I can’t really say whether I liked this book or not. Strange format, odd characters, not sure I was rooting for anybody really. Was the dreamy man dreamy at all? TBD (or, more accurately since the book is done, I may never know but I lean toward not so much). Odd mix of sort of traditional writing and open door romance, as if the book wasn’t sure what it wanted to be either. But I did listen all the way to the end and I did want to know what was going to happen. So. Go for it maybe?

Stella Sweeney has an average, ordinary life. Recently turned 40, married - if not happily, at least comfortably - with two teenage children and a job working with her sister as a beautician. But when a sudden illness strikes, it marks the start in a chain of events that will dramatically change every aspect of her life. She will go from being somebody average and ordinary to being somebody whose life is not ordinary at all.

When the book opens we learn that Stella is down on her luck, back in Dublin after time in New York and trying to piece herself back together. Then we go back two years, to her life before, and gradually the story of what happened between then and now will be revealed. Marian Keye's trademark style of weaving between the serious and the laugh out loud works well, and Stella's humour is particularly enjoyable as she narrates the story of her illness (which is revealed as excerpts of the book that she later wrote about it).

I really liked the first half of the book, especially as there is some sense of mystery about what is going to happen and what the book's title will relate to. Somewhere around the halfway mark it starts to become apparent how things will unfold and the pace really needed to speed up at this point - which is doesn't, in fact it does quite the opposite. (Until the ending, which is very quick). The lively, humourous book starts to become a slow, predictable story and the engaging Stella starts to become a bit of a whiner. I'd give the first half of the book four stars, but only two stars for the second half - hence averaging out at three.

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC for review.

An easy to read book that is perfect for a lazy weekend or holiday.

This book sucks. All of the characters are terribly written, it's FAR too long, the zigzag timeline structure was just messy and throughout the entire time I was reading this I wanted to kill her son. I'm not sure I've ever read a character as absolutely fucking shit as him and Stella has no bloody backbone and doesn't respect herself enough to say anything back to anyone- truly this is just her being bullied by everyone and her being grateful about it. I can't.

Marian Keyes is my go-to author for a solidly satisfying escapist read. And with The Woman Who Stole My Life, she did not disappoint. I spent one cold, rainy and windy day curled up on the sofa, entirely content to get nothing done. Keyes writes well, with a breezy style and an ear for dialogue. Her books are more substantive than the typical chick-lit novel, but her real talent is for creating engaging characters, from the protagonist to the most tertiary of characters.

The Woman Who Stole My Life was both fun and satisfying. Stella Sweeny has always done what's expected of her, content to let her self-absorbed husband and driven, outgoing sister hog the spotlight. She works hard, cares for her family and keeps the household running, content to allow those around her dictate the shape of her life. And then things come crashing down around her and she's forced to make decisions for herself.

This isn't great literature, or even award-nominated literature. Instead, it's that rarer thing - a novel to read for the pure pleasure of it, without being annoyed by an unlikely plot, cardboard characters or poor writing. I was neither challenged nor educated, but I was entertained.

Stella Sweeney seems to have reached her mid-point in life and although she does not think she is going through a mid-life crisis, she is convinced that everything is happening because of something else that has already happened. Karma or coincidence?

Her two children are growing up and away from her, her daughter believes she is in love and her son is a world away from a typical teenage boy, her husband works constantly and she has nothing more in her life, other than trying to fight with the amount of Jaffa cakes that she eats.

Then illness strikes.

Illness that takes a long time to recover from.

During that recovery, although Stella communicates she has no idea that someone is keeping a note of what she is saying.

It is these notes that become Stella's life once she has recovered.

She now begins another life in New York.

Marian Keyes weaves two strands of this story and we know Stella is back in Dublin so how did she end up in New York and why? By reading on we find out.

This is a very different from Keyes novels and deals first of all with a medical condition that I knew very little about and at times seemed so frightening that I wanted to cry in frustration with Stella. Somehow through it all Keyes injects in Stella her well-known Irish warmth and wit which is what makes her books so popular.

I am sure the tongue in cheek dig at the world of publishing in American as opposed to Ireland may well come from some sort of personal experience, but it made me realise what a hard slog and sometimes futile existence that authors have when they are promoting their work. I found the whole false identity very amusing but it does make you stop and think who we are? And what sort of life do we really want? And most importantly, only we can decide no one else can, they can only influence for their own benefit. Stella finds this out more than once.

I think this book is going to divide Marian Keyes fans and no doubt the critics will sink their teeth into it somehow - but I think it is a refreshing change for an author not to conform with what is expected and accepted as their normal output and try something different.

A good read, if slightly longer than it needed to be.

Well written, although some of the characters were a bit too simple. I understand that they were a part of the comical aspect of this book, but it didn't work for me.
Overall, it was entertaining.