By Cassandra Navratil
The Walsh Family. Absolutely delightful. Totally dysfunctional. Wonderfully relatable. International bestselling author Marian Keyes’s latest foray into the lives of the now-infamous Walshes brings us back to a familiar character: Rachel. The long-awaited sequel to Rachel’s Holiday, which was set in the long-ago ’90s, Again, Rachel takes us on a journey into the future—to a time when Rachel Walsh seemingly has her life together.
In the exact facility where she once spent a much-needed stint in rehab, Rachel is now an addictions counsellor, helping others realize and work through their own addictions and contributing issues. One of her worst and only habits at the moment is coveting Chanel bags online. She is in a fairly new, but stable, relationship with what seems to be a decent man. Life is…good. Settled.
Rachel has a history, though, and as we all know far too well, history has a tendency to pop up and revisit you when you least expect it. The funeral of an ex-mother-in-law and the arrival of the ex himself (with his new girlfriend, of course) throws Rachel into a bit of a tailspin. Her past and present collide, leading her to question everything she believes about why her previous relationship ended, and placing a definite strain on her current one. Nothing is left off the table, and the dynamic shifts throughout the story left me squirming in anticipation of what would happen next!
Marian Keyes’s ability to connect the reader with her complex and diverse characters, and to create personal investment in their lives, well-being, and futures is unrivalled for me as far as this genre of fiction goes. I hadn’t read the entire Walsh family saga before reading this novel, and I can say with full confidence now that the few I was missing are at the very top of my list. A brilliant addition to the family, and one I’ll definitely be going back and plucking from my shelf for multiple re-reads.
A very exuberant thank you goes out to Penguin Random House for the advance copy of this novel for review.