The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes

When I first set eyes upon Marian Keyes' 600 + page tome The Brightest Star in the Sky I admit I procrastinated! I was daunted as the books on my nightstand piled higher and higher and I kept sliding it to the bottom of the pile in favour of the smaller, "faster" reads. I was honestly doing myself a disservice! Having never read a Marian Keyes novel before I was at a disadvantage. She's been touted as the dowager of Chick Lit but after reading this well-crafted masterpiece of soulful fiction I feel this is perhaps a misnomer.

Marian Keyes has the unique gift of making the ordinary and everyday lives of others fascinating and alluring. Like a voyeur the reader feels the intense emotions of an omniscient being peering into the lives, relationships, and intimate moments of Keyes' characters. Almost guiltily I picked up the book again and again eager to learn what new secret would be divulged, what skeleton would be unleashed from whose closet!

The Brightest Star in the Sky follows the lives and relationships of people living under the same roof at 66 Star Street in Dublin and like the brightest star, this guardian angel, we are privy to all that unfolds, all that is revealed. The familiar, and everyday nature of the characters gives the reader an air of delving into the lives of friends and neighbours. I invested in the lives of these characters and slowly but surely developed an emotional attachment to them as the story progressed and bit by bit I discovered their truths. And those heartrending truths shocked and tore at my soul in the end just as they would if revealed by a friend or relation. Fiction made real, characters made flesh by the talent and crafting of Marian Keyes!

Reminiscent of Maeve Binchy but with a youthful , modern spark of wit and sparkling charm that is truly unparallelled and undefined, Marian Keyes is a genius of character development and weaving of plot. Don't procrastinate nor feel daunted or you will deny yourself an emotional experience you won't soon forget. Released November 7th, The Brightest Star in the Sky by bestselling author Marian Keyes is the perfect holiday gift for women on your list!