My most humungous apologies for the delay in posting this, the year of 2021 is having a lot of fun with me, in a health perspective, and causing no ends of trouble. My heartfelt thanks to the wonderful Chloe at FMCM Associates, who invited me to join in the 25th anniversary celebrations of the first publication, of the incredible ‘Rachel’s Holiday’, the second in the Walsh family novels by Marian Keyes.
First of all, I would like a recount on just how many years it has been, I have to admit to being completely shaken by the fact that the first, much read copy of this novel, landed in my lap courtesy of Cosmopolitan magazine all those years ago.
I was not really a grownup, I was newly a mother, and not in a great way, so that bright pink cover shining through the plastic wrapping was a beacon of light.
This is what the book is about…
Here’s Rachel Walsh, twenty-seven and the miserable owner of size 8 feet. She has regular congress with Luke Costello, a man who wears his leather trousers tight. And she’s fond – some might say too fond – of recreational drugs. Until she finds herself being frogmarched to the Cloisters – Dublin’s answer to the Betty Ford Clinic. She’s outraged. Surely she’s not thin enough to be an addict? Heartsick and Luke-sick, she seeks redemption in the shape of Chris, a Man with a Past. A man who might be more trouble than he’s worth.
Rachel is the second Walsh sister to feature in a novel of her own, the first being the story of her sister, Claire, in 1997’s ‘Watermelon’.
She tells the story of her life in such a brilliant way, in that in acknowledges the pressures women , particularly in Ireland, were under at those times. They were supposed to go toe to toe with men in regards to careers, drinking, dating, sex and drugs. They were the days of the ladettes, the girls who were young, single, and fulfilled.
Or, did they replace the societal expectation of school, marriage then kids with school, uni, unsuitable boyfriends and bad habits?
The life she has left, the family home where she felt suffocated by the wants and needs of those around her is the place she needs to return to to find herself.
The way that Marian carries you through the life that Rachel has, the parties, the rock star boyfriend, the high old
time she is having, then baits and switches you with the growing realisation that Rachel’s lifestyle is killing her, is so raw and powerful it tears at your heartstrings.
You feel that you are on Rachel’s side, and by the time you realise that this is a woman in need of help, someone who is very poorly indeed, you realise the insidious, creeping nature of addiction. And that what you are passing off as a jet set lifestyle is actually trying to keep up with people who completely abandon you when you are no longer that person who is the life and soul of every party.
By packaging her stint in rehab as a holiday, not only does she not have to face the truth, but it also neatly encapsulates her mind set at the time that she enters Cloisters. It is a fearless novel that dives deeply into what it means to be a young woman on the edge of finding herself. It also has such hilarity poured through it that can only come from a family that know each other so well, that are so woven into the fabric of what became known as chick lit, that I think you would be hard pressed to find a reader who does not know who, or what Marian Keyes’ Walsh family stories are to modern literature.
She has been the figurehead of a brilliant genre , given it a royal kick up the arse as well as setting standards for those who came after her. If you follow her on Twitter, you will see a woman who lives her life unapologetically, she loves what she loves with a fierce and abiding passion. She has no hesitation in bringing her millions of readers’ attention to new novels, new writers, and new causes, and is endlessly passionate about the world of books. She is enthusiasm diluted down into 140 characters, that then explode into your mind when you read her tweets.
She is a much loved author for a very good reason. This novel speaks to you. It takes you on a journey. It brings you into the Walsh family circle and makes you feel like a long lost cousin. It makes you want to grab a Magnum from the freezer and read all of her novels, again, in order. Or maybe out of order. Depends on where the feeling takes you, I think most of Marian’s readers probably have a favourite Walsh sister , and maybe, because it was my first, this one is mine.
The brand spanking new 25th anniversary edition is available pretty much everywhere-you cannot miss it’s shocking pink cover-so now is an excellent time to ask for it to be popped into your stocking.
It comes with a plethora of insights from all sorts of people who have read it, loved it, and read it again.
And we want you to pick up a copy for yourself because honestly, it is a pure belter of a novel.
And reading just how much it still means to people, all this time later, is a thing of pure joy.
Because, in 2022, Rachel returns in ‘Again, Rachel’…
About the author…
Marian Keyes (born 10 September 1963) is an Irish novelist and non-fiction writer, best known for her work in women’s literature. She is an Irish Book Awards winner.
Over 22 million copies of her novels have been sold worldwide and her books have been translated into 32 languages.
Marian Keyes is the international bestselling author of ‘Watermelon’, ‘Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married’, ‘Rachel’s Holiday’, ‘Last Chance Saloon’, ‘Sushi For Beginners’, ‘Angels’, ‘The Other Side Of The Story’, ‘Anybody Out There?’, ‘This Charming Man’, ‘The Brightest Star In The Sky’, ‘The Mystery Of Mercy Close’, ‘The Woman Who Stole My Life’, ‘The Break’ and her latest Number One bestseller, ‘Grown Ups’.
Her two collections of journalism, ‘Making It Up As I Go Along ‘ and ‘Under the Duvet-the Deluxe Edition’ are also available from Penguin.
Links-http://www.mariankeyes.com/
Twitter @MarianKeyes @PenguinUKBooks @FMcMAssociates
Author
bridgeman.lenny@gmail.com