This is the first book by Marian Keyes that I read. I have a few more of her novels and after reading this one, I'm already in love with the way she writes. I have been a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella and when I saw a few people recommending Marian Keyes for the Sophie Kinsella fans, I decided to give it a try.
The book revolves around twenty nine year old Claire and starts from the day when she gives birth to a beautiful daughter and gets dumped by her husband on the exact same day. Precisely, in that order. Heart broken, struggling to shed the baby weight and coming to terms with the fact that the woman for whom she had been dumped is not even pretty or attractive, Claire has a lot to sort out. In fact, the other woman is anything but a stereotype. Denise is a mother of two and well, simply put, fat and plain.
Packing her bags and going home to her family back in Ireland, Claire tries to move on. With gentle nudges from her parents and her sisters, Claire struggles to find her way back on her own terms. Helen is the gorgeous and stubborn sister whereas Anna is the slightly weird and dreamy one. Enter Adam. Gorgeous, perfect, God's most perfect creation and gift to women Adam. He soon sends Claire's heart raising. Enough to make her forget her asshole of a husband James, even momentarily. And so when James reenters into Claire and her baby's life once again, he is in for a surprise.
Though the story moves towards a predictable ending, the narration was lively and filled with wit and sarcasm. It is like listening in to a friend's side of the conversation or even reading a blog you love. You feel like you know the person and you are a part of her life.
But what I didn't like was the length. It was a bit too long for my liking and could have been done much better in definitely a good 200 pages less. Based on the length of the novel I would hardly classify it into a 'light' read. The story again, is nothing new. It's a one time read if you enjoy reading the occasional 'chick-lit'. And yes, I must confess that I fell asleep reading this on a lazy afternoon. I never, never fall asleep while I'm in the midst of a good book. So I guess that's saying something. But then, again, that was because of the sheer length of the novel.
I would give this one a 3/5. Since this is a debut novel, I'm assuming the rest of her books would be much better. Marian Keyes has definitely won my heart in terms of narration with her first book and you can be sure that I would read some of her other books as well. Read this one if you are prepared to read a big, fat book about a young woman's life. If you like the journal sort of books, this one is for you.
Looks interesting to me. I once read a similar book of 1000 pages. I think I can handle this.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, this was not that long! Around 600 odd pages or so. And still, I found it long. I wonder how you manged to complete yours!
DeleteSounds like fun, let me see about this on a lazy weekend.
ReplyDeleteI like her way of writing. The only problem I found was the length. Give it a shot, I think you will enjoy it :)
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