Book Review: "Anybody Out There?", Marian Keyes

One of the things I love about the easter break is that it is only a few days long, which means I don't feel too guilty about not doing any lab work, and it is long enough to read and enjoy a good book! [and I have to thank Roza, for lending this novel to me :) ]

The book in question is called "Anybody out there?" by Marian Keyes. Marian Keyes is a chick-lit* author who has already written several other novels, including "Sushi for beginners", "Lucy Sullivan is getting married", "Last Chance Saloon", "The Other Side of the story", "Watermelon" and "Rachel's Holiday".

"Anybody out there?" continues to follow the Walsh family, who are an Irish family who consist of five sisters - some of who have been the focus of previous novels. From eldest to youngest, they are Claire (Watermelon), Margaret (Angels), Rachel (Rachel's Holiday), Anna (Anybody out there?), and Helen.

Anybody out there? focuses on Anna's life and begins as she is recovering in Dublin after she has been the victim of a terrible car accident, which took the life of her husband, Aidan Maddox. As the story progresses, we learn about how she copes with his death, her job as a PR agent in New York for a cosmetic company, Candy Grrrl, (which is referred to as "The most fabulous job in the world" *lol*), how Aidan and Anna first met, and more about the Walsh family, where we learn about Helen's job as a PI (private investigator) in Dublin and Rachel's marriage to her fiance Luke.

Any of Marian Keyes novels are easy to read, with believable, likeable characters that addresses issues that anyone could be going through. There are also some hilarious moments in the book, including Jacqui's (Anna's best friend) view of how a man being a "feathery stroker" is an absolute turn off (this cracked me up, especially her defintion of a "feathery stroker"), Anna's mother and her obsession with spying on an elderly woman who would always get her dog to do his business on their front gate, Gus's obsession with accupuncture and Luke and his "too tight" pants, which is an obsession for all of the Walsh sisters (including their mother!).

What I enjoyed most about "Anybody out there?" was how Marian Keyes portrayed Anna. In past novels, she was described as the passive, always "out of it" sister, but here, she is brought into her own and she is a believable, likeable character that is different to her other sisters in the previous novels. She has her vunerable side (which is seen as she chases various psychics in an attempt to contact Aidan) and is not as confident as Claire, or understanding as Rachel, but she knows what she wants. The ending of this novel was different to her other novels, which for me was refreshing, as in the past, Marian Keyes tends to have her main female character finding the man of her dreams (which isn't bad at all!), but obviously this couldn't be done in this novel.

And keeping with tradition, there is a delicious male lead character (Aidan), although he wasn't as good as previous characters (Jack Devine - Sushi for Beginners; Luke Costello - Rachel's Holiday; Joe Roth - Last Chance Saloon), because he wasn't there for very long, but Nicholas, Mitch, Angelo and Joey (some of the other male characters in the book) made up for this.

So, the final verdict? A highly enjoyable read, with its funny moments, and an improvement on her last novel "The Other Side of The Story", which was a bit of a let down, with lukewarm characters. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to read chick lit with an Irish twist! However, if you want the full story about the Walshes, it is best to read Watermelon, Rachel's Holiday and Angels before you read Anybody out there? because some of the events in the novel occur in these past novels.

* For those of you not familar with the term, "chick lit" refers to a sub genre of fiction novels which focuses on the life/lives of a modern woman. It is also usually written by a woman, but there are some male chick lit authors. The important thing is that chick lit isn't confused with romance novels - they are two different styles :)