Customer Reviews

Angels

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

ANGELS by Marian Keyes

A young woman finds that her marriage was not all that she thought it was, in ANGELS, a novel by Irish author Marian Keyes. Maggie Walsh (Garvan) was a happily married woman, married to Paul Garvan for many years, when she suddenly realizes that they weren't really as happy as she thought. The opening line explains that she has just left her husband, and in flashbacks she tells the story of her marriage to Paul (or Garv, as she calls him). Told in a somewhat sarcastic/light hearted tone of voice, Maggie goes over the events that led to the ultimate low point of their marriage, and why she finally decided to leave him, at least for now.

Maggie, who is usually conservative by nature, at least compared to her crazy sisters, shocks everyone by announcing she is going to Los Angeles to live there for a month with one of her best friends, Emily. She leaves her husband, family and friends in Ireland, and makes that big trip to California.

Maggie's stay in Southern California is one of the craziest times of her life. She parties, she meets new men, she lies out on the beach, and she slowly forgets about Garv, sort of. In the mean time, she finds out how much fun she can have while being single, but it doesn't last.

In the mean time, Emily is working on that very important movie script, and it's her last chance at a life in Hollywood. The antics and schemes that they go through to get this script bought are almost as hysterical as an "I Love Lucy" show. And when Maggie's family decides to take advantage of the situation and come down to Southern California for an impromptu vacation, things really get funny.

ANGELS is my introduction to the writing of Marian Keyes, and I have heard a lot of positive things about her. Unfortunately, ANGELS is probably not one of her best works, as so many of these same people have told me. My main gripe with the book is that although the story was entertaining and funny, I found that it went on and on, and sometimes i felt it wasn't going anywhere. I think this book could have been cut short a bit, but overall, it was an enjoyable fluff read. I don't recommend ANGELS as an introductory book to the world of Marian Keyes, but it is a fun book nonetheless.

Rita Rudner is quoted as having said "In Hollywood a marriage is a success if it outlasts milk."

Maggie Walsh is known to her family and friends as plain vanilla yogurt. At room temperature, no less. Of the five Walsh sisters she is the only well-behaved one (as far as people know). Having married her first boyfriend and landed a paralegal job that was "as glamorous as a cold sore," she is known to be the steady, dull one. So it comes as a great shock when she leaves her husband of nine years, loses her job, and takes off from Ireland for Los Angeles to stay with her screenwriter friend Emily. It isn't long before she discovers that culture shock is the least of her problems in the land of dissolving marriages, movie extras, plastic surgery, and casual sex.

Angels is a book full of joy and sadness, artistry and humor. There is a story underneath a story underneath a story here, and Marian Keyes works simultaneously both forward and backward from the break-up to lead the reader to the story's surprising conclusion. I read it, laughing out loud in parts, and thoroughly enjoyed what I thought was a well-written light read. But the last third of the book sandbagged me with its unexpected depths. By the end it becomes clear that if Maggie Walsh is vanilla yogurt, it is yogurt with raspberries buried underneath the surface. One last thought: this book must have been fun to write, because it sure was a blast to read. Definitely worth 5 s tars.

I've now officially read every book written by Marian Keyes that has been published in the U.S., and she has yet to disappoint me. Granted, Angels isn't my favorite book by her (Rachel's Holiday holds that honor), but I was still very entertained and will continue to buy anything she has in print.

Angels tells the story of another of the Walsh sisters -- this time around it's Maggie, the well-behaved one, the one with the perfect life...until she loses her job and her husband in one fail swoop. Slinking back home to her family, Maggie quickly realizes she needs to turn her life around. So when her friend, Emily, invites her to stay with her in Los Angeles, Maggie jumps at the opportunity. L.A. has a sort of backwards effect on Maggie, however -- instead of turning her life around, Maggie somehow turns it upside-down, doing things she never thought she'd do. And the journey ends up being more than just a flight over the Atlantic...

I really enjoyed reading about another Walsh sister. I love the dysfunctional, eccentric qualities about each of them, and I think I could relate to Maggie the most. Marian Keyes has continued to write engaging, wonderful stories that are both funny and heartwarming, but also serious in subject matter. Undoubtedly she will remain on my favorite authors list for a long, long time.

Yep, Marian Keyes is back with her third novel of the wonderfully semi-function Irish family - the Walshes. In Angels, the steady Walsh daughter, Maggie, breaks free of her marriage, travels to Los Angeles and proceeds to try to dredge up the Wild Girl she always thought she was.

Keyes doesn't disappoint with this story - once again their is great good humour, underlined with the truth which is slowly drawn out during the story as Maggie realises just what has been going on her life - and we realise that her steady life wasn't quite what it seemed at the beginning.

I love these Walsh stories - well just about anything by Keyes anyway. There are always depths to her stories and her characters which when revealed explain a lot more about the characters and motivations and slowly draw us deeper into the emotional world they inhabit.

Maggie has been married for nine years when her husband Paul (who everyone calls Garv) starts having an affair. So Maggie slinks home to Dublin, and then off to Los Angeles to be with her best friend, Emily - who is struggling to write a script and sell it in LA. The nuttiness of the LA movie-making scene is interspersed with some really down to earth characters - and lessons in life which don't whack you in the face.

Lovely and readable story - Keyes has to be one of my favourite authors and a must read.

