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"Again Rachel" - WITH SPOILERS

29 replies

DoingsSophie · 18/02/2022 17:47

Well it was OK.

Things I liked - Finding out that Anna ended up with Angelo.
Quin
The characters in the Cloisters
Claire and Adam's foray into swinging.

Things I didn't like

The fact she went back to Luke!

OP posts:
lugeforlife · 18/02/2022 23:18

Just finished (how nice to spend 2 nights just reading a book!)

I enjoyed it a lot. Never going to be as enjoyable as the first but better than I expected.

I could have sworn Rachel had a little boy in one of the other books but obviously wrong. I guessed the baby storyline early but it did still make me tear up.

Quin reminded me of some of the men in her other books if slightly less offensive. Didn't get the appeal.

Loved that she was still friends with Bridgit. I always wanted them to remain close.

Didn't love the Swinger storyline. Seemed a bit odd.

Finally didn't like Helen being pregnant and Anna not having kids. Didn't seem to match their previous character

ChessieFL · 19/02/2022 07:14

I loved it. I don’t think there was much I didn’t like. I loved seeing all the sisters again. I also liked the new set of characters in the cloisters. And I was very glad Rachel ended up with Luke again.

I do agree that Helen wanting a baby doesn’t really fit her character though!

bookworm14 · 19/02/2022 08:21

I could have sworn Rachel had a little boy in one of the other books but obviously wrong. I guessed the baby storyline early but it did still make me tear up.

She did! It was mentioned in ‘Mammy Walsh’s A-Z of the Walsh Family’, which was a mini e-book thing that came out around the same time as The Mystery of Mercy Close. Marian must either have forgotten about it or decided it wasn’t canon!

ChessieFL · 19/02/2022 09:10

I had completely forgotten about that! Just checked and yes, a little boy called Moses. Also, the Mammy Walsh book had Claire’s children in a different order - Kate, then Luka then Francesca was the youngest, but in Again, Rachel Francesca is older than Luka.

Buttercup01 · 19/02/2022 11:18

Ahh this was driving me mad, thought I’d made it up. I even re-download Mammy Walsh book and it wasn’t in there any more! So glad other people remember her having a little boy named Moses, can even remember him being described as having curly hair.

Duvetdweller · 19/02/2022 19:00

I loved it - I can’t criticise it. Even the bits that I didn’t love, a bit like Rachel.

Loopytiles · 19/02/2022 20:58

Enjoyed it a lot!

Glad Luke was still hot! And in love with Rachel.

Quite liked Quin too. Have a friend whose relationship ended over a ‘proposal’ mishap similar to the Quin/Rachel one. When it was v clear that she didn’t want to marry her boyfriend.

Chicklitlove · 20/02/2022 04:57

This was driving me crazy as well. As soon as I opened the book and saw the family tree and it was missing both Luke and a baby boy I remembered called Moses I thought I was going mad. I went through all of my MK timeline relevant Walsh sister titles that i had on my kindle. The only one I didn't have saved in my Kindle even though I read was the A-Z. Thanks so much for confirming!!! Maybe they actually do have another baby? She said she was perimenopausal not menopausal. MK may write anoth Walsh sister or niece book and we find out more. Or....just an oversight!

ChessieFL · 20/02/2022 05:03

They may well have another baby, but the A-Z book said that Moses was 2, and also said that Francesca (Claire’s daughter) was 11. In Again, Rachel Francesca is 17 which would make Moses 8 (although as I said above Marian also got Luka and Francesca the wrong way round compared to the A-Z). Its therefore clearly either an oversight or as a pp said a decision by Marian to ignore the A-Z as non-canon!

Loopytiles · 20/02/2022 07:05

So cheeky of Marian! Author’s prerogative I guess!

I think Rachel would now be too old to have another biological DC. And both she and Luke separately seemed to have decided not to.

Loopytiles · 20/02/2022 07:31

The acknowledgements state that Marian Keyes didn’t do formal research on the addiction storylines because of her personal experience. Not sure I agree with that approach, it seems rather presumptuous . Or perhaps treatments such as those in the service the character now works in are similar for all addictions and haven’t changed much in 20+ years.

I have binge eating problems and think the author wrote powerfully about a character with binge eating disorder in another recent book, but IMO she got some things wrong about recovery. Eg the character’s DH left her when she binged on food a couple of times and this was presented in the narrative as him being sensible. The author seemed to have a black and white view of eating disorder recovery, perhaps likening it to her experience with respect to alcohol. Don’t think relapse with eating disorders is the same.

