Helen is the youngest of the five of us and still lives in the parental home, even though she’s twenty-nine. But why would she move out, she often asks, when she’s got a rent-free gig, cable telly, and a built-in chauffeur (Dad). The food, of course, she admits, is a problem, but there are ways around everything. Dear Jesus,” a voice said. It was my sister Helen, home from a night’s work. She stood in the doorway of the sitting room, looked around at all the tassels, and asked, “How can you stand it?”

Anybody Out There? - Marian Keyes - Google Books

But her family have other ideas. And mysteriously, Aiden seems unwilling to get in touch. Anna is puzzled. What could have happened to her marriage to the man that she would do anything for, that he won't call her?Anna tries her best to get on with things, even being chosen to head up a new account at work but when she receives a letter from Aidan’s ex-girlfriend, Janie, containing a picture of a young boy who is obviously Aidan’s son, she completely loses it and tries to find someone to have sex with to take her anger out on Aidan, thinking Aidan must have cheated on her with Janie. On reading the letter she realises that actually Janie became pregnant before Aidan and her were exclusive. While everyone has his or her own holiday nightmare-the overcooked turkey, the undercooked ham, the Santa who drank too much, the worst gift given or received-we still love hearing about other Continue reading » It is about Anna Walsh, a woman who is recovering from an injury whilst in her parents' residence in Dublin, Ireland, [2] and is reminiscing about the life she once lived in New York. [1] Anna is married to Aidan and had worked in public relations for a cosmetics firm in East Village. [2]

Marian Keyes - Wikipedia Marian Keyes - Wikipedia

Searingly insightful, Keyes finds lightness in the darkest and most violent of emotions' Independent Anna Walsh is covered in bandages and lying in her parents’ Good Front Room. She’s dreaming of leaving Dublin and returning to New York. In lesser hands, a collection of personal essays such as these might read like a self-indulgent exercise in tedium. Happily, Irish novelist Keyes (Angels; Sushi for Beginners) doesn't take herself Continue reading »Yes, I got him. Ding-dong! Right, I’m off to bed.’ Instead she stretched out on one of the many couches. ‘The man spotted me in the hedge, taking his picture.’ Please yourself,’ Helen said, then gazed through the binoculars and murmured, ‘Good Christ, would you look at that!’ Then, ‘Buh-loody hell ! Ding-dong! What are they trying to do? A Jolly Girl tonsil ectomy?’

Anybody Out There - Penguin Books UK

After several career changes, Helen—and I’m not making this up, I wish I was—is a private investigator. Mind you, it sounds far more dangerous and exciting than it is; she mostly does white-collar crime and “domestics”—where she has to get proof of men having affairs. I would find it terribly depressing but she says it doesn’t bother her because she’s always known that men were total scumbags. She spends a lot of time sitting in wet hedges with a long-range lens, trying to get photographic evidence of the adulterers leaving their love nest. She could stay in her nice, warm, dry car but then she tends to fall asleep and miss her mark. I’ll bring you up some ice cream in a minute, pet,” Mum said. “Tell me, I’m dying to know, did you get your mark?”

Lucy Sullivan, the eponymous heroine of Irish writer Keyes's second offbeat romantic comedy to be published in the U.S. (after Watermelon), fancies herself simultaneously miserable and happy. A Continue reading » My bed had been thoughtfully placed in the window bay so that I could look out at passing life. Except that I couldn’t: there was a net curtain in place that was as immovable as a metal wall. Not physically immovable, you understand, but socially immovable: in Dublin suburbia brazenly lifting your nets to have a good look at “passing life” is a social gaffe akin to painting the front of your house Schiaparelli pink. Try The Other Side of the Story or rather than taking the plunge straight away, you may want to get a feel for Marian Keyes and read a collection of her newspaper articles, in Under The Duvet. Otherwise you may enjoy Notting Hell by Rachel Johnson or The Nanny. Joyful. Keyes' clever way with words and extraordinary wit. People stared at me as I laughed to myself' C.L. Taylor Even Luke, Rachel’s boyfriend – well, fiancé now. Luke is so dark and sexy and testosteroney that I dread being alone with him. I mean, he’s a lovely person, really, really lovely, but just, you know . . . all man. I both fancy him and am repelled by him, if that makes any sense; and everyone

Anybody Out There - Marian Keyes - Google Books

Helen is the youngest of the five of us and still lives in the parental home, even though she’s twenty-nine. But why would she move out, she often asks, when she’s got a rent-free gig, cable telly and a built-in chauffeur (Dad). The food, of course, she admits, is a problem, but there are ways around everything. Marian Keyes is the international bestselling author of Watermelon, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, Rachel's Holiday, Last Chance Saloon, Sushi for Beginners, Angels, The Other Side of the Story and Anybody Out There. Her two collections of journalism, Under the Duvet and Further Under the Duvet, are also available in Penguin. Marian lives in Dublin with her husband. It will break your heart and nourish your soul...No one can evoke deep feeling with such a light touch as Marian Keyes Nigella Lawson Now, having told you how funny Marian Keyes books are, the Walsh Dynasty in particular, you should also know that not many books make me cry. I can count them on the fingers of one hand Charlotte's Web, The Green Mile, Pride and Prejudice and Anybody Out There? See? I didn't even use thumbs. Anybody Out There? made my throat ache with the upsweep of the tale, the seamless flow of prose and the joy of a satisfying and judicious ending.

And indeed, there was something inside: a photograph…Why was I being sent this? I already had loads…Then I saw that I was wrong. It wasn’t him at all. And suddenly I understood everything. The last thing Anna wants is to think about how she ended up in this mess. But with nothing else to do, she's forced to ask herself why she's thousands of miles from the life she loves. Right, Missy.’ Mum consulted a sheet of paper, an hour- by-hour schedule of all my medication – antibiotics, anti- inflammatories, antidepressants, sleeping pills, high-impact vitamins, painkillers which induced a very pleasant floaty feeling, and a member of the Valium family which she had ferried away to a secret location.