Whats On
Every once in a while you read a novel that makes you think, laugh and weep. Rachel's Holiday by Irish writer Marian Keyes is one such novel.
Rachel Walsh, 27 and New York girl-about-town, has become a drug addict. Selfish, broke, deluded and a wandering soul, she loses her job, her best friend and her boyfriend before a life-saving session with a hospital stomach-pump brings an abrupt end to her nightmarish self-destruction. Her family travels to New York and takes her back to Ireland.
Rachel's Holiday is the story of her rehabilitation in Cloisters - a centre for drug addicts, over-eaters and alcoholics in County Wicklow.
The novel is a wonderfully crafted picture of the ordinary people Rachel meets in rehab, their stories, their cures and the lessons she learns. Funny - at times, hilarious - sad, provocative and highly original. Keyes presents an inspired array of characters and an immense talent for observation. Rachel's family, New York, a fruitless but enduring love for her ex-boyfriend, the dreadful descent into addiction, her supportive mates in Cloisters - all are given the same exacting and animated treatment.
Don't be put off by the somewhat gloomy context. Rachel's Holiday is witty, upbeat, entertaining and extremely compelling.