The Other Side of the Story FROM THE PUBLISHER
Life is a circle, and what goes around, comes around. Just ask a trio of unforgettable women in Marian Keyes's enchanting new novel ...
Energetic, ambitious, and sexy, literary agent Jojo Harvey combines Jessica Rabbit's body with a mind like a steel trap. As if watching her back while on the corporate ladder and making million-dollar deals wasn't difficult enough, Jojo's having a relationship with her boss. Her married boss.
Tall, slender, and blond, bestselling author Lily Wright, one of Jojo's clients, worries about bad karma and the second novel she can't seem to write but must deliver — she's already spent the advance. Anton, the Love of Her Life, persuaded her to buy their dream house.
Events organizer extraordinaire Gemma Hogan was best friends with Lily — until the willowy blonde stole Anton, a.k.a. the Love of Her Life. Juggling the demands of her newly separated (and desperately needy) mom, Gemma's social life is flatlining — a mortifying situation that makes for hilarious e-mails to a friend. Tales so funny, they come to the attention of top literary agent Jojo Harvey, who takes Gemma on as a client ...
Written in the charming and chatty voice that has become Marian Keyes's signature style, this hilarious and heartwarming new novel proves there are three sides to every story ... especially in the world of publishing!
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
This rambling, chatty audiobook draws listeners in slowly (sometimes painstakingly so) as it follows the lives of three dynamic women--jilted Gemma Hogan; literary agent Jojo Harvey; and bestselling English author Lily Wright, who "stole" Gemma's boyfriend Anton. Gemma, hurt and betrayed by her best friend's actions, must put her emotions on hold to care for her mam after her dad takes off with a younger woman. Reader Donnelly enthusiastically captures Mam's dour Irish voice and Gemma's younger, more innocent one. Her energetic reading style also helps sustain readers during the book's plodding moments, such as when Keyes describes the happenings of Gemma's work day, her drive home, her trips to the chemist and so on. The details don't let up when the story abruptly shifts its focus to Jojo, who works at a prestigious London firm. Donnelly doesn't quite capture Jojo's American accent, but the English accent she adopts for Lily is spot-on. On the whole, Donnelly does a fine job narrating this marathon-length audiobook, and though it takes a while for the pace to pick up, listeners will be wrapped up in the characters' lives by the story's end. Simultaneous release with the Morrow hardcover (Forecasts, Mar. 15). (May) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Keyes does her magic with the world of publishing. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
AudioFile
Jojo is a literary agent. Two of her clients have written novels that are poised to break records on the bestseller lists. Gemma has written a journal of her parents' broken marriage, and Lily Wright has moved to London—with Gemma's boyfriend. Terry Donnelly deserves much praise for her delivery of the action in the book, which sweeps from Ireland to London to New York. Donnelly allows no lapses of interest as the listener follows the varying story lines. She is a good reader. Marian Keyes writes a good story. Yet this novel is studded with bad grammar, which cheapens the writing. It hurts the eye when read and the ear when listened to. J.P. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
More plucky Irishwomen from Keyes (Sushi for Beginners, 2003, etc.). Events planner Gemma Hogan is astonished to hear that her dear old dad, a chocolate-company middle manager, has left her graying, comfy mam for a much younger, hard-faced floozy. Cherished dreams are shattered, along with a few china shepherdesses. Will her anguished mother ever get out of bed or that damned tufted bathrobe? Fancy a tranquilizer? How about a sleeping pill? Good thing that nice pharmacist stays open so late-oh, gosh, he thinks the pills are for Gemma! What's a chick-lit heroine to do? Step back and let the plot segue to hard-driving literary agent Jojo Harvey, who wangles a million-pound advance for a first novel written by an Englishman who lived as a woman in war-torn Afghanistan. (Ha-ha.) In a nod to American readers, Jojo is said to have worked for the NYPD for three years. Gee, so that's why her nickname is "Yank," even though she talks just like Bridget Jones. Jojo, a dynamo at the office, is a doormat for a middle-aged married stud who won't leave his wife and kids and is always breaking their dates (big surprise). Jojo is also the agent of Lily Wright, an anemic blond who stole Gemma's man, had a baby with him, and wrote an idiotic bestseller about a white witch who fixes unhappy lives. It's not fair, fumes Gemma. But our girl fights back, landing a book contract of her own for a much higher advance than Lily's-though the book tanks-and finding true love at last. Will her foolish dad slink home and comfort her wailing mam?Bloated, meandering plot, with lots of dull talk about the publishing business. Even the author's wonderfully eccentric sense of humor can't save this one. Agent: EmmaParry/Fletcher & Parry
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