abilities to go wherever she wants, Sadie learns that Uncle Bill is on holiday in the south of France. Sadie and Lara set off.

  Lara finally has to prove her newfound confidence and self-assurance when she confronts Bill about the necklace, forcing him to come clean to the public about how he really started the coffee company and giving Sadie and her painting credit for his success. Now everyone knows that the subject of Girl with the Necklace is Sadie Lancaster. She’s left her mark on the world—just as she wanted.

  Lara starts a new head-hunting business—all on her own—and later a large envelope arrives from Paris (the last known whereabouts of Sadie’s necklace). Inside is the dragonfly necklace.

  After a tearful goodbye with Ghost Sadie, Lara goes to the funeral parlor and puts the necklace around real Sadie’s neck. When she reemerges from the funeral home, Ghost Sadie is gone.

  Both twenties girls have moved on.

  15. Final Image (pages 426–435)

  A second (and much improved) funeral for Sadie is held. This one is elegant and packed with people, all admirers of Sadie and the painting, and all wearing 1920s outfits. Lara makes a touching speech about Sadie and the person she was in life. Unlike at the first funeral, Sadie is now known and understood.

  WHY IS THIS AN OUT OF THE BOTTLE?

  Twenties Girl contains all three elements of a successful Out of the Bottle story:

  A HERO DESERVING OF THE MAGIC: At the outset, Lara’s life is a mess. She’s hung up on an ex-boyfriend who wants nothing to do with her, her business is failing, and she completely lacks confidence. She’s in desperate need of some magical intervention—and Ghost Sadie is just what the doctor ordered.

  A SPELL OR TOUCH OF MAGIC: The ghost of Sadie Lancaster is unique and entertaining. Sophie Kinsella takes a typical haunting story and turns it hilariously on its head, creating a whole new set of rules that give Lara the magical boost she so desperately needs.

  A LESSON: Sadie is everything Lara is not: free-spirited, bold, and adventurous. She teaches Lara an important lesson about life, love, and the power of a good flapper dress. Through Sadie, Lara learns to be confident in her own skin and move on from the things that are holding her back in life.

  Cat’s Eye View

  For quick reference, here’s a brief overview of this novel’s beat sheet.

  OPENING IMAGE: Twentysomething Lara lies to her parents about everything that’s going wrong in her life, including a failing head-hunting business and relationship. Though she swears she’s over her ex-boyfriend, she’s clearly not.

  THEME STATED: “When you break up with someone, it’s easy to look backward and think life would be perfect if you got back together.” Laura’s internal story is about moving on from the past and embracing her life as it is, not as she thinks it should be.

  SETUP: Lara attends the funeral of her 105-year-old great-aunt Sadie, a woman she never knew. The funeral parlor is depressingly empty. We meet Lara’s uncle, Bill Lington, a famous businessman worth millions.

  CATALYST: Sadie’s ghost appears (as a twentysomething flapper girl) and starts talking to Lara.

  DEBATE: Is it real? Is Lara going crazy? She convinces herself she must be hallucinating.

  BREAK INTO 2: Finally admitting that Sadie is a real ghost, Lara agrees to help Sadie find a lost necklace.

  B STORY: During her escapades to find the necklace, Lara meets Ed, a man whom Sadie falls in love with first and forces Lara to date so she can live vicariously through her.

  FUN AND GAMES: Sadie and Lara (who are very different) butt heads about love and life as they try to track down the necklace. But Lara soon discovers she can use Sadie (the magic) to improve her life (fixing things the wrong way).

  MIDPOINT: (false victory) Lara’s life has drastically improved thanks to the magic (Sadie’s ability to spy on people and persuade people to do things). Lara’s business is on the upswing, and she’s back together with her ex-boyfriend, Josh.

  BAD GUYS CLOSE IN: Lara realizes that Josh isn’t really that into her (Sadie just persuaded him to get back together with Lara). They still haven’t found the necklace. And Lara’s former business partner reappears, trying to take credit for all of Lara’s recent successes. Then Sadie sees Lara kissing Ed (B Story) and storms off, furious.

  ALL IS LOST: Lara’s business partner tells Ed that Lara was only “headhunting” him and doesn’t really care about him. Lara walks out on her new business. She’s now lost Ed, her company, and Sadie.

  DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL: Lara searches unsuccessf
ully for Sadie. In Sadie’s hometown, she discovers that Sadie is the unknown subject of a very famous (and valuable) portrait.

  BREAK INTO 3: Lara vows to help Sadie discover how valuable she really is. But as Sadie is still missing, she’ll have to do it without the magic.

  FINALE: Lara tracks down the famous painting at the National Portrait Gallery and discovers they bought it from her Uncle Bill (who stole the painting from Sadie). After finding Sadie and reconciling with her (and Ed), Lara and Sadie together get revenge on Bill. They find the necklace, and now Sadie can finally rest.

  FINAL IMAGE: Lara (now together with Ed) hosts another (better) funeral for Sadie, the famous woman from the painting. It’s packed full of admirers. The two twenties girls have each helped each other move on.

  Golden Fleece

  Road Trips and Quests and Heists, Oh My!

  WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FOLLOWING BOOKS:

  Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

  It’s not the destination, it’s the journey!

  How many times have we heard this tired old cliché? Well, cliché or not, it’s often the truth! And never more so than in the Golden Fleece genre, named after an ancient Greek myth—Jason, the Argonauts, and the Golden Fleece. It’s basically about this guy, Jason, who goes on an adventurous journey with a bunch of other guys (including Hercules, because you always want him on your team) to capture the Golden Fleece, which will supposedly make Jason king. Obviously, along the way Jason and his crew encounter all sorts of obstacles and challenges, thus establishing one of the most beloved story types of all time: the road trip.