Marion Keyes - always so misogynistic?

I doubt anyone affected by addiction, either personally or through a loved one, would call Rachel's Holiday "frivolous froth".

The (male) reviewer hadn’t bothered their arse to review it, and had written it off as ‘frivolous froth’ based on nothing more than the title.

I doubt anyone affected by addiction, either personally or through a loved one, would call Rachel's Holiday "frivolous froth".

Also, thank god Marian Keyes is no Kate Atkinson. We already have a Kate Atkinson, she's called Kate Atkinson! Who would it benefit for Marian Keyes to write more like Kate? Not people like me affected by issues that Marian deals with so perfectly.

Surely any healthy culture or library contains a multitude of voices from many backgrounds and experiences.

@TreePoser I found your post moving, well done you and I hope you're doing well now. Thank god for books for helping us get through hard times!

Grown ups is the only one of her books I didn't finish.

the rest have usually had me in tears by the end. If grown ups is the only one you have tried try another.

When i left my x at 37 with two dc under 3vqnd not a proverbial pot to piss in, Rachel's Holiday was such a comforting book. The idea of making a total mess of things and then starting again with nothing, as an adult not a young adult, it really resonated. But she made me feel that even though i was behind the start line at 37, that authenticity self compassion and wisdom would be enough. They were all i had at the time so i needed that.

I absolutely love Marian Keyes

But I really didn't like Grown ups, just awful. and awful, unlikeable characters. When that drippy woman kept calling her kids "the bunnies" oh my god honestly even typing that gives me slight rage

My favourite one is the Brightest Star in the Sky, just magical

There was once a book reviewer who described Rachel’s Holiday as “frivolous froth”. 😂

I’m not a fan of her writing (though the reveal of the unreliable narrator in Rachel’s Holiday is masterful) or her public persona, but, quite apart from her writing, she’s been frank about her own alcoholism, rehab, disabling clinical depression, sadness at her childlessness etc — I don’t think she’s a banal national treasure who oozes sweetness by any means.

I think Marian Keyes writing is desperately over rated although she herself is likeable. She seemed to become a very ardent feminist during the recent abortion referendum.

I am not sure why her writing is held in such higher esteem than other similar female writers but for some reason criticising her at all seems to equate you with being anti female authors. I read lots of female authors and she’s no Kate Atkinson - I went back and tried Grown Ups and it was woeful.

However OP she doesn’t hate women and seems a terribly nice person.

Marion Keyes is a misogynist??!!

Surely we have now reached the unbeatable pinnacle of the misappropriation of misogyny which now unfortunately renders it pointless in all contexts?

Marion Keyes writes women and their experience with such understanding, honesty, love, and humour in a way that only maybe Jane Austen dedicated herself to.

I avoided her for years as I thought she was chick lit, she should be held in much higher literary esteem than she is. The subtleties and empathy with flawed characters is superb.
(And yes women are flawed because we're people.)

Do you really want books with perfect women, or people?
I love the comment above: have you read a book before? 😁

I’ve never read any Marian Keyes but her shows on radio 4 are a delight:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09zgv36/episodes/downloads

Must say I has assumed she was lowest common denominator chick lit but I think I need to give her books a try.

I don't think so

Agreed on all fronts @JaninaDuszejko - I guess marketing her as 'chick lit' may have helped her reach a bigger audience (and thus boosted profits) but I bet she would have received greater critical interest if she'd been writing as Mario Keyes!

There was a very good depiction of an emotionally abusive relationship in that book. The sort of relationship that slowly saps the life out of you.

Anyone else wanting to go and read some more Marian Keyes now? I always think Marian Keyes is a victim of misogyny actually, her writing occupies a similar space to Roddy Doyle but he was shortlisted for the Booker for The Van and won it with Paddy Clark Ha, Ha, Ha whereas she has been nominated for no major awards despite writing incredibly popular books.

She is a bit irritating though isn’t she? That faux humble act on Twitter. And yes I know she’s a national treasure but also a bit too sweet to be wholesome.

Just finished "Again Rachel" and I am in bits, genuinely feeling very very emotional. Marion keyes is a goddess.

I re-read Sushi For Beginners when my DC were about the same age as Clodagh's. When I was young I thought she was just a spoiled selfish cow, and to an extent she is, but I was far better able to sympathise with the crushing, soul destroying boredom of being stuck at home with small children. Brilliant bit of character writing.

My all time favourite is Watermelon. And Lucy Sullivan is getting married (old school!) - haven’t reread either of those in a long time, going to track them down and read them again actually.

I bloody love Marian Keyes! She’s a strong feminist writer, keep reading.

Lisa is only passive in bed with Oliver, she says so in the book. She's very dominant with the male model with the mascara.

I adore Marian Keyes. And she’s very good at unreliable narrators.

Last Chance Saloon was published in 1999. It's very of its time but no way is it misogynistic! The whole point of Tara's boyfriend is that he's hideous.

Interesting so many people like This Charming Man. I love Marian Keyes, I've read them all and I've reread the Walsh sisters books more times that I can remember. The Other Side of the Story is also a huge favourite of mine. But I absolutely hated This Charming Man!

I think you can go straight in to Again, Rachel. You'll have enough of the bare bones of the previous book for it to make sense.

Yes, I think you really really need to read the whole book - one of the things that makes her so wonderful to read is that she writes from the perspective of the character so well that it can be hard to spot the reality. Like a PP I didn't even realise Rachel was a drug addict until WAAAAAY into the book.

On that note, I've been putting off reading Again Rachel as I can't remember the details or Rachel's holiday. Do I need to re-read it or can I just go straight into Again Rachel?

The book descriptions mostly look like relationship rubbish. I love her vlog though.