Heat
She's had four bestsellers in a row and Keyes' latest, set in Dublin won't be any different. Enjoyable but not extraordinary.
So, Marian Keyes has been deemed important enough to warrant hardback treatment. Having sold nearly three million copies of her four books worldwide, there's no question that she's hot property. But whether her fifth novel, the intriguingly-titled Sushi for Beginners, is worth forking out 16.99 for, is another question. (Sadly, the title isn't a metaphor for anything more interesting than Japanese fish food. At least, we don't think so.) This is the story of three very different women living in Dublin and is set in the (not so) glamorous world of the magazine industry. Lisa is a hard-nosed editor who can't quite believe it when her "fabulous" new job turns out to be deportation to Dublin, launching Colleen magazine. Her new assistant editor, Ashling, is an award-winning worrier and is not particularly exciting, and Ashling's best friend Clodagh is as spoilt married brat with kids who seems desperate to screw up her lovely life. Keyes builds up her characters beautifully, as always, and there are dozens of amusing observations to have you chuckling away, but at nearly 600 pages long, Sushi... is just too expansive and requires wading though a few too many boring bits to get to the good stuff. Keyes' latest is certainly enjoyable, but not entirely compulsive, and fair-weather fans might be advised to wait for the paperback.