Book Review: Anybody Out There? By Marian Keyes
So apparently I’ve been out of the loop on Marian Keyes’ books. The first book I picked up by Keyes was The Other Side of the Story, which is still my favorite, although Angels comes in at a close second, and it is one of her later works. All of her books are stand alone novels as far as I’m aware, but her earlier works involve a female lead who is part of a five-sister family and each sister has her own book.
Synopsis of Anybody Out There:
Anna Walsh is officially a wreck. Physically broken and emotionally shattered, she lies on her parents’ Dublin sofa with only one thing on her mind: getting back to New York. New York means her apartment, The Most Fabulous Job In The World™ and above all, it means her husband, Aidan.
But nothing in Anna’s life is that simple …
Not only is her return to Manhattan complicated by her physical and emotional scars – but Aidan seems to have vanished.
Is it time for Anna to move on? Is it even possible to?
This books holds elements of mystery throughout the beginning. Being home in Dublin, when she lives in New York, is the first clue that something bad has happened. Not only that, but Anna is badly injured, but we don’t find out why right away of course. So the reader keeps wondering, well what happened to her? How did she get so badly hurt? Then when Anna arrived back in New York, the question is where is Aidan?
These mysteries had me reading a lot longer than I had planned in one sitting. I just really wanted to find out what happened and when you do its like taking a deep breath after holding it underwater for so long.
I really enjoyed the journey to recovery Anna took and all the characters who were involved and helped her along the way. It made me keep reading because I wanted to know that Anna was going to be ok.
I freaking love Marian Keyes! That being said, this actually wasn’t my very favorite of hers, though it was still worth a read. My faves were the Walsh sisters’ books – particularly “Watermelon” and “Rachel’s Holiday.” That being said, you don’t really get a bad read from her. I’m bummed that her depression has been affecting her writing these last few years – I miss her!
p.s. My post for you is almost done and I’ll send it this weekend. 🙂
I will read those two books eventually.i’ve read quite a few of her works. Good news Keyes is back!!! With a cookbook called Saved By Cake, which not only has receipes for sweets but details about her struggle with depression. She also has a fiction book coming out in the fall staring Helen Walsh. 🙂
Really?? We’ve been waiting for a Helen book forever! Sweet. 🙂
p.p.s. How do you get the photos in your banner to change? I want that!!!
In the Apperance section in WordPress, under banners you can upload multiple photos and choose “rotate” I think is the word thats used. I could double check and let you know. 🙂
Ooooohhh. I wonder how often they rotate. I’ll go check that out! We have the same theme so I should be able to do that easily. I’ll launch on my 1 year anniversary in 3 weeks. 🙂
I love her earlier work! Her later work doesn’t ring the same with me, but I will definitely peek in on Helen! I liken her work to Maeve Binchy who has a flair for creating characters that stick with you. But again, her more recent work that includes Father Flynn is just dull. It doesn’t stop me from re-reading the early books every summer 🙂
Fab book review Nicole. I read her book Rachel’s Holiday and loved it. I’ve been meaning to get back to her others.