The woman who stole my life

'Name: Stella Sweeney. Height: average. Recent life events: dramatic.' One day, sitting in traffic, married Dublin mum Stella Sweeney attempts a good deed. The resulting car crash changes her life. For she meets a man who wants her telephone number (for the insurance, it turns out). That's okay. She doesn't really like him much anyway (his Range Rover totally banjaxed her car). But in this meeting is born the seed of something which will take Stella thousands of miles from her old life, turning an ordinary woman into a superstar, and, along the way, wrenching her whole family apart. Is this all because of one ill-advised act of goodwill? Was meeting Mr Range Rover destiny or karma? Should she be grateful or hopping mad? For the first time real, honest-to-goodness happiness is just within her reach. But is Stella Sweeney, Dublin housewife, ready to grasp it?

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	SCD FICTION KEY 13 DISCS	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	SCD FICTION KEY 13 DISCS	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

From bestselling author Marian Keyes, a hilarious new novel about an Irish beautician and her unorthodox path to love and fame In her own words, Stella Sweeney is just "an ordinary woman living an ordinary life with her husband and two teenage kids," working for her sister in their neighborhood beauty salon. Until one day she is struck by a serious illness, landing her in the hospital for months. After recovering, Stella finds out that her neurologist, Dr. Mannix Taylor, has compiled and self-published a memoir about her illness. Her discovery comes when she spots a photo of the finished copy in an American tabloid-and it's in the hands of the vice president's wife! As her relationship with Dr. Taylor gets more complicated, Stella struggles to figure out who she was before her illness, who she is now, and who she wants to be while relocating to New York City to pursue a career as a newly minted self-help memoirist. Funny, fast-paced, and honest, Keyes's latest novel is full of her trademark charm and wisdom and is sure to delight her many fans.

Author Notes

Marian Keyes was born in the West of Ireland on September 10, 1963. She was brought up in Dublin, and then she spent her twenties in London. She earned her law degree from Dublin University and then travelled to London where she worked in an administrative job in an accounts office. Keyes developed a drinking problem, and after a failed suicide attempt, entered a rehabilitation program.

Keyes began writing short stories four months before she stopped drinking, in 1993, and when she left rehab, she sent them to a publisher. Included with her stories was a letter saying that she had also begun a novel, which she hadn't. The publisher liked the short stories so much that they wrote back and asked for the novel, and Keyes wrote the first four chapters of her novel Watermelon in a week, and was offered a three-book contract. Watermelon was published in 1995.

Keyes gave up her job in 1996 to become a full time writer. Her books are published in 35 countries worldwide and have been translated into several different languages, such as Hebrew and Japanese. In 2009, She won the Irish Book Award for her fiction novel, This Charming Man.

(Bowker Author Biography)

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Library Journal Review

Unlike her husband, Ryan, who designs lavish theme bathrooms, Irish beautician Stella Sweeney doesn't crave artistic celebrity, but then misfortune consigns him to household duties and makes her a household name. Temporarily paralyzed by Guillain-Barré syndrome, with only her eyelids operational, Stella telegraphs plucky bits of everyday philosophy to her neurologist, who documents everything. Months later, those optimistic quotables resurface, attracting a six-figure book deal. The dazzled Stella, envisioning a glamorous life makeover with her new love, decamps with her two fractious teens to New York City, where hostile book tour audiences, an ineffectual agent, and a suspiciously conscientious assistant/personal trainer await. Despite structural issues-the plot meanders at times and chronologically alternating chapters muddle the story arc-Keyes's (The Mystery of Mercy Close) latest is satisfying and rich in her signature heartbreak-infused humor. -Aoife McMahon's sparkling narration centers the narrative, underscoring Stella's Everywoman qualities and distinctively voicing a charmingly idiosyncratic supporting cast. VERDICT Recommended for fans of British chick lit and book clubbers seeking diverting but provocative fare (best served with a side of Jaffa Cakes). ["A deeply charming work, despite its unevenness": LJ 5/1/15 review of the Viking hc.]-Linda Sappenfield, Round Rock P.L., TX © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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