The Feng Shui Junkie: Amazon.co.uk: Brian Gallagher: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

Julie Fitzgerald is a 20-something Dubliner, "a venerated legal professional in a power suit, with an MGF 1.8i convertible", a very nice apartment and a dentist husband named Ronan. But something's not quite right. When she declares she wants a baby, Ronan caringly packs her off to a health farm with her best friend Sylvana. But Julie returns early, unexpectedly, and finds Ronan lounging by their pool with an unknown blonde, whose lemon yellow Wonderbra (36D) is hanging from the inside knob of their hall door. "There is", as she notes, "a trollope in the air".

Rather than confronting the adulterous pair however (far too easy) Julie embarks on a brilliant campaign of destruction--smashing Ronan's porsche, moving in her mother, liberating Nicole (the blonde)'s fish and overturning her feng-shui-ful place, before--the final insult--"befriending" her. In fact Julie becomes, in her words, "A destroyer. An anarchist. A hooligan. An Antichrist. A savage. An ogre. A Goth. A hag. A terrorist, actually. And it's giving me this warm, happy glow inside."

As it will you. There's nothing quite as fulfilling as self-righteous destruction and Julie's commentary carries us through her emotional undulations with devastating comic timing. The Feng-Shui Junkie should be a whopping big hit, carried by the distinctive new voice of its female narrator. That female voice actually belongs to a man, barrister-turned-writer Brian Gallagher, and the plot's motivation, Julie's ticking biological clock, could be construed as ever-so-slightly gender stereotyping. But there's no doubting that this is a brilliantly sustained, massively confident, wonderfully readable debut and that readers will look forward to hearing from Gallagher again. --Alan Stewart

Amazon.co.uk Review

As it will you. There's nothing quite as fulfilling as self-righteous destruction and Julie's commentary carries us through her emotional undulations with devastating comic timing. The Feng-Shui Junkieshould be a whopping big hit, carried by the distinctive new voice of it's female narrator. That female voice actually belongs to a man, barrister-turned-writer Brian Gallagher, and the plot's motivation, Julie's ticking biological clock, could be construed as ever-so-slightly gender stereotyping. But there's no doubting that this is a brilliantly-sustained, massively confident, wonderfully readable debut and that readers will look forward to hearing from Gallagher again. --Alan Stewart --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

A Must Read, if you only every read one book in your life 6 May 2012

By D. Bent

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a Stephen King fan this book was way out there for me, to be honest is was a grey miserbable day when I saw this bright yellow book for sale, having read the back cover and feeling a small smile glance across my face I opened the front cover. I was still unaware that this had been written by man.

As I stepped into the first page I had no idea I was about to add a "chick lit" to my all time favourite reads.

Laugh, that is a total understatement and every time the hilarious retribution had me falling around like a cadbury smash robot my mind would pop up with the reminder, hey a bloke wrote this, poor guy must have suffered at the hand of a woman scorned, the intimate knowledge of how us women tick had to come from first hand experience.

Maybe this book should be released as a handbook for slighted women everywhere, if not then just buy it, read it, laugh and throughly enjoy every page turning moment.

I have bought this book over and over again as I keep lending it to everyone, it's the prefect holiday read, brilliant rainy day read, and even an uplifting gift for a mate who is down on her luck in the love life department.

If you don't believe me,buy it, read it and then correct me if you have not laughed out loud.

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Unputdownable!! 4 Jan 2003

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I received the book as a Christmas present from a friend who thought the synopsis was hilarious.

The book didn't disappoint, I couldn't put it down so much so that I read it within the space of one day.

Yes you feel for Julie and can visualise her pain and emotion. Yes you cringe at some of her actions.
Yes you hate Nicole and then begin to empathise with her.
Yes you're amazed (yet not surprised) at Ronan's betrayal.

And Yes you can't wait to reach the end of the book and find out what happens...

Can't wait to read the next book, hope it's as enthralling and exciting as the first.

And as for the friend that bought this for me, thanks mate, one of the best presents I got this year!!

A good debut novel but maybe not for animal lovers! 23 May 2001

I picked this up at the airport for a holiday read purely because the cover caught my eye. It's an enjoyable read, made all the more so having been written by a man. Good insight! Very laugh out loud funny in parts too and Julie isn't a completely likeable character, she has her flaws just like the rest of us. Found myself egging her on more and more in the pursuit of revenge and the pasta sauce scene was hilarious! The relationship Julie has with her Mum and best friend is totally believable too. The suspense leading up to Julie finally confronting her husband and the 'trollop' is the backbone of the novel, but I did find the long-awaited showdown a bit of a let-down. That aside, it's well worth a read. I'll definitely buy Gallagher's 2nd novel.