The Break by Marian Keyes published today
““Gloriously funny” ”
““A total triumph” ”
““Not only is it a great story with funny, loveable characters, it made me laugh out loud” ”
““Funny but poignant” ”
Published by Michael Joseph · Hardback · £20
Nobody explores the real issues facing women’s lives quite like the internationally bestselling literary superstar Marian Keyes. From love, fashion and family to infidelity, addiction and domestic violence, Marian has brought her unique brand of brilliance, compassion and humour to the most difficult subjects and to the more light-hearted in a writing career spanning 22 years. As a writer and commentator, Marian is loved by an extraordinarily broad cross-section of women, not least for her ability to be funny, honest and vulnerable about her own life - her extremely candid BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs interview received an unprecedented response when it was broadcast in March this year.
Now, with her eagerly awaited thirteenth novel – The Break - she turns her attention to one of the most pervading issues of our times: how to sustain a long-term relationship and, with it, a very modern dilemma: would you consider taking ‘a break’ from your relationship?
'Myself and Hugh . . . We're taking a break.' 'A city-with-fancy-food sort of break?'
If only. Amy's husband Hugh says he isn't leaving her.
He still loves her, he's just taking a break - from their marriage, their children and, most of all, from their life together. Six months to lose himself in south-east Asia. And there is nothing Amy can say or do about it. Yes, it's a mid-life crisis, but let's be clear: a break isn't a break up - yet . . .
However, for Amy it's enough to send her - along with her extended family of well-meaning interferers and misfits - teetering over the edge. For a lot can happen in six-months. When Hugh returns, if he returns, will he be the same man she married? And will Amy be the same woman?
Because if Hugh is on a break from their marriage, then isn't she?
Examining a relationship being tested by bereavement, blended families, and teenage pregnancy, and the temptation of affairs and extra-marital sex, The Break isn't a story about falling in love but about staying in love, against all the many obstacles, and it is Marian Keyes at her wisest, wittiest and brilliant best.
An international publishing phenomenon, Marian Keyes is one of the most successful Irish novelists of all time. A global number one bestseller, she has written 12 previous novels, been translated into 36 languages, and sold over 35 million copies worldwide. Storming into print in 1995 with Watermelon, Marian created a genre that she has dominated and redefined ever since with books including Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, Rachel's Holiday, Last Chance Saloon, Sushi for Beginners, Angels, The Other Side of the Story, Anybody Out There, This Charming Man, The Brightest Star in the Sky , The Mystery of Mercy Close, and 2014’s The Woman Who Stole My Life.
A talented comic writer, Marian remains a prolific journalist and cultural commentator, appearing regularly on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing - It Takes Two, The Great British Bake Off Extra Slice and the Apprentice – You’re Fired, while amassing a dedicated Twitter following of over 140,000. Using her trademark voice to address a range of subjects relevant to women of all ages, she has published three collections of her journalism, Under the Duvet, Further Under the Duvet and last year’s number one best seller Making it up as I Go Along, alongside an extremely honest account of her battle with depression, Saved by Cake. Born in Limerick in 1963, and brought up in Cavan, Cork, Galway and Dublin; she spent her twenties in London, and now lives in Dún Laoghaire with her husband Tony.
