The Brightest Star in the Sky

Starred review from September 14, 2009
Keyes delivers a dizzying vertical view of the mismatched, mixed-up tenants of Dublin's 66 Star Street, friends and lovers who grow up, grow old and give way to their “heart currents” with help from a puckish sprite. This multitiered saga of Dubliners searching for “the brightest star in the sky... the planet of love” straddles slapstick and sophistication in an engaging balancing act both giddy and grand. Here's Katie, publicist, freshly 40, and her workaholic, commitment-phobic fella, Conall; newlyweds Maeve and Matt, who hide a violent and crippling secret that binds them and drives them apart; madcap, sassy Lydia, a taxi driver who juggles worries about her aging mom and an over-the-top passion (mixed with equal parts lust and disdain) for her sexy flatmate; plucked from nowhere hunk Fionn, who hopes to begin a TV career, and his psychic foster mom and her mean-as-a-snake dog who improbably helps bring all the sweet mayhem to a satisfying close. Keyes (This Charming Man
) is an expert at weaving dark threads into cozy material, and in this ambitious outing, she's in top form.

Irish novelist Marian Keyes's latest is a big, bawdy story of relationships and personal dramas among the tenants of 66 Star Street in Dublin. It's packed with intriguing characters and situations that offer as much humor and sass as they do tragedy. The author's sister, Catriona Keyes, is instrumental in giving the audio version an advantage over the printed text. The density that makes the book so rich inevitably results in slow patches, but Catriona's crisp presentation and mastery of comic timing move the action along briskly. Her delightful brogue lends authenticity to the narrative, especially the dialogue, and helps bring definition and depth to the characters. Novelist Keyes takes some chances with this novel, but the result is still her trademark satisfying ending, with all loose ends neatly tied. M.O.B. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine