Book club - ‘Grown Ups’ by Marian Keyes

Penguin books

Marian Keyes tells a story of the behaviours of a family – three brothers Johnny, Ed and Liam and their wives Jessie, Cara and Nell and their children, from past and present relationships. The story begins at the end with the family gathered for a birthday party, where they learn a lot more about each other. The news is unfolded by Cara, having hit her head reveals too much. This leaves all characters pondering their current situations as some feel it is time to grow up.

Johnny and Jessie live a luxurious lifestyle, with their shared business. Jessie organises many of the family get-togethers and has a keen desire to be surrounded by family, following the death of her previous husband, Rory. Rory was Johnny’s best friend, leaving Rory’s family disconnecting from Jessie completely, therefore adding complications within Jessie’s relationship with her elder children. As the book unfolds we see how her relationships with her children and Johnny change for the better.

Nell and Liam are two completely different characters which leaves them clashing throughout the book. Despite this, Nell loves Liam and puts in a lot of effort with his family, even more than he does. Liam’s egotistic behaviour pushes Nell away. Learning of his infidelity at the end of the book, is the ultimatum of their relationship.

Cara and Ed are genuinely in love. However, when Ed discovers his wife is battling with an eating disorder, he doesn’t know what to do. Cara makes herself sick after binging on chocolate. As her binging becomes uncontrollable, Ed takes drastic action, which leaves Cara questioning her choices.

In a gripping end, Cara accidentally discovers everyone’s secrets, which she can’t keep to herself due to her concussion, making a very interesting family birthday party. Some couples learn to work through their differences, but for others, their relationship is over.

Marian Keyes brilliantly unravels the tales from each relationship, keeping her readers on edge to discover more. From infidelity, to lies and secrets, Keyes introduces the perfect balance of wit and intrigue as we experience a rollercoaster of emotions. Our sympathies for the characters change as Keyes analyses each character.

Keyes is a well known brilliant writer and this is arguably her best book yet. We face real life situations with tension building in every chapter, until the truths are revealed at the end.

It’s reviewed as ‘gloriously funny’ by the Sunday Times and ‘funny, profound, heartbreaking’ by Nina Stibbe. Graham Norton says ‘Magnificently messy lives, brilliantly untangled. Funny, tender and completely absorbing!’