Dominion Post
Can Marian Keyes' wry Irish humour survive translation into more utilitarian languages such as Finnish and German?
Keyes, whose books are published in 35 countries, has absolutely no idea.
"I haven't a clue," admits the best-selling author cheerfully by phone from London, where she is covering London Fashion Week for Marie Claire magazine ("I thought it was all really dull - everything is so wearable, rather than ridiculous and unwearable.")
But when it comes to the Serbo-Croat editions of her books, she's on surer ground. Not because she's fluent in the language herself, but because her sister-in-law is.
"She's Serbian, and she can tell me whether it's done properly or not. Humour is such a precious and esoteric thing - how can it survive being translated into a different language? My sister-in-law understands Irish humour, and she tells me the books aren't bad in Serbo-Croat."
The fact that women living in the former-Yugoslavia are reading her books at all is testament to Keyes' ability to tap into universal concerns. Whether they're from Bel grade, Frankfurt or Wellington, readers feel as if she's writing about their lives.
Her superior brand of chick-lit has made her an international commodity, a beneficiary of the globalisation of the publishing industry - not that that has stopped her from taking a pot-shot at the industry in her latest novel, The Other Side of the Story .
"I think there's a myth about publishing," she says. "People feel it's a very honourable and noble profession, but most publishing houses are now owned by multi-nationals. There is pressure on everybody to make money - it's all about the bottom line. People are fearful - they're being ruled by people who have no love nor care for books."
Of course, her own book-industry character, Jojo - a tough-talking American literary agent working for a large London-based publishing firm - doesn't fall into that category. She may be ruthlessly ambitious ("Jojo was just so tough and fearless that it took a long time to find my way with her," says the always charming Keyes. "As a character she was very unfamiliar to me"), but she still knows a good book when she reads it.
But it's not Jojo's taste in literature that Keyes focuses on in her new novel, nor even the rights and wrongs of the passionate affair she is conducting with a married work colleague. Rather, it's the glass ceiling that Jojo - one of three loosely-linked main characters in the book, each with her own separate story - hits as she clambers up the career ladder.
"In this particular book I wanted to write about gender issues and gender politics. In the case of Jojo , it's about women in the workplace, and how women are passed over for promotion in favour of men."
For Gemma, it's watching her mother fall apart after she is left for a younger woman by her husband of 35 years, while for Lily it's how to juggle her career as a writer with her responsibilities as a mother.
The three different strands make for a more complex structure than Keyes' previous novels, and she admits it was harder to write. But while the basic subject matter sounds serious, Keyos deals with it with her usual light touch. As her legions of fans already know, she isn't afraid to deal with serious issues - alcoholism, marriage break-up, depression, miscarriage - she's done it all.
"Because I write comedy I think at first glance people underestimate me. But I think it's a fantastic way to bring in extreme darkness. It's more bearable to read and it's certainly more bearable to write. Darkness is really what motivates me."
And darkness is something she is personally familiar with. Her path from suicidal alcoholic to much-lo ved best-selling author has been well chronicled, but Keyes has experienced more recent sadness as well - she and her husband Tony have been unable to have children.
"It was something that I wanted very badly and tried very hard for. It didn't work out obviously, though we went various routes. It's something that both myself and my husband have made peace with now."
Less heart-breaking is the humiliation of having no one turn up for a book signing, something which happens to Lily in the new novel. It's happened to Keyes, too.
"I sat there and nobody came, except a woman who asked where the books on Princess Diana were. It was for my third book, Rachel's Holiday, and I thought I had a fan base. It's a wonderful experience because it's so humbling - I think that's great for the ego."
It's that willingness to talk about personal issues - and in such a self deprecating way - which has helped make Keyes so popular; fans see her as someone who, apart from the odd million or two, is just like them. But what happens to the writer of chick-lit when she stops being a chick? Now 41, Keyes realises that she can't keep writing about the love lives of thirtysomethings forever.
"I think my issues have definitely changed as I get older. As I age, the people I write about will become older and the issues will become relevant to their age. I hope that my readers will stay with me - there is no way I will artificially stay young, writing about women who are much younger than me, women who live a lifestyle I don't live any more."