Anybody Out There?

I absolutely loved this book! It's funny, sad and touching and a very satisfying read. I picked it up looking for light humor and this book was so much more. It's incredibly funny - I laughed when I read and had to quote bits and pieces to my family because I felt somebody else had to hear. Then you cry when you reach the second part of the novel - and then laugh some more. I read it weeks ago and still think about it. What is really, truly sad is there's only one Walsh sister left.....

The Walsh family of Dublin must be the funniest family in contemporary lit. To date, Marian Keyes has gifted us with stories about Claire (Watermelon), Maggie (Angels), and Rachel (Rachel's Holiday). In her newest novel, it is time for Anna to take center stage. The fourth of the five sisters, Anna has appeared peripherally in the other stories. Always a minor character, slightly spaced-out, and a flamboyant dresser, Anna has somehow lucked into what she describes as the best job in the world. Convincing her best friend Jackie to move with her, Anna establishes a life in New York City. She has a job she loves doing promotions for a cosmetics company, shares a tiny Manhattan studio with Jackie, and pals around with her sister Rachel and an assortment of New Yorkers. And then Anna meets Aidan, the love of her life. Their romance is central to the story though told mainly in flashbacks since the story opens with Anna back in Dublin and recuperating from some very serious injuries. Where is Aidan? Anna calls his cell and emails him daily, but there is no response. When she is better, she flies back to New York and continues to try and contact him. In this novel, Marian gives Anna a bigger mountain to climb than she had given any of the other sisters. Anna faces the worst hardship imaginable and a trauma that will leave the reader thunderstruck. But even this tragedy is punctuated with Marian's trademark humor and the reader will be laughing as well on each page. The writing is superb with an overwhelming shocker at the end of part one and another shocking twist at the end of part two. Perhaps the most deeply riveting of her novels thus far and the most emotionally-charged, this will be a welcome addition for fans of Marian Keyes and a wonderful introduction to her for those not yet acquainted with her writing.

I'm not a person who normally reads chick lit, but when I was thirteen years old I went on a kick of only buying books with pastel covers. It was stupid, I know, but it seemed like books with pink and yellow covers are cheerful. This was how I picked up Marian Keyes's book Watermelon. And was introduced to the Walsh family. I liked Watermelon; loved Rachel's Holiday and adored Angels. So I bought this book right away, even though it's in hardcover. From the start I loved the series-all of the sisters were so different in their perceptions in others and themselves. So when I saw this book was about Anna-the younger, perpetually zoned (and possibly stoned) type 2 sister (small, dark and pretty) I was a little shocked to see that she had a job as a PR girl for a makeup line in New York. I mean, when did she get herself together and stop being zoned? It takes a while to find out. A great deal of the first half of the book is flashbacks to Anna's first job, her move to New York and meeting Aidan her love of her life husband. But all these flashbacks are taking place when Anna is laid up in Dublin with serious injures and an absent husband. What happened? Well, that's what part two is about. Part three is about...well, that would ruin the surprise. I won't tell. I will say that there is no amnesia in this book-I don't why it said that on the jacket cover. One of the centeral issues of the book is seaking what is lost-no matter what it was, but there is no amnesia going on. Selected memory yeah, but no amnesia. Like all the Walsh books this novel is more than it seems. Marian Keyes is fantastically talented at taking a very heavy subject and putting into terms everyone understands. In Rachel's Holiday I really thought that Rachel wasn't a drug addict until she finally realized she was. The way Keyes wrote it was so complete in the denial that oozed out of Rachel that the reader felt the same way. In a very clever way Marian Keyes writes about the issues that surround us, impale us, and make us who we are. It's very unfair, and an insult to her talents, to call Keyes a writer of chick lit-she writes books about real issues like grief (such as getting dumped the day you have your baby), drugs suffering, self image and love. She writes real life, and like real life her stories don't always have a happy ending. But they do have family with them in the end. I LOVED this book. I cried a lot (some parts are very, very sad), laughed a lot (this book is funnier then the others), and truly felt like I was Anna-or at least a good friend. I recommend this book to everyone, but if you're new to Marian Keyes don't read this first-Watermelon, then Rachel's Holiday, then Angels will set you up nice. Reading these books makes me wish for sisters. Five stars. There's one sister to go-will the next book be about Helen Walsh the unfeeling possibly sociopath P.I.? I hope so-but I would love a book from Mammy Walsh's view too- but for now I can only imagine it and wai

I don't read "chick-lit" all that much anymore (well, at least not the single-in-the-city, whining-over-being-unmarried-at-twenty-nine kind), but there are authors of the aforementioned genre that will forever remain on my must-buy list, and Marian Keyes is one of them. She and a few others take this tried and true genre and add special twists that make the novels substantial, emotionally moving and dark around the edges. Also, Keyes always deals with some serious subject matter in her books and she combines it with lighthearted humor. Anybody Out There? is, in my opinion, Keyes's best work since Last Chance Saloon. This is another installment in the Walsh family saga and it deals with Anna, the second youngest of the sisters. The book opens with Anna recuperating at her parents' home in Ireland after suffering from a serious accident in which she has little recollection. While she puts up with her overbearing mother and her eccentric younger sister Helen, Anna wonders about her husband Aidan. She wants to return to New York and regain her perfect job and her old life, but more important she wants to know what had caused the accident and where Aidan is. I won't go into details because I don't want to ruin things for the reader (like a thoughtless reviewer below had done), but there are many twists in this novel and Anna goes through a rough journey toward self-discovery. This novel floored me. I was almost in tears in some parts and some of the twists took me completely by surprise. The prologue foreshadows the aforementioned surprise, something the author has done in her other novels, but this time she creates something truly unique and riveting. But amid all of the serious stuff and the unexpected turns this novel takes, we get a big dose of humor that comes in part by the Walsh family, especially Helen. There is a lot of emphasis on Helen and her personal life in this installment and I could only assume that Helen's story will be next. That should be interesting! I was also reacquainted with other characters from previous books and I loved knowing that they've turned out well. Anna is a great heroine. This is funny to me because Anna was the most underdeveloped character in all of the books and her portrayal here is somewhat different than in the other books. Then again, it has been years since I've read a Walsh book (Angels) and my memory is a little fuzzy. There are the signature Keyes style of writing that are less savory to me. She likes to stereotype nationalities and I've always found that annoying and at times offensive. Thank goodness it doesn't happen so much here. I wish I could bring up the main storyline and its twists and make this review longer by pointing the things I loved about those scenes and why I loved them, but that would be giving things away. You'll just have to read the novel for yourself. Anybody Out There? is a roller coaster ride of emotions that will move you and surprise you to the core. Y

I won't spoil the plot, but it basically picks up with the Walsh family from previous Marian Keyes novels. This time the focus is mainly on Anna, with some comic relief of Helen's antics in Dublin. This book was a fantastic emotional rollercoaster. I laughed, cried, laughed and cried. I picked it up at airport in Shannon and nearly had it finished by the time I landed in Boston. This is another excellent book from Marian.