The Woman Who Stole My Life

By: Marian Keyes

Narrated by: Aoife McMahon

Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

One day, sitting in traffic, Stella Sweeney attempts a good deed. The resulting car crash changes her life.

But in this event is born the seed of something which will take Stella thousands of miles from her old life, turning an ordinary woman into a superstar, wrenching her whole family apart. For the first time real, honest-to-goodness happiness is just within her reach.

But is Stella Sweeney, Dublin housewife, ready to grasp it?

©2013 Marian Keyes (P)2014 W F Howes Ltd

Critic Reviews

Praise for the author: "When it comes to writing page-turners that put a smile on your face and make you think, Keyes is in a class of her own." ( Daily Express)

"Chatty and warmhearted, Keyes's talent is to tell it how it is." ( Independent)

Enjoyable book

Really enjoyed the book and the narration. Good storyline and the narrator did the voices really well. Highly recommend it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Stella a bit irritating

I enjoyed the beginning and the endinf but the middle dragged on. Felt the heroine was without a backbone.

Some amusing parts redeemed the book.

Steer clear

Didn't like a single character. Very predictable and full of cliches. Not like Marian Keyes' usual style at all.

Great narration story didn’t hold my attention

I enjoyed the narration but the story wasn’t as funny as other Keyes books.
I didn’t like the main character.

Not Her best

I generally love Marian Keyes but this was a bit disappointing. It was slow and predictable and had a few plot holes.

I couldn't finish. Gave up after about 5 hours.

What disappointed you about The Woman Who Stole My Life?

It Just didn't go anywhere. I felt like I was on a loop going round and round.

What was most disappointing about Marian Keyes’s story?

So much back and forth but nothing actually happened. A lot of blah,blah,blah.

What aspect of Aoife McMahon’s performance would you have changed?

Her performance was adequate and not my reason for disliking the book. I just had to get accustomed to her Irish accent which was pleasant. I did not like the way she did male voices. It made them all sound like dim witted thugs.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Not really.

Any additional comments?

I read many Keyes books about 10 years ago. I loved Watermelon, Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married and Last Chance Saloon, but I don't see myself reading another one in the future.

Loved It

If you could sum up The Woman Who Stole My Life in three words, what would they be?

Fun, engaging and entertaining

What other book might you compare The Woman Who Stole My Life to and why?

I can only compare to other Marian Keyes books. I have enjoyed listening to all of them.

Have you listened to any of Aoife McMahon’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Have not listened to any of her narrations,

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed a lot.

it was ok...

I loved the first half of this book and thought i made a great choice. It was funny and engaging, and it had depth. But as the story progressed it seemed to get more shallow and predictable. It was very well read throughout.
I am not sure if I would try another one of Marian Keyes- maybe.

Love it. Classic Marian ☺️

Another fantastic story full of loveable characters and humour. A fun listen and a definite hit for Marian devotees and those just discovering her greatness!!

The Woman who stole my life

Any additional comments?

This was a great book. It was wonderful to listen a Marian Keyes book again, it has been ages. The narration was excellent, I have listened to her a few times now and always enjoy her.
The story had me hooked from the beginning and I enjoyed every minute of it.

A good lark of a story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes I would too those of my friends who like a good girlie read

What did you like best about this story?

The main character

What about Aoife McMahon’s performance did you like?

Perfect voice for this story. Would listen to another that she reads

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me laugh

Any additional comments?

As all good books should it made me care about what happened to the main characters

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Not One Of Her Best

The story line went from the butterfly in the bell jar to 50 shades of grey then turned into the TV series episodes. It was funny but did not pack the punch in regard to story line

11 of 12 people found this review helpful

Great first half...

