What an absolute gem of a book! This is another Walsh sister book. This time, a follow up to Anna's original story in 'Anybody Out There.' Twenty years later, having split from her boyfriend, Angelo, and leaving New York to return to Dublin, Anna is unsure what life holds next for her.

Anyone who loves a funny, endearing story with a vast array of characters who are keenly written.

Marian Keyes's voice. It comes through so clearly in this book. Anna is my favourite Walsh sister, and this book added to my love of the character.

Read another Marian Keyes. Starting with 'Watermelon' and all of the Walsh sister in order.

Happy. At times, desperately sad. Amused. Lost in the story.

Marian Keyes is a phenomenon (according to Amazon, and according to me as well). She writes with warmth and humour about the things we all want to pretend don't happen. This is the seventh Walsh sister book and the second Anna Walsh. I love Marian Keyes. Just ... love her.

It's fantastic!

I think most fans of Marian Keyes would acknowledge that she is most successful when writing about the crazy world of the Walsh family. Her first novel, 'Watermelon,' began with writing about Claire, and the other four sisters followed. Anna has always been my favourite. She is kind, unassuming, has bags of self-doubt, but has an inner strength and beauty that is unrivalled. In this novel, she starts out aged 48. She is peri-menopausal, has left her home in New York to return to her family in Dublin, she's split from her long term boyfriend, Angelo, and she has quit her super-successful job as a beauty PR. She's had enough of stress and wants to escape her busy, frantic life.

Mammy Keyes and the rest of the family think she is having a mid-life crisis, and over time, she begins to think they might be right. Should she have left everything from the last twenty years behind? What exactly can she do now?

Enter, Brigit, who is Anna's sister Rachel's best friend. She and her husband Colm are building holiday homes and starting up a retreat business, but the locals are opposed. They have vandalised machinery and treat Brigit and her family as lepers. However, they are unable to stay at home to sort things out because their sixteen-year-old daughter, Queenie, has just been diagnosed with bone cancer. They need to take her to the city for a long operation and recovery. So, what they need is a PR person to stick around for a while and get the locals on side. Anna is the perfect choice. There is only one problem: Joey Armstrong. He is one of the 'Real Men' (so called because they refused to dress in the fashions of the day when they met twenty years ago, but instead all wore skin-tight jeans and wore their hair long.) Anna and Joey have a history. At least, they almost do. Things have never quite worked out for them. One of them has always sabotaged their efforts. The last time they met, about five years ago, Anna made a mistake that she has regretted ever since. She isn't sure if she can work with Joey. She is too ashamed. But when they begin to work together, the chemistry is obvious. It's clear Joey loves Anna, and she him. But there is too much history for them to ever become closer.

Joey is a wonderful character. Handsome, thoughtful, masterful: he is a changed man from the one he was when he and Anna first men. He has even sworn off sex. He has stopped having lots of fun and using women. He is truly changed. But Anna doesn't believe this, and she refuses to give him an inch. Mostly.

There are three core themes of this book.1. What it means to reach middle age, as a woman, and the struggle lots of women feel with identity and confidence. 2. Love. The 'will they get together?' aspect between Anna and Joey. 3. The mystery of who has caused all of the problems for Brigit and Colm's business, and can Anna win them over?

There is the most fantastic cast of characters in the residents of Maumtully, the town where Anna is working. Life is centred around the hotel here Anna is staying, and everyone knows everyone else's business. But no one is talking when it comes to the vandalism.

Anna and Joey win over the town, and Anna finds herself at home in this strange, little town. She makes friends along the way, and finds herself again. It's really the most beautiful story. Marian Keyes has a voice like no one else. The moment I started to read this, I was lost in the world of the Walsh family and those of Maumtully. I felt at home. It is brilliant!

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Created Jun 06, 2024 at 5:43am • Submit your own review...