Product Description

Julie and Ronan are the perfect married couple: with two incomes, and both personal and professional success, theirs is a lifestyle to envy. That is, until the day Julie comes home unexpectedly early from a week away to find a yellow wonderbra hanging from the doorknob. It seems that in the age-old style it has all gone terribly wrong - Ronan is having an affair. Fuelled by anger, despair and whiskey, Julie embarks on a campaign of detection. Revenge may not be sweet, but it is most definitely worth it . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #887738 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

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
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 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

About the Author
Brian Gallagher was born in Stockholm, Sweden and lived all over Europe as a child, learning several languages. He studied Law and Philosophy at University College, Dublin, earning money by busking with a clarinet all over Europe. Trained as a barrister in The Four Courts, Dublin, Brian Gallagher is now a full-time writer, with ongoing involvement in film and music. He lives in Dublin.

Customer Reviews

Unputdownable!!
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!
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.

Well thought out.
This was one of those books that I found very difficult to put down. It provided me with a very enjoyable read and many laughs! I'd recommend it to all those females who have been ratted on by males.