by Marian Keyes

This is going to be a short review of a very long book because I listened to it on Audible. It was read by Caitriona Keyes who is the author’s sister and she did a fantastic job. I am still thinking in an Irish accent. I first read this book many years ago, but didn’t remember it at all.

Despite Marian Keyes superb writing, wit, and comedy along with some great suspense and drama, I can’t really give this more than 3 stars. This is because the 3 main characters which we spend most of our time with I really didn’t like spending time with. Ashling was a good person you can’t help but root for but ultimately not very interesting. Lisa was unapologetically cold, hard, and ruthless but was very very interesting. And deliciously so. She was the best-drawn character in the book and very complex. I loved how we kept getting glimpses of her humanity beneath her bitchiness as the book goes on. She was a piece of work. By the end, she had found a happy ending and had changed for the better. Is it permanent? Mmmmmm. Not sure. I fear not if she goes back to London and gets swept up in her old life again. The 3rd woman was a nightmare. she was beautiful, selfish, spoiled, and foolish in the extreme. Although she loves her kids, she is not a good mother and ends up ruining her own life, her wonderful dream-man of a husband’s life, and probably her 2 children’s lives as well. She loses her best friend and even her parents can’t stand her. Her fall from grace is very very deserved, thorough, and satisfying. Although she claims she has learned and changed, we know she really hasn’t.

The book is set in Dublin and follows the launch of a new women’s magazine. Lisa has been transferred there from London and is in charge. She is shocked and horrified at her situation as she thought her next step would be a transfer to Manhattan which was her next career goal. The culture shock she suffers is the source of a lot of humor. Ashling is her newly hired assistant. She is a people-pleaser and “Little Miss Fix-It” as a response to her difficult childhood as the daughter of a clinically depressed mother. She suffers from boyfriend problems as many of Marian Keyes’ heroines do. Her happy ending did not happen in the way I thought it would though. And I didn’t buy the romance. At All. I also thought the resolution to Lisa’s romance seemed tacked on and out of nowhere. The previously mentioned Clodagh is Ashling’s best friend. I just couldn’t believe what she did. I honestly thought at first that there was going to be a twist and what we thought was happening at one point was a trick on the reader because even she couldn’t be that bad and stupid. Until it happened, I felt there was still hope for her, so I was very disappointed in how her story played out.

The best thing about the book, in addition to the humor, was the myriad of fascinating characters that surround the 3 women. They go from 0 to 100 on the hateable/lovable scale. Marian Keyes never disappoints in that regard. And exploring dark themes with humor is her superpower. The setting in offices of Colleen was vastly entertaining and seemed very authentic. The mean Lisa and nice Ashling dynamic reminded me of Miranda Priestly and Andrea Sachs of The Devil Wears Prada. This book came first.