Marian Keyes: Sushi for Beginners

Hi, I’m Ted. I work in the Ministry of Agriculture, writing reports on yearly sheep population growth. At least by day. By night I’m a stand-up comedian. I tell owl jokes in Dublin pubs and clubs in hope to finally find myself a girlfriend. My downstairs neighbour and good friend in our single’s misery is Ashling and it’s her that this book is really about. Her and Lisa. And maybe Clodagh (oh yeah, the beautiful Clodagh…).

So Lisa is a chief editor at Colleen, an Irish magazine. She got transferred here from London and I think considers Dublin to be hundred light years behind. She is a fashion freak and a workaholic, married to sexy Oliver (at least that’s what the ladies say…).

Ashling works as Lisa’s assistant, her Little Miss Fix-It. Her job is to photocopy, write, read, call and from time to time, when Lisa’s got a good day, attend the fashion and beauty events with her which she loves so much.

Clodagh is married to Mr Perfect (again, that’s what the girls say!). Has two kids, doesn’t need to work and is extremely pretty. She’s best friends with Ashling which only gives me hope to see her more often…

We all have our ups and downs, as do all the ladies mentioned. I quite enjoy listening to Ashling’s stories about her job, the articles she writes for the magazine and people she meets. All sounds really cool, maybe except for Lisa who can be a real b*tch. But hey, job’s a job. Until at some point it all falls apart. The reason? Yeah, men, women, relationships - as ever.

But it all ends well, as you would expect from such a book. I finally manage to feel happy again! (who would have thought). Homeless people get jobs, people get divorced and married. People screw up and fix things.

All over, I’d recommend you reach for this book and read more about us. It’s good fun, we won’t bore you here. We may just make you crave for sushi as the end result…

PS. And I think it’s the easy-read factor that I enjoyed the most reading this book, after (and before) the heavy ones from the challenge list! So if you're a woman and you're after something light this book is a good cboice. I give it 3 hearts as I don't think I'll remember the book for long - it's more of a time-nicely-spent thing. (Joanna)

My rating: YYYYY