"Cleo McDougal is not a good person. She does good, yes, but doing good and being good aren't the same thing, now are they? In fact, her whole life, Cleo McDougal has been a cheater. She cheated in high school, on the debate team, on the school paper, for a summer internship, and from there it only got worse."
-MaryAnne Newman, former best friend of Cleo, in a Seattle newspaper op-ed
Cleo McDougal is the proverbial over-achiever. Orphaned as a teenager, she manages to finish college, and as an unwed single mother, makes a name for herself in law school. She has been elected to the U.S. Senate from New York and is seriously considering a run for president. Out of the blue someone from her past writes an extremely unflattering op-ed, excerpted above. And the piece goes viral on social media.
Campaign manager and trusted friend Gaby devises a way to try and salvage her reputation. It turns out Cleo has a list of regrets---233, to be exact. Even though their campaign slogan is Only Forward, Gaby decides Cleo will do well to show her desire to make up for past mistakes. Cleo agrees reluctantly and they begin with a recorded face-to-face apology to MaryAnne Newman for the way Cleo treated her in high school. This does NOT go well! A confrontation with a former professor has mixed results. And the final regret she must tackle is the hardest of all!
It was a bit ironic that as I was near the end of the book I saw a TV commercial for a nutritional supplement beverage and the actor says, "I don't hold on to regrets."
Cleo reminded me in a way of Bridget Jones, with a similar sassy sense of humor, but with super intelligence. The novel offers some insight into the D.C. political scene, probably more amusing than educational. Cleo's 14-year-old son provides some typical teenage techno-savvy and wit. I am rating Cleo McDougal Regrets Nothing a 4; I found it very entertaining!
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