Been AWOL for a while but hoping to get back to reading/writing lots of reviews....
Been AWOL for a while but hoping to get back to reading/writing lots of reviews....
Member since:11.05.2005
Reviews:56
Members who trust:23
"Rachel's Holiday" is chick-lit, there's no doubt about that. We can tell this at a glance because it is pink, has a pair of shoes on the cover and a girl's name in the title. Oh - and because it's by Marian Keyes, one of the undisputed queens of the genre along with Jane Green, Sophie Kinsella et al.
Now, I have eclectic tastes in literature, as my choice of previous review subjects might suggest, and while it isn't my staple reading matter, I have been known to dip my toe into the waters of the dreaded chick-lit. (Incidentally, it's interesting how that slightly derogatory term is now used as a catch-all to describe - and to some extent dismiss - any literature ("lit" as we must now call it) by or about young women. Some of this is absolutely dire, some of it actually pretty good. If in doubt, stick a picture of a pair of shoes or a handbag on the cover, throw in plenty of pink for good measure, and there
you have it - chick-lit in an easily identifiable, marketable package.)
Irish writer Marian Keyes is one of the most popular and successful practitioners of this genre, and it's easy to see why. Unlike some of her contemporaries, Keyes can actually write pretty well, and she knows how to be funny, which is a big plus. She has now written eight novels since her debut, "Watermelon", as well as two non-fiction collections, "Under the Duvet" and "Further Under the Duvet". "Rachel's Holiday" was first published in 1998.
Although the title might suggest a hefty dose of beaches, sun lotion and flings with gorgeous foreign waiters, "Rachel's Holiday" actually isn't about that at all. The novel opens in New York, where 27-year-old Rachel Walsh is sharing a flat with a friend and living life a little too much in the fast lane for comfort. One unfortunate encounter with the hospital emergency room and one panicked phone call to her parents from her friend Brigit later, Rachel's sister has been despatched by her horrified parents to drag her back home to Ireland at all costs. Thoroughly unimpressed by these events - after all, her fondness for a few recreational drugs is hardly a problem, is it? She's hardly an addict, after all, they're skeletally thin, have dirty hair, track marks and spend all their time hanging around run-down tower blocks, right? - Rachel is slightly mollified to learn that her parents plan to check her into The Cloisters, Ireland's answer to The Priory. She doesn't need rehab, of course not, but the prospect of wall-to-wall celebrities, luxurious spa treatments and so on sounds quite appealing - it'll be just like a holiday. Won't it? Needless to say, it doesn't work out quite as Rachel expects, and the route to recovery and a little more self-knowledge is not always an easy one…..
Less about sex and shopping than addiction and self-deception, "Rachel's Holiday" is nonetheless witty, upbeat and surprisingly compelling as Keyes charts Rachel's journey through humiliating group-therapy sessions and more, among a selection of fellow inmates who are not quite what she had anticipated. There's plenty of pop psychology here, but it's strangely gripping at the same time.
Marian Keyes has been open about her own struggles with alcoholism, and it is clear that she has drawn on her experience in writing this novel, although Rachel's "issues" are with drugs rather than alcohol. It may not sound like the stuff of romantic comedy but Keyes somehow manages to pull it off, without unduly minimising the dangers and difficulties of addiction. OK, it's no Trainspotting and is hardly a walk on the wild side (look, it's pink and has shoes on the cover, what did you expect?) but it does at least attempt to grapple, in an entertaining way, with some difficult issues. Rachel is a likeable heroine whose irrepressible wit alongside her often-overflowing anger and tears keeps us reading - although at over 600 pages, the book may be a bit over-long, and the ending is a little too pat and predictable. Still, engaging characters, an unconventional setting and some laugh-out-loud moments make this an appealing read.
Cover price £7.99 - available new from Amazon for £6.39, or used from £2.00. Recommended for a light, unchallenging read with slightly more depth than the usual sex, shopping and searching-for-Mr-Right fodder.
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Heehee, clever title! Well this certainly sounds like it offers more than your average 'Chick Lit' read, so I wouldn't mind having a look at this one. Mandy.xx
SueMagee 15.11.2005 14:25
I'm not normally a fan of Marian Keyes, but this sounds as though it might have quite a bit of depth to it. One for the library list, I think.
Nov 15th, 2005
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