Grown Ups: British Book Awards Author of the Year 2022

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Funny and moving, with an acute eye for family foibles * Ian Rankin, bestselling author of the John Rebus thrillers * It is charming, funny and poignant. But also profound, heartbreaking. If you already love Marian, this is her best yet. If you haven't read her, this is the one Nina Stibbe Marian Keyes's gift for storytelling is utterly magnificent. I feel like I've met every single character in this book. I may even be a character in this book. Nobody nails chaotic families like Marian Liz Nugent

Grown Ups - Marian Keyes

She was really, truly, superlatively good in the early parts about Cara and eating. I know this because I know a lot about Marian Keyes (she's a popular choice for a fluff piece in Irish papers), but Keyes has struggled with her weight as well as her drinking and mood. Even before being woke about such things was popular, she was exceptional at describing - in a funny, forgiving way - what it's like to be a woman surrounded both by chocolate and images of airbrushed models. If this was just a story about Cara developing bulimia, it would have been really good. But there's just not enough time or space for it. The Casey’s spend a lot of time together, whether they like it or not. The Casey’s include three brothers, Johnny, Ed and Liam, their three wives and children. The strength of this book lies in its relatability factor - I laughed, cried, nodded in recognition and laughed again Irish News She looked at him. All of a sudden she was sober. ‘Sorry.’ She felt awkward. ‘You’re nice. I like bad boys. I should have outgrown it because I’m thirty now, but it hasn’t happened.’ Liam Casey is newly wed to his second wife Nel, a young and vibrant humanitarian, 11 years his junior.This is my 16th book by Marian Keyes, and it sometimes feel like we have progressed through the same stages of life together, starting out as young single girls, then getting married, having babies and now having to deal with extended families and complicated relationship issues. A new Keyes is always cause for celebration. The wit and warmth of her words in her 14th novel tell the story of the Caseys, a supposedly perfect family, torn apart by a careless remark at a birthday party * Grazia, Ones to watch in 2020 * Magnificently messy lives, brilliantly untangled. Funny, tender and completely absorbing! * Graham Norton * Promises themes of love and family, all bound together with Keyes' trademark humour * Harrow Times * A new book from the witty Irish novelist. When Cara Casey suffers concussion, she starts spilling the secrets of her glamorous, talented family. All is not as it seems * The Times, Ones to watch in 2020 *

Grown Ups: British Book Awards Author of the Year 2022 Grown Ups: British Book Awards Author of the Year 2022

The Casey brothers, Johnny, Ed and Liam, and their families get together regularly for important occasions, all through the flawless organisation of Johnny’s wife, Jessie. Whether they can afford it or not is irrelevant: Jessie insists on participation, and covers the costs to ensure it. I’d kill to look even a tenth as cool as Nell, but there are more chemicals in my hair than in the whole of North Korea. If I add anything else, it’ll fall off in my hands.’ (c)

However, although her novels are courageous in their honesty, they are ultimately uplifting. In her 2017 Desert Island Discs interview, she said: "I've always used humour as a survival mechanism. I write for me and I need to feel hopeful about the human condition. So no way I'm going to write a downbeat ending. And it isn't entirely ludicrous to suggest that sometimes things might work out for the best." Marian Keyes nails the zeitgeist while handling a huge cast of characters with aplomb * Express and Star * Johnny’s wife, savvy businesswoman Jessie has heaps of money and she loves to splurge and have all the families get together on luxury holidays and weekends away. She always insists when costs are out of reach to fund them. Jessie was a single child and loves being surrounded by family.

Grown Ups by Marian Keyes review – comic, convincing and true

We've heard whispers that this could be the much-loved author's best novel yet * Cosmopolitan, 2020s Biggest Books * Shines a light on the frustrations and gripes of family life, while inviting us to laugh at the petty reality of it all London LivingThe characters in this story are expertly written, like most families they have their flaws and their dysfunctional members. Sadly the three Casey brothers came from an unloving home. But thankfully the ending was satisfying, engaging. So I’m rounding up my 3.5 stars to 4. I’m reading Marian Keyes’ books for 15 years and she really writes a hell of amazing family portraits. Walsh Sisters’ books (especially “Anyone Out There” and “Rachel’s Holiday” are my “must reads”) are my favorites. EXCERPT: When Rory died, Jessie's one consolation was that she'd never again have to live through something as bad. Her Dad's passing was painful. Her mother's was worse. The wound of having been cut out of the Kinsella inner circle had taken a while to heal. Giving up on having a sixth child had, for a patch, been oddly unbearable. But nothing had ever come close to the visceral punch of Rory ceasing to exist.