Keyes fans will already be familiar with the five Walsh sisters, three of whom have already starred in their own novels.  This time fourth daughter Anna is in the spotlight.  We first encounter the former bohemian, who is now a hip cosmetics public relations expert, as she is recovering at her parents’ Dublin home.  Recovering from what is not immediately clear, but it’s obvious that she has had a terrible accident that left her in severe emotional and physical pain.  Anna wants to return to her fabulous job and her loving husband Aidan back in New York City, but for some reason her Mum and sisters discourage her from leaving.  So Anna drifts through the days in a painkiller-induced fog, wondering why Aidan isn’t returning her calls and e-mails.  Meanwhile youngest Walsh sister Helen tries to enlist Anna’s assistance in her fledgling private investigator business and Anna’s Mum wonders about the mysterious elderly woman who seems to be forcing her dog to do his business on the Walshes’ front lawn.   

Anna finally regains enough of her strength to return to New York, where friends and coworkers treat her strangely and gingerly.  She faces intense pressure at work to develop new marketing campaign ideas, and Anna’s best friend Jacqui has her usual man troubles, but Anna finds it impossible to focus on anything except her search for Aidan.  Flashbacks reveal the couple’s quick, intense courtship, and as the truth finally starts to push through Anna’s denial it becomes obvious that she has to confront the biggest challenge of her life.   

This is a difficult book to review without dropping plot spoilers, although astute readers will understand what has happened to Anna and Aidan long before it’s openly stated.  I’ll just say that Keyes proves herself to be a master of emotional honesty, and that Anna’s troubled thoughts are so spot-on that I couldn’t look at my loved ones without becoming extremely emotional for days.  Her evolution from denial and numbness to anger, pain and recovery are described in perfect detail and the first person narrative provides a sense of unflinching intimacy with the reader.   

But despite the novel’s heavy subject, it’s not a depressing read, thanks to interesting subplots, memorable secondary characters and Keyes’ trademark wry humor.  Readers of her essay collection, Under the Duvet, already know that the author’s idea of paradise is free makeup samples, and her heroine is fortunate enough to have a job that provides an unlimited supply of this treasure.  Keyes’ incisive look at the profession clearly demonstrates that it’s also a cut-throat world in which you’re only as good as your latest pitch, and Anna has to muster every shred of her creativity to get ahead.   

Keyes excels at creating fascinating secondary characters, and readers are treated to glimpses of the already infamous Walsh girls: Claire from Watermelon, Rachel from the aforementioned Rachel’s Holiday and Maggie from Angels.  No novel about the family would be complete without the absolutely bonkers Mrs. Walsh, who manages to be annoying, outrageous, prim, selfish and deeply caring all at once.  Fearless and allegedly heartless youngest sister Helen features prominently in the plot, leaving the door open for what will surely be a memorable starring role in a future story.  The e-mails she sends Anna about her adventures as a PI provide welcome comic relief.  Perhaps Keyes added Helen’s zany subplot to please her loyal long-time fans of earlier madcap novels.  But surprisingly even Anna’s somber story of loss has its share of humorous moments.   

More than any author I can name, Keyes knows how to capture the giddy closeness of two people in love.  The story Anna relates about the unique way that Aidan dealt with her hypochondria is typical in that it combines inside jokes, tenderness and affection.  True love, laughter and tears…by the end of the book your tissue supply may be dangerously low, but you will also be comforted with the assurance that Anna is on her way to finding happiness.   

It would appear, sadly, that Keyes has only one more Walsh sister to profile, but Is Anybody Out There includes a scene at a family wedding that introduces the reader to several young females of the next Walsh generation.  Perhaps the supply isn’t running dangerously low after all.   

--Susan Scribner