I remember my first novel by Marian Keyes: Rachel’s Holiday. I remember where I bought it: a smallish bookstore in Pinamar or Cariló (my geographic memory is bad), on what I think was a rainy summer day. I remember I saw the cover and the title, thought to myself that it sounded like a fun summer read (it said Holiday in the title!), and saw that it was quite a good length.
I don’t remember many things, but this, over a good fifteen years ago, is set in my mind.
If you’ve read anything by Marian Keyes, you’ll know that “beach sunny read” isn’t really her thing, and it was exactly what I needed. Something that challenged my understanding of what novels that featured female characters could be. Yes, they could be about something deeper, something more real, and still make me laugh.
So, Marian surprised me with Rachel and her family, with portrayals of struggles and defeats and love and loss and hope.
When we returned from our holidays, I went straight to Kel (English bookstore in Buenos Aires) and got Watermelon, Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married, and… the rest is history.
Now I get Marian’s books without reading the blurb because I know that, whatever or whoever the story is about, I’ll be enraptured.
Each book of Marian’s presents different characters who face different issues, and even when it’s the same one (e.g. alcoholism), the individuality of each character and their surroundings make them all unique experiences, just like in real life.
In novels where various perspectives are depicted, like This Charming Man, there are distinct voices and personalities that develop and grow (some more than others, understandably so), and it never feels like too much.
The Walsh family’s interactions read true through the six novels (and e-book), and as time passes and the characters grow and change, in their essence, they stay true to themselves. This was especially clear when I read Again, Rachel, and when I finished it I wanted to reread all the Walsh sisters’ novels.
Marian’s characters are as real as fictional characters can be, and while there is a comfort of a happy ending—something with different meaning in different stories—it is everything about them that has made me a fan.
I also appreciate Marian’s honesty and openness about her personal struggles, and I thoroughly enjoy reading interviews and anything she has to say or write, really.
I randomly think about Mammy Walsh’s reactions to Luke and laugh.