Marian Keyes has been one of my favorite authors for many years now. It started with Sushi for Beginners, which I checked out of the library on a whim. Since then, I've read just about everything by her and have loved every bit of it. I was so excited when this book, Brightest Star in the Sky came out that I had Adam purchase it from Europe because their release date was months ahead of the US. It came in the mail and I was giddy with excitement. I opened the book and began to read. And then I got the newsletter.
I get monthly emails from Marian through her site with her writings about her life and any updates that she has. But this one was not written by her - it was from her husband, addressing her fans.
Marian had hit a rough patch and wasn't feeling well. Major depression. He wanted to let us all know that he wasn't sure when she would be writing to us again, let alone writing another novel.
I'm not sure if I actually cried when I read this, but I know I at least felt like I wanted to. After this, I couldn't read anymore of the book. What if it were the last book she writes? I'd finish it and then wait forever for a new book that wouldn't come out. I just couldn't do it. Adam thought I was absolutely nuts. To his credit, though, I probably am.
This comic strip describes exactly how I feel!
This was all back in 2009, and the book has been sitting on my shelf every since. I think I may have tried to read it again once more, but was sad and put it back away.
I'm happy to share that Marian is feeling better. She's writing again. She is on twitter now. And I love her. So I finally read the book. Marian didn't disappoint.
"One address. Four flats. A houseful of hearts. And the extraordinary visitor about to change their lives forever...66 Star Street. It's Marian. It's magic."
The back cover sums it up pretty well. The reader is submerged into the lives of all the people living in this apartment building, or flat since they're Irish, after all.
There is some entity floating through their lives and their memories, and you really don't find out what that is all about until the very end. At first I was a tad irked that you as the reader don't know what is going on. But after a bit I got so submerged and invested in all of the characters that I stopped fixating on that. They are all so different and yet by the end of the novel "fate" brings them together.
An older lady and her dog. Her adult foster son.
A married couple who watch hours of tv and eat lots of sweets
A single woman about to turn 40.
A taxi driver and her two Polish roommates.
If you haven't read any of her books yet, check one out at the library the next time you make a visit. Let me know what you think. I'd love to share my love of Marian Keyes with other readers.
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