View source for The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes

{{infobox1
|title=The Woman Who Stole My Life
|sort=Woman Who Stole My Life, The
|author=Marian Keyes
|reviewer=Zoe Morris
|genre=Women's Fiction
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-0718155339
|pages=544
|publisher=Michael Joseph
|date=November 2014
|summary=Bound to be a bestseller, this is a neatly woven tale from the provinces to the big city...and back again
|cover=0718155335
|aznuk=0718155335
|aznus=0718155335
}}
Stella is an author working on her second book. Though now back in Ireland, she talks of a life in New York. It sounds fabulous. But something has changed. Whatever it is, we’re not sure. Maybe the mighty have fallen, the stars have stopped colliding. Either way, that adventure is over as the book starts. It’s not where the story starts, though, and we’re soon plunged back into the past, with the events that have lead Stella to this point. First on the list, a serious illness, without which nothing that followed would have happened, or at least not in the way it did. This may sound confusing but the book is anything but, and despite its great length, I sped through it.

I love Marian Keyes’ writing because it’s so accessible and no two stories are the same. This follows the pattern, with an unusual tale followed by some unusual twists that keep you gripped. I loved the escapism of Stella’s life in New York and the details of the publishing world could only have come from someone who had lived through it, like, well of course, a real life published author.

Stella’s illness is a rare one, and it’s beautifully described, showing the extent of the research that has gone into this book. The hospital stay, though, is just part of the story, one of several environments that the characters find themselves in, including a day spa among others, all of which change the setting and feel of the story as it progresses.

Stella is a likeable heroine. The other characters fall in and out of favour, and quite frankly I had little time for Ryan or Karen, but Stella’s transformation is somehow easier to follow and I found myself rooting for her even when it was clear how her jaunt into publishing was going to turn out. To me, Gilda was probably the most interesting supporting character and had a side I didn’t expect.

This book is well paced with lots of scene changes to keep things interesting. At first I was impatient to know what had gone on, as hints were being dropped but nothing said explicitly, but the direction soon changed and while I still didn’t know how it would get back to the start, I was too busy enjoying the first twists to care.

Fans of Keyes will certainly not be disappointed by this latest offering. It’s a good, meaty book to get lost in on a cold, blustery day and there are plenty of twists to keep you intrigued. Recommended.

[[This Charming Man by Marian Keyes|This Charming Man]] is one of my faves, but for other authors in a similar vein we can highly recommend swapping Ireland for Australia with [[:Category:Liane Moriarty|Liane Moriarty]]

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