Popular Fiction: It was only a matter of time before the bestselling author of books including Watermelon, Rachel's Holiday and Sushi For Beginners turned her attention to the industry she has come to know intimately over the past 10 years.
Yep, Marian Keyes's whopping new novel, The Other Side of the Story - it could double as a doorstop when you've finished - is set in the racy world of London publishing where you are only as good as your last deal, celebrated, natch, over a round of Vodkatinis.
It tells the story of three women, Gemma, Lily and Jo-Jo, whose lives intertwine over the course of the book. Gemma, a thirtysomething events organiser in Dublin - she does celebrity weddings and F-List parties - is coping with a Mammy who is falling apart after Daddy upped and left her for his younger assistant. Having smashed most of the china in the house, said Mammy is existing on a diet of daytime TV and tranquillisers and won't let Gemma out except to the chemist. If that wasn't enough trauma Gemma is still bitter about the betrayal by her friend Lily, who ran off with Gemma's boyfriend.
Lily, living in London with Gemma's ex, Anton, and their baby, Ema, can't shake the guilt of what she has done to her friend despite the unexpected runaway success of her first novel, a magical tale called Mimi's Remedies. Her publishing agent, Jo-Jo, who looks like Jessica Rabbit and talks to the purse beside her bed, is on a mission to become a partner in the company while juggling a different kind of partnership with her married boss, Mark.
The behind-the-scenes publishing world as portrayed by Keyes - and she should know it well enough by now - is a cut-throat place, where stars are born and sometimes fade overnight, where million-pound deals are brokered in bidding wars over the phone. Inevitably, the book contains some well-placed digs, at everyone from book reviewers to retailers, which have the authentic ring of an author who has been there and served the fancy biscuits to bitchy lifestyle journalists.
As fans have come to expect, there's a laugh in almost every line and Keyes's dialogue is as sparky and as sparkly as ever. The human stories of survival, jealousy, guilt, betrayal and ambition have a message but never get too heavy, spiked as they are with Keyes's original brand of humour.
The author includes a rather apt quote from ancient statesman Cicero at the beginning of the book: "Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents and everyone is writing a book." Which is fine as long as at least some of those people are writing books as good as Keyes's latest.
