Synopses & Reviews
At twenty-nine, fun-loving, good-natured Claire has everything she ever wanted: a husband she adores, a great apartment, a good job. Then, on the day she gives birth to her first baby, James visits her in the recovery room to inform her that he's leaving her. And he hasn't even had the decency to leave her for someone glamorous; just the frumpy woman who lives in the apartment downstairs...
Claire is left with a beautiful newborn daughter, a broken heart, and a body that she can hardly bear to look at in the mirror. Until quite recently especially when wearing a green maternity jumper that was the only thing left that fit her--she felt she bore an uncomfortable resemblance to a popular summer fruit.)
So, in the absence of any better offers, Claire decides to go home to her family in Dublin. To her gorgeous man-eating sister Helen, her soap-watching mother, her bewildered father. And there, sheltered by the love of an (albeit quirky) family, she gets better.
A lot better.
In fact, so much better that when James slithers back into her life, he's in for a bit of a surprise.
In this very funny, very fresh, very wise novel, Marian Keyes delivers an unforgettable debut--and a heroine so irresistible that she feels like a new best friend.
Synopsis
Twenty-seven and the miserable owner of size eight feet, Rachel Walsh enjoys two naughty habits: a lover who likes his leather pants tight, and a fondness for recreational drugs. But as Rachel learns, what goes up must come down. First she loses her job, then her lover, and then finds herself being marched off to the Cloisters, Dublin's answer to the Betty Ford Clinic. Outraged -- surely she's not thin enough to be an addict! -- it suddenly dawns on Rachel that it's about time she had a vacation, and where better than a place crammed with jacuzzis, gyms, and rock stars going tepid turkey? What she gets instead, however, are middle-aged men in sweaters and enough group therapy to drive her to distraction, until she meets Chris. A man with a past, will he be her salvation -- or more trouble than Rachel's ever known? Engaging and wickedly funny, Rachel's Holiday is a powerful novel of love and discovery.
About the Author
Marian Keyes is the author of ten bestselling novels and two essay collections. She lives in Ireland with her husband and their two imaginary dogs.