Flammkuchen · 20/02/2022 09:18

I also loved it. It was like getting together again with an old friend.

ChessieFL · 20/02/2022 09:42

I think Rachel’s meant to be about 47 (although published 25 years after Rachel’s Holiday, I think it’s set 20 years later - I saw an interview where Marian said she deliberately set it pre-covid so she didn’t have to worry about factoring lockdown into the story) so although theoretically possible for her to have another baby it would be unlikely and agree that it was written as if they had implicitly decided not to.

lugeforlife · 20/02/2022 10:06

Oh thank god re the baby! Not just me

guiltynetter · 21/02/2022 01:09

I've just finished it tonight and now I can't get to sleep, all the emotions swirling round! I loved it. I feel relieved because as much as I thought Rachel might go down the 'you can be happy on your own' road I ALWAYS wanted her to get back with Luke. It's made my heart happy. I loved the book.

hopeishere · 22/02/2022 07:58

I enjoyed it. But it was a bit flat. All of the references to fancy clothes grate but I know Marian Keyes loves her clothes and make up!

I liked the different Cloisters stories.

AprilLady · 23/02/2022 08:01

I also enjoyed it very much, and was glad she ended up with Luke again. Didn’t like the Claire/Adam swinger story and felt the resolution to the storyline was a bit unsatisfactory.

@Loopytiles, I actually stopped reading the book about the eating disorder person half way through as it annoyed me so much. (The over-eater in Rachel’s Holiday is the one thing I don’t like about that book either). I think she does assume eating disorders are like other addictions and for me she doesn’t get it right at all. You can’t just quit eating. Those around you are also not affected in the same way as with alcohol and drug addiction. You can be fat and and still have good relationships and a good family life.

Loopytiles · 02/03/2022 06:25

Thank you, Aprillady. I was unsure whether my own ‘stuff’ was affecting how I reacted to the storyline. Think it did, to some extent, but also that the ‘recovery’ part and especially its advocacy of a ‘zero tolerance’ approach from the husband wasn’t well handled/realistic.

Ulysses · 02/03/2022 06:53

I liked the shifting perspective during her relapse and what other people as well as her and Luke had to say about it. I'm not mad on Luke though and wouldn't have minded her ending up on her own. I think I preferred Quin.

I'm a bit dubious about the references to the clothes and labels as well. For really down to earth characters they do live in quite a rarified world when it comes to brands.

HighlandCowbag · 04/03/2022 19:54

I loved it. It wasn't perfect, just like Rachel and all the Walsh family but it gave me such a warm, fuzzy feeling and I was desperate for her to get back with Luke.

I feel sad I've finished it.

lazylittlelucy · 04/03/2022 22:32

I have just read both Rachel books consecutively and loved them. Was really pleased with the ending of Again, Rachel and was glad that she ended up with Luke. Was not so keen on the Quin character. Wasn't too keen on Claire either - my least favourite of the Walsh family.
Going to revisit Last Chance Saloon next

HeyGirlHeyBoy · 06/03/2022 11:45

Loved Last Chance Saloon. Remember laughing out loud! Really enjoyed Again, Rachel and would have been incredibly disappointed if she hadn't ended up with Luke.

LondonReturner · 13/03/2022 16:00

@AprilLady

I also enjoyed it very much, and was glad she ended up with Luke again. Didn’t like the Claire/Adam swinger story and felt the resolution to the storyline was a bit unsatisfactory.

@Loopytiles, I actually stopped reading the book about the eating disorder person half way through as it annoyed me so much. (The over-eater in Rachel’s Holiday is the one thing I don’t like about that book either). I think she does assume eating disorders are like other addictions and for me she doesn’t get it right at all. You can’t just quit eating. Those around you are also not affected in the same way as with alcohol and drug addiction. You can be fat and and still have good relationships and a good family life.

Which Marian Keyes book is about a character with a binge-eating disorder? I thought I'd read all the novels (though not the A-Z so didn't suffer the continuity shock of the missing son!).

Liked most things about Again, Rachel, but it was just wrong and inconsistent that the deliciously sociopathic Helen would suddenly want to have a baby. It was so obviously a plot device whereby Rachel's trauma would ramp right up when Helen started spotting, bringing Luke home to her for their grand reunion. It annoys me when authors get their characters wrong for lazy plot reasons and MK doesn't often do it.

ChessieFL · 13/03/2022 17:57

@LondonReturner it’s Grown Ups - Cara has an eating disorder.

LondonReturner · 13/03/2022 19:48

@ChessieFL - Ah, thank you. I have read it, but only once and I can't remember much about it. Will revisit.

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