Irish Girls About TownAuthor: Various AuthorsGenre: General Novels Publisher: Downtown Press/Pocket Books Released: Dec. 2002 |
A Review by Rian Montgomery
02/13/2003
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Irish Girls About Town is a book of sixteen short stories, all written by Irish female writers, some well known (Marian Keyes and Maeve Binchy) and others I'd never heard of(Martina Devlin and Annie Sparrow). It is published by Downtown Press, a subsidiary of Pocket Books, a somewhat new publisher of Chick-Lit. The stories range from light and funny to dark and poignant. After each story there is a short biography about the particular author and the other books they've written in case you want to look into reading more of their work. A major plus of buying this novel is that the proceeds from each book sold go to Barnardo's, a large children's charity in the UK.
As with most story collections, in Irish Girls About Town I found some real gems which will prompt me to go out and read more books from those particular authors. There were also a couple of stories that bored me or simply didn't strike any particular feeling within me, which is okay; others may like the stories I didn't. The novel starts out with Soulmates by Marian Keyes. I've become a huge fan of Keyes' work recently, and she didn't disappoint this time around. Soulmates features Georgia and Joel, a couple so perfect that their friends alternate between jealousy, bitterness, and awe. Although this story was too short for my tastes, Keyes is such a deft storyteller that you don't feel cheated when the story ends after only five pages.
Next comes De-Stress by Joan O'Neill, a story about Alex, a girl recently dumped by her boyfriend. After moping about her friend's house awhile, she goes out, gets her life together, and meets a new man. I particularly found fascinating The Twenty-Eighth Day by Catherine Barry. This is a somewhat painful story about a woman who suffers from PMT (PMS times 1000). During the days she has this, she is uncontrollably angry. Will her poor husband stick around for the next cycle?
The stories I really enjoyed and plan to seek out more from their authors were the following: Thelma, Louise, and the Lurve Gods by Cathy Kelly was about two girls who go on a holiday and unexpectedly are forced to share a car and hotel with two hunky guys. Becky is the more pretty of the two and she instantly snags one of the guys. Suze is stuck with Liam who seems to not have any interest in her at all—or does he? About That Night by Sarah Webb features Shona and Kate, two friends of completely different temperaments who fly out to a friend's wedding in a small village. Shona is completely awful to Kate and her friends, going so far as to divulge a personal and shameful secret of Kate's in front of a guy that Kate likes. Kate is pushed to her breaking point. Will she finally tell Shona to take a hike? The Cup Runneth Over by Julie Parsons deals with a woman who falls in love with her married professor and becomes totally fascinated with both him and his wife. This story has an interesting twist to it, and Julie Parsons is a fantastic storyteller who will keep your interest gripped. Finally, Moving by Collette Caddle is a touching story about Sara, a woman who settles down with a guy who is nice (but someone she isn't in love with) because her heart had been broken by another man who had turned out to be married. When Tim (the married man) comes back into her life after Sara and her husband move to Dublin, things get complicated.
I really had no real problems with any of the other stories & some were good, some were mundane, and a couple were exceptionally interesting. The sixteen authors in this book offer their own unique perspective of womanhood, friendship, relationships, and families through their stories. The title of Irish Girls About Town gives a much more lighthearted and fluffy attitude to the book than its stories really are. You'll find all types of Chick-Lit in this book, some light, some deep and dark, and many of them engrossing and satisfying.
Overall, Irish Girls About Town has a little bit for every woman. It certainly offers a great way to discover new authors you might not have known about before.
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