The Brightest Star in the Sky by Marian Keyes

“The Brightest Star in the Sky” is a crazy ride of a book. At the beginning, I wasn’t too impressed. I couldn’t keep track of all the characters and had trouble figuring everything out. Once I synchronized all the characters and understood the humor, I loved it.

There are seven neighbors in a Dublin apartment whose lives become entangled in a rush of events. The story is told by an unknown presence whose identity you will try to solve yourself or will have to wait until near the end for it to be solved for you. Married and single people in the building become involved in affairs of the heart….and body. Matt and Maeve are married with troubles from the past messing up their hearts; Lydia, a single cab driver, has an attitude that annoys and humors; Katie, the single PR executive, is looking for something more in her life; and the eighty-eight year old, Jemima, is full of wisdom and caring, while temporarily housing her handsome foster son, Fionn.

This book had me laughing out loud. It also had me puzzling over how or when everything would be explained. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it ends with the puzzle being solved – over and over.

If you are looking for a fun book, with lots of mystery, this is the one.

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

I’m afraid I can’t say any good things about “The Reliable Wife.” I did finish the book – I don’t like to quit – but I felt it was time wasted. The book was depressing. It also skipped into so many different time periods, with no explanations, that it became confusing. It was not good confusion.

The story is about a mail order bride who arrives in a Wisconsin town intent on marrying a wealthy businessman, Ralph Truitt. Right from the beginning, a sense of calamity prevails. There is something amiss in the intentions of the mail order bride, Catherine Land. Catherine wishes to do away with Richard and become a rich widow. Richard is a figure of complexity in his own right. The story takes us through a multitude of twisted and questionable scenarios; none of them caught my fancy. Things do come together in the end but the process of getting there is dismal and perverse.

I would not recommend this book; although I know there is a market for this kind of fiction. You might have to read it to see if you agree or disagree with my take on this book. Just remember my perverse comment if you start the read.