Marian Keys - Anybody out there?

Publisher: Avon A

ISBN: 978-0061240850

My rating: 4/5

International bestseller Keyes is back with another quirky, heartwarming story of the Walsh sisters (Angels, etc.). Anna Walsh has returned to the bosom of her family in the Dublin suburbs to recuperate from the horrendous car accident that has left her with multiple fractures and a disfiguring scar across her face. Desperate to go back to New York and resume her normal life, she soon packs up her bags and returns to her job in beauty PR for punk cosmetics brand Candy Grrrl. A lonely and debilitated Anna leaves e-mails and phone messages for her mysteriously absent husband, Aidan, pleading for him to reply. [...] Meanwhile, she reminisces about their courtship and marriage while her kooky family (especially her Mum and hyperactive PI sister Helen) tries to buoy her spirits. Keyes's trademark blend of humor, diverse characters and a warm but unsentimental tone strikes gold.


My thoughts

I chose this book purely by looking at the shelf and taking one. Chick lit for a change please, I thought – but boy this one had me in tears, and not because of laughter.

The start is quite slow I thought. We get to know Anna Walsh from Ireland (of course that was a wee factor in my decision, too) recovering from her severe injuries – not only physically, but emotionally as well. We find out about her “best job in the world” and Aidan; Aidan the man in her life, the life she’d been living in New York before her accident.

Yet, it takes about 1/3 into the book until we find out more about Aidan and what happened that left her scarred and broken.

It was a rollercoaster of emotions and I personally think Keys did a great job combining the issues of love, loss and anger wrapped up in a chick-lit-story, though some parts of the book are quite sad and perhaps not necessarily what readers are expecting from a book for a “light-hearted” read.

“Anybody out there” was my first book I’ve read by Marian Keys and probably not the last. If you’re looking for something witty, full of humour, yet thought- and meaningful as the story follow Anna’s journey to find out whether Aidan’s doing okay, you'll definately enjoy this one!