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Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keyes β€” book cover
Irish Fiction, Phases of Life - Fiction, Love & Relationships - Fiction

Sushi for Beginners

by Marian Keyes
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Overview

Lisa Edwards

This Prada-wearing magazine editor thinks her life is over when her "fabulous" new job turns out to be a deportation to Dublin to launch Colleen magazine. The only saving grace is that her friends aren't there to witness her downward spiral. Might her new boss, the disheveled and moody Jack Devine, save her from a fate worse than hell?

Ashling Kennedy

Ashling, Colleen's assistant editor, is an award-winning worrier, increasinglyaware that something fundamental is missing from her life β€” apart from a boyfriendand a waistline.

Clodagh "Princess" Kelly

Ashling's best friend, Clodagh, lives the domestic dream in a suburban castle.So why, lately, has she had the recurring urge to kiss a frog β€” or sleep with afrog, if truth be told? As these three women search for love, success, and happiness, they willdiscover that if you let things simmer under the surface for too long, sooneror later they'll boil over.

Discover the Keyes to a Great Read!

Synopsis

Lisa Edwards

This Prada-wearing magazine editor thinks her life is over when her "fabulous" new job turns out to be a deportation to Dublin to launch Colleen magazine. The only saving grace is that her friends aren't there to witness her downward spiral. Might her new boss, the disheveled and moody Jack Devine, save her from a fate worse than hell?

Ashling Kennedy

Ashling, Colleen's assistant editor, is an award-winning worrier, increasingly aware that something fundamental is missing from her life — apart from a boyfriend and a waistline.

Clodagh "Princess" Kelly

Ashling's best friend, Clodagh, lives the domestic dream in a suburban castle. So why, lately, has she had the recurring urge to kiss a frog — or sleep with a frog, if truth be told? As these three women search for love, success, and happiness, they will discover that if you let things simmer under the surface for too long, sooner or later they'll boil over.

Discover the Keyes to a Great Read!

Publishers Weekly

For Ashling Kennedy, the new job she lands at start-up Irish fashion magazine Colleen is a dream come true. For Lisa Edwards, a high-maintenance London editor expecting a promotion to New York, her appointment as editor-in-chief of Colleen is a slap in the face, the only consolation being her rumpled-but-handsome new boss, Jack Devine. Furious at being passed up for a job at Manhattan magazine, Lisa vows to make Colleen the envy of the fashion industry, even if it kills her. She drives her Dublin staff to exhaustion, and Colleen becomes a smashing success. But after a particularly lusty meeting with her much-maligned long-distance London boyfriend, she wonders if the move and the single-minded career obsession have been worth it. Meanwhile, Ashling is betrayed by her boyfriend and her best friend Clodagh, whose bourgeois domesticity she's long envied. Ashling realizes that she has to let go of her cheerful "Miss Fix-It" demeanor and go after what she wants. Lisa is chagrined and Ashling is shocked to learn that Jack may actually fancy Ashling, but one "sushi for beginners" dinner has her convinced. British bestseller Keyes's latest confection (after Watermelon) makes such a painfully brittle start the reader nearly despairs of the cardboard cutout characters, but slowly they begin to breathe and morph into charmers. Keyes's considerable following on these shores will declare this a delight. National advertising; online promotion. (June) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

About the Author, Marian Keyes

Marian Keyes is the bestselling author of nine novels and two essay collections. She lives in Ireland with her husband and their two imaginary dogs.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

For Ashling Kennedy, the new job she lands at start-up Irish fashion magazine Colleen is a dream come true. For Lisa Edwards, a high-maintenance London editor expecting a promotion to New York, her appointment as editor-in-chief of Colleen is a slap in the face, the only consolation being her rumpled-but-handsome new boss, Jack Devine. Furious at being passed up for a job at Manhattan magazine, Lisa vows to make Colleen the envy of the fashion industry, even if it kills her. She drives her Dublin staff to exhaustion, and Colleen becomes a smashing success. But after a particularly lusty meeting with her much-maligned long-distance London boyfriend, she wonders if the move and the single-minded career obsession have been worth it. Meanwhile, Ashling is betrayed by her boyfriend and her best friend Clodagh, whose bourgeois domesticity she's long envied. Ashling realizes that she has to let go of her cheerful "Miss Fix-It" demeanor and go after what she wants. Lisa is chagrined and Ashling is shocked to learn that Jack may actually fancy Ashling, but one "sushi for beginners" dinner has her convinced. British bestseller Keyes's latest confection (after Watermelon) makes such a painfully brittle start the reader nearly despairs of the cardboard cutout characters, but slowly they begin to breathe and morph into charmers. Keyes's considerable following on these shores will declare this a delight. National advertising; online promotion. (June) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Classic Keyes: three women chase happiness as staffers on a fashion magazine. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Keyes, with a number of wry, funny novels about wry, funny women under her designer belt (Angels, 2002, etc.), falters in her sixth: a concoction with the usual ingredients but without the usual magic. Having reached the top as editor of London's glossiest fashion mag (not without the requisite bitchiness and backstabbing), Lisa Edwards is betting that the boys upstairs have summoned her to offer an even better position with their New York magazine. Instead, Lisa's being shipped off to Dublin (for fashion it might as well be Dubai) to start up the new magazine Colleen. Sharing office space with Gaelic Knitting and Hibernian Bride, Lisa also finds a small and unfashionable staff. Ashling Kennedy is her editorial assistant and the perennial good girl. Dubbed "Miss Fix-it" by yummy corporate head Jack Devine, Ashling is superstitious, mildly neurotic, and a bit ordinary, but in the most likable way. Then there's Ashling's best friend, the beautiful Clodagh, who, with kind husband Dylan, two gorgeous little ones, a grand house in the city should be happy-but (naturally) she's not, and longs for a moment of peace and quiet. Or a night out on the town. Or something that doesn't involve the husband or kids. The three women forge ahead at various speeds: determined Lisa, stick-thin and already wearing next year's fashion, has set her teeth on Jack Devine. Ashling, despite her insecurities, has come up with great ideas for the magazine and is dating a rising comedian, and Clodagh decides she wants to try for a job. But things for all three begin to fall apart, and each contemplates a nervous breakdown. It's only Ashling, though, who'll fail to rally at her bad news. This Irish author's standardmix of armchair psychology and hip female fun is a bit forced here, and the three-way split for the narrative works less well than investing in only one gal might have. Still, Keyes's chic-lit (even this) is miles above the norm.

Book Details

Published
June 1, 2005
Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers
Pages
448
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780060555955

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