The story line and format at the beginning of the book is breath taking. I couldn't let it go! But as the plot progress in starting to thin out. I found myself forcing throughput the last few hours. What kept me going was the brilliant narrator!! I almost felt that I stop I will miss a great performance.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Overlong and underedited.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No, I'm afraid not. My other comments will explain why,

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The basic story was intriguing. The structure was clever, leading me to persevere because I wanted to know how the story had arrived at the scenario at the beginning. But it was twice as long as it needed to be. There was far too much detailed narrative, so that it became tedious. The worst parts were the repeated and utterly superfluous detailed sex scenes. Sometimes less is more.

What does Aoife McMahon bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

She is a good narrator, with nice pace and an ability to distinguish between different characters without resorting to silly voices. I think I would have give up if she hadn't been so pleasant to listen to.

Did The Woman Who Stole My Life inspire you to do anything?

Not to read anything else by this author!

Any additional comments?

Sorry if this sounds very negative; for the first few hours I quite enjoyed the book, and I am sure lots of people will not share my opinion. I could not give it fewer than three stars, but that is largely because of an interesting idea and good narration.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Confusing beginning, disappointing end

Apparently this is not one of the Author's best works. I found the protagonist to be irritating, constantly jumping to conclusions or being a doormat to her horrible family. The first few chapters, switching between her time in hospital and the current moment, were not clear due to the lack of titles to the chapters, this could of been alright in a print format but was a nightmare in audiobook format.

Without giving too much away the middle section of the book was the most enjoyable, The ending was full of Stella jumping to conclusions and making rash decisions. I might be naive thinking that people don't behave like that but it certainly didn't seem realistic.
Not to mention the irresponsible dog ownership...

I did finish it but probably won't be trying any more by the author. The narrator was fine, her American accents were a bit off (but doubtless better than mine!) but overall it was a good performance.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Fantastic book

Amazing story line, really disturbing, heard interview with author on Woman's Hour so thought i would give it a try
Very glad i did and was walking around shouting for someone to help her I got so engrossed
Not my normal type of book but a very good change

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Big Disappointment

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A stronger story line

Has The Woman Who Stole My Life put you off other books in this genre?

No. First book from this author I haven't enjoyed

What three words best describe Aoife McMahon’s voice?

Pleasant Irish lilt

What character would you cut from The Woman Who Stole My Life?

Georgie

Any additional comments?

Not the best listening experience. Weak story line which found boring. Relieved as much as the author I think to get to ending which I felt to be a contrived cheesy lets all be happy -unrealistic.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Seemed promising

There’s an interesting idea behind this book. But I don’t think it was what I was expecting.
I couldn’t connect with any of the characters in this book... they were or too rude/aggressive or totally pushovers...
I like the narration very much! She was really good... but the story ... not so much

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good, but...

Got a bit slow during the third quarter-ish. Thoroughly enjoyable first half and end though.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

The Woman Who Stole My Life

What did you like best about The Woman Who Stole My Life? What did you like least?

I liked the intrinsic love story and the tale of Stella's rise and fall. The thing I liked least was the way that almost everybody treated Stella with contempt, especially her appalling (ex) husband Ryan and her precious spoilt son, Jeffrey. Actually, most people seemed to put her down and blame her personally for getting ill - what on earth?

Would you recommend The Woman Who Stole My Life to your friends? Why or why not?

If they were previous fans of Marian Keyes then I'd say that it's not one of her best efforts. Due to the sheer amount of slightly 50 Shades of Greyesque kinky sex scenes then I'd advise against gifting it to a relative or playing the audiobook out loud in the house if there are children in the vicinity.

Have you listened to any of Aoife McMahon’s other performances? How does this one compare?

I don't think I have, but I've bought another Marian Keyes title from Audible which may or may not feature Aoife McMahon. She has an excellent way of bringing all of the different characters to life.

Could you see The Woman Who Stole My Life being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

Probably in a soapy romcommy way. To play Stella I'd plump for Rosamund Pike (assuming that she can do a convincing Irish accent) and perhaps a cleaned up Colin Farrell for Mannox?

Any additional comments?

I think that it was rather long and could have been edited by 100 pages or so.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful