EP
Marian Keyes' latest bestseller, Sushi for Beginners, is set in the glamorous and often catty world of magazine publishing.
Lisa, the magazine's lacquer-hard and upwardly mobile editor, is called Slanderalla by her London colleagues. When she misses out on a plum job editing a New York magazine and gets sent to start a new one in Dublin instead, she is furious and prepared to hate everything about it.
Within this context, Keyes has devised a classical romance. There is Jack, the chivalrous, saturine hero, Aisling the ingénue, Clodagh the princess who may not take or keep all, and a pack of jokers who provide unexpected fireworks and stir the plot along. Her narrative is often funny, always convincing and everyone with only one exception, gets what they want or deserve.
Keyes' recognisable characters and their credible circumstances move Sushi for Beginners above the standard Mills and Boon romances. Furthermore, the idea that you're getting inside information on what happens behind the scenes at a women's magazine adds a bit of spice.
Surely, you might think, Keyes is exaggerating the magazine's frenetic pace, the elbow jabbing and the celebrity snatching - or is she? Could it be the staff at the women's magazine we all read really do have to cope with the ups and downs Keyes describes? If so, you can only think "poor them" while at the same time reserving a bit of envy for the glamour behind the hard graft.
If you're looking for a Christmas present or easy holiday reading, this book is an ideal choice. People who enjoy Keyes' novels - like Watermelon or Last Chance Saloon - will know what to expect, but new buyers beware. This book won't suit people who object to vulgar language, or romantics who prefer white satin and roses to rumpled bed-sheets and hangovers.