Monday, March 1, 2010

The Brightest Star in the Sky

The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes

Marian Keyes is the queen of Irish chicklit and she has earned her throne. Her bio claims she's written 10 novels, and Brightest is her latest. The plot sounds hokey--the narrator is a spirit that floats between flats in a four-floor Dublin townhouse and observes the secrets and relationships brewing in each home--but Keyes sells it well. The characters are all very different, yet it's believable how their lives overlap. Each chapter is divided into "days" and we see that the spirit has a countdown going on, starting from 66. As we get closer to 0, it's obvious that something big is going to happen, and the countdown really intensifies the build-up. The ending isn't at all predictable, and I was quite pleased, which is saying a lot. I'm usually disappointed in clean endings, but this one is worth the ride.

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