The Brightest Star in the Sky

3 1/2 stars

What if you were a soul in search parents to be born to? That is the premise of this book.

A soul has been directed to 66 Star Street - four flats - where it will find at least one of it's parents. It must observe the residents and determine which of those residents will become it's parent(s). We get to spend 60 days observing the residents with this soul before it finally makes it's choice.

It is an interesting concept and the stories of each resident are very well told with humor, understanding, and emotion.

I did enjoy this book quite a bit purely for the uniqueness of perspective and the enjoyable writing. It is, however, quite a long book at 612 pages and I'm not quite sure the length is justified. ( )

Okay. I don't know what it is with Marian Keys fiction books but some how it is always a pleasure to read them. Especially her last books. Only one so far I did not really like was Angels.
She has a gift of drawing you in to her characters and make them come alive. It is not so that from page 1 I am sucked in but slowly she manages to grab me and I have a hard time putting the book down.
I like the fact that people in her books have real problems.
Can't wait for her next book but at the end of this one she tells us she only writes 1 book every 2 years so guess I'll have to wait.

Are there any other writers you would recommend that write a bit like her? ( )

My family and I read The Brightest Star in the Sky at the same time and we would discuss it at dinner each evening. This was the first book I read by Marian Keyes and I liked it so much that I purchased a few more of her books. The book is about the people who live in an apartment house at 66 Star Street. It has enough interesting characters in it that everyone can find someone to relate to, to love, or even to hate. The book sucks you in, body and soul, and does not let you go, not even on the last page, because you will carry it with you for days after you finish it. ( )

I was very pleased I bit the bullet and read what I first, rather prematurely, assumed to be formulaic chick-lit. This is much more than that. It is original, witty and touches on some serious issues intelligently and sensitively. ( )

[Audio review]

Through the eyes of a "ghost" we voyeuristically watch the lives of several apartment dwellers at 66 Star Street unfold over sixty-one days. There’s Katie the music PR agent and shoe maven who looks after her sick mother and who suffers a workaholic boyfriend, Conall; Matt and Maeve with their weird, seemingly perfect marriage that isn’t because of a secret from the past they can’t discuss; Lydia the sardonic taxi driver and her two Polish roommates; the divine gardener Fionn, who is too good looking for his own good and (naturally) lands a TV show. Fionn’s foster mother, Jemima, who works as a phone psychic and hides her true intuitive powers.

Over the course of the novel, they swap partners, change jobs, and reevaluate their lives, but not even the mysterious spirit, who sees into the hearts, hopes, and fears of all the occupants of Star Street, can predict the terrible event, years in the making, that will bring them all together—and the wonderful news that will change their lives.

Could be the ultra Irish characters made them seem inaccessible to this non-Irish reader. And I admit I'm annoyed by trick devices in designating the pov "character." Also felt claustrophobic listening to this novel to the point I viewed the apartment building at 66 Star Street as more of a prison or trap. The book is slow starting, with mundane and banal action that shifts focus quickly from one to the next character so that it makes it difficult to retain who's who. These factors would make this an unpleasant private read but it wears well enough as an audio or read aloud book if you've the patience to stick with it. I nearly didn't.

However, don't think I'll be reading more by this author. ( )