Like slicing into the rings of an onion, Marian Keyes shows how a life is never exactly what is seen on the surface. With a heavy dose of irony and equal parts of mischief, mockery and humor, the reader travels from Ireland to Los Angeles as Maggie (the white sheep of the Walsh family) copes with the loss of her job and the end of her marriage. Maggie leaves her "goody two shoes" image and the drizzle of Ireland behind, in exchange for sunshine and smog, freeways and screenplays. But, the landscape is not the only thing changing. Taking pleasure in the caricature that is Los Angeles and its gorgeous and merciless culture, Maggie has a rollicking time coping with the past and the future. This book promises lots of sublimely naughty innuendo and sexy mischief, glimpses of true friendship, as well as the support of the wacky Walsh family. The dialogue is quite simply inspired and leaves the reader laughing out loud as well as realizing a much more serious message.

I really wanted to love this book. And I did like it. The Walsh characters are just that, and you want it to be all the things you know Ms. Keyes can make it. But again, it never seems to get to the point. I was glad of how things ended up for Maggie;surely this could have happened earlier in the book. I feel that Helen is by far Ms. Keyes favorite character, but she wears thin quickly with me. Still, "Rachel's Holiday" and "Is Anyone Out There" remain two of my favorite books. This one is just...ok.

You'll be innocently browsing in a bookstore (virtual or otherwise) when suddenly, the new Marian Keyes novel will catch you out of left field. The cover will glow and wink at you enticingly, saying "Go on, blow the budget - buy the hardcover, leave work early today & binge read till midnight - you know you want to". But be warned. This novel lacks the wit, charm and unforced pathos of Keyes' earlier work (in particular Watermelon and Rachel's Holiday). Wait for the small paperback or buy it used.

This book delivered all that I've come to expect from Marian Keyes, and more. I heard her read from this one on her author tour in the States and did not think she could possibly keep the momentum of the quirky Walsh sisters going. But has she ever!

This is the story of Margaret, the white sheep of the Walsh clan. Never having done anything wrong in her life, she suddenly leaves her husband (which was warranted) and takes of for LA to stay with her best friend. Considering herself single again, Margaret must re-examine herself, and forage an identity in her new life. Well, lets just say she goes through lots of explorations in determining who she is.

Funny, real and someone anyone can relate to (as I think all the Walsh girls are) Margaret learns so much about herself and people in the flashy world of Los Angeles. Of course family Walsh comes to LA for a visit providing us with lots of laughs as well.

The chapters shift between Margaret's past that led her to leave Garv (the husband) and the present. The relationship between Margaret and her best friend is developed beautifully -- and the way Marian creates life in LA is a riot!

I hope Marian Keyes continues to write about the Walsh girls, revisiting them in various stages of their lives. They are the most "real" and fun cast of characters I've encountered in fiction in a long time. I love these books and recommend them highly for a feel good, fun read.

In her family of five sisters, Maggie Garvin is the safe, dependable one. The one her parents feel can do no wrong. The one her sisters have described as plain yogurt at room temperature.

When she discovers her husband might be cheating on her, and loses her job soon after, she decides to takes a month-long visit with a friend who lives in Los Angeles. Her entire family (not to mention her husband) is shocked that she would do such a thing.

Emily, the friend in Los Angeles, is a scriptwriter trying to get noticed by one of the film studios. Her friends are also "in the business" and Maggie soon becomes enthralled with this lifestyle and with a town where everyone seems to be looking for their big break. She hangs out on the beach, helps Emily pitch a script, befriends a lesbian and learns about the highs and lows of trying to make it in Hollywood.

Maggie's vacation ends a little earlier than she planned when her parents and two of her sisters decide to take a trip of their own to Los Angeles. Now she must show them the town while she decides what to do with her life and her marriage.

When she meets up with her first love, and her husband suddenly shows up, events and feelings escalate as she is forced to come to some kind of decision. Maggie forgets about doing what others think she should do and does what she feels is right for her.

Reading a novel by Marian Keyes is like catching up with an old friend. You want to send your family away for the night, stock up on junk food and get ready to laugh, cry and wish it would never end.

Keyes has the ability to make you like her characters from the first sentence and you want the best for them even as they continue to make mistakes. Maggie Walsh in "Angels" is another such character and is the sister to Claire from "Watermelon."

but I think it's worth it.

Angels is the first book I've ever read by Marian Keyes and, after reading the other reviews people have written, I'm looking forward to reading Watermelon and Rachel's Holiday.

The book started off interesting enough -- Maggie's marriage goes bad and she's forced to return home to mend her broken heart -- but then it seems to drag for about 100 pages.

During that time, readers meet (or are reintroduced to) the crazy Walsh family and learn more about Maggie's marriage to Garv. Then, when she heads to L.A. to stay with her best friend, Emily, the book plummets for a bit as she gets used to California life. Then Maggie realizes she can have a life in L.A. And it doesn't have to be the life she's always had as the "plain yogurt" sister. L.A. sizzles with crazy people, weird pastimes, and a couple of interesting love scenes.

The flashbacks were well done, most of the characters are likable, the friendliness among L.A. neighbors was pretty hard to believe (it's right up there with unlocked doors in New York), but overall this is a good summer read.

It took some time fore me to finish Angels and I was pleasantly surprised when I'd finished. If you've read Watermelon and Rachel's Holiday, it sounds like you may be disappointed, but if Angels is the first book you read by this author, you'll probably like it.