Anybody Out There?

Author: Marian Keyes

First Published: 2006

Pages: 593 pgs.

Challenge: Romance Reading Challenge 2010

“Men who didn’t eat red meat were Feathery Strokers. Men who used post-shave balm instead of slapping stinging aftershave on to their tender skin were Feathery Strokers. Men who noticed your shoes and handbags were Feathery Strokers. (Or Jolly Boys). It was only when I realised how anxious I was that Jacqui might dismiss Aidan as a Feathery Stroker that I saw how much I liked him…”

Anna Walsh is a 30-something Irish gal who works in New York. She has The Most Fabulous Job In The WorldTM  and she also has Aidan; a non-Feathery Stroker who’s all the man a girl could ever wish for. A life-changing event suddenly turns Anna’s marvellous world upside-down and the only person who can fix it is Aidan. As she struggles to reclaim the life she once knew, Aidan seems to move further and further away from her grasp.

I love, love, love this book. It’s funny (I must’ve laughed outloud more than 5 times, even my husband wanted to know what I was reading) and at the same time, it touches on real issues that some women may have to face in their lifetime. It definitely took me on an emotional roller-coaster ride: At one point I was laughing my brains out and at another point I was feeling so sad and depressed that I needed to have a good girly chat with a BFF. Despite all the chick-lit humour, there is definitely a strong message that can be taken away as solid guidance. This is a great Marian Keyes book to start with and I would highly recommend it to all MK virgins out there (ehem…just like me). I’ll leave you with a snippet of one of my favourite passages from the book:

‘Jacqui’. I was staring between her legs, in high alarm. ‘Something’s happening!’ ‘What?’ ‘It’s the head,’ the midwife said. Oh, yes, the head. Of course. For a minute I’d thought Jacqui’s insides were coming out. More and more of the head appeared. Oh, my God, it was a human being, an actual new human being! It happens every day, millions of times, but when you see it happening with your own two eyes, it’s nothing short of miraculous. And then its face appeared. ‘It’s a baby,’ I yelped. ‘It’s a baby!’ ‘What were you expecting?’ Jacqui gasped. ‘A Miu Miu handbag?!’