Twenty-five years after the publication of Rachel’s Holiday, her best-loved novel, Marian Keyes has written a sequel. Much has changed in that quarter of a century, not just in the life of recovering addict Rachel Walsh — last seen in a passionate clinch in New York. But also for Keyes. In 1997 the Irish author was a rising star of commercial fiction, branded as chick lit and presumed of female-only interest. Today, the multimillion best-selling Keyes has a following far wider than her devoted readership thanks to her humorous social media posts (243,000 Twitter followers, 145,000 on Instagram) and Radio 4 shows. Recently, she was profiled by the BBC’s Imagine.
Keyes has earned the adulation. Her witty, warm, sharply observant books have brought company and comfort to millions, without swerving the mess of life or writing off aging women. Subjects tackled include addiction, Ireland’s abortion laws and suicidal depression.
