Whose Life is it Anyway?

by Sinead Moriarty

In her fifth novel, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Sinéad Moriarty has done it again: taken a complex topic - what happens when a young woman falls in love with someone dramatically different than the kind of man her family would have expected - and created an insightful, gripping and moving story filled with delightfully sparky characters, plenty of straight-talking, and all her trademark fun and humour. In balancing of light and shade, pathos and comedy, Sinéad manages to pull off a unique feat - a story that combines the provocative qualities of a Jodi Picoult story with the warmth and humour of Marian Keyes.

It's tricky for Niamh O'Flaherty, growing up in a North London home that's a shrine to all things Irish. But it's even trickier being an adult and realizing that her family expects her to settle down with a nice Irish lad, especially now that she's living in Dublin.

When Niamh finally meets the love of her life he is the last person she would expect to fall for her. Pierre is older and an intellectual, but she loves his ability to laugh at himself, his calmness and strength of character, and, of course, his stunning looks.

There's just one problem: if Pierre's parents - Jean and Fleur - are sniffy about their pride and joy hooking up with a girl who writes a fluffy newspaper column, her parents, Mick and Annie, are going to go ballistic when they hear that their daughter intends to marry someone who couldn't be less Irish if he tried . . .

• ISBN10: 0141042931
• ISBN13: 9780141042930
• Publish Date: 16 April 2009 (first published 26 June 2008)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

Sinead Moriarty’s latest novel, Whose Life Is It Anyway, shies away from regular chick lit and tackles the story of an inter-racial relationship and how it affects an Irish stuck-in-their-ways family.

Niamh meets Pierre in a cafe and they fall in love. The trouble is: not only is Pierre not Irish, he’s also black – which to Niamh’s family is the kiss of death as far as him being a potential husband goes. Can Niamh and Pierre persuade Niamh’s family that they can and will stay together?

I really enjoyed Whose Life Is It Anyway? because it does leave regular chick-lit behind and we delve into the story of an inter-racial relationship and a family whose traditions do not – under any circumstances – change.

It is a family-orientated novel and is written in first person – which I like. We start with an italicized paragraph before coming into chapter one in 1998. The story then alternates between 1985 and 1998 with Niamh’s columns woven before each year.

We learn the background of Niamh’s family and why they live in an Irish community in London and we learn everything they went through during those early, teenage years of Niamh’s. Then we flit back to the present day, 1998, with Niamh & Pierre and all the other characters present.

I’m not sure why Sinead wrote the present year as 1998 because generally most chick lit novels are set in the now but hey, it works for the story and it isn’t a bother.

I loved Niamh’s and Pierre’s relationship and understood her reticence in telling her family about Pierre. The O’Flaherty family have many members, are loud and are very very set in their ways and you can also understand why they want Niamh to settle down with an Irish boy and, as such, keep it in the family (which, by the way, is an alternate title for the book).

I also really enjoyed the flashback parts to Niamh’s childhood regarding her wanting to not be Irish, and wanting to do tap dancing instead of Irish Dancing. We also learn about her sister but I have to admit I knew what was coming – it definitely wasn’t a shock.

I loved how close-knit the family were and loved their interactions with each other. Niamh’s mother and father were great characters and really well written. There were also the dozens of Aunts, Uncles, cousins and co. to keep the story going along nicely.

Not only did Sinead tackle an inter-racial relationship but also alcoholism – I say tackled but it wasn’t tackled, it was more a part of the back story of the O’Flaherty family.

I think my only problem with the book was pronunciation of the names. I have no idea how Nuala and Tadgh are pronounced so I would have loved a list of characters names and their pronunciations. It’s difficult to read a novel when you’re trying figure out the names of the characters, I must say!

Overall I really enjoyed the novel and found it an absorbing read.

Rating: 4/5