"Not just another "Chick Lit" book"

I can count on the fingers of one hand the authors I can trust to consistently deliver a quality read. Marian Keyes is one of them. I like Marian Keyes so much that I buy her books in hardcover from the UK --- usually at least two years before they come out in the states. For RACHEL'S HOLIDAY I actually read a copy from Ireland which is complete with all the Irish slang I feel is likely missing from the US version. That said, if you are unfamiliar with Irish slang, the US version will probably be more to your liking. Marian Keyes books take me "away" like few others can. From a boring transatlantic plane flight to a stressful wait in a hospital waiting room, you can trust Marian Keyes to help you forget your worries. And be thoroughly entertained.

Marian Keyes consistently tackles controversial or serious subjects with wit and humor (in WATERMELON Claire's husband announces that he's leaving her for another woman - the day their baby is born; in THE LAST CHANCE SALOON a group of singles from Ireland living in London tackle issues such as obesity and homosexuality). In RACHEL'S HOLIDAY, Keyes again gives us a serious subject, substance abuse, but presents it in such a way that readers will be laughing out loud. That's not to say she glorifies it, but with Rachel's narration, readers feel the sadness at her situation, and are also caught smiling at the circumstances Rachel finds herself in. Particularly funny was one of the flashbacks where she and her friend Brigit are in a pub in Manhattan and finally figure out instead of the group of men friends who also frequent the place each having a pair of leather pants, they apparently each wear the same pair on a different night.

Rachel Walsh (who readers may remember as the sister of Claire of WATERMELON fame), at her family's insistence after an accidental drug overdose, has returned home to Ireland from New York City where she's lived for the past few years. Her father has secured her admission to The Cloisters, a substance abuse treatment facility south of Dublin in the Wicklow Hills. Rachel denies she has a problem but figures she could use a vacation. Known as the place where celebrities go to "dry out" Rachel expects to find herself in a luxury spa-like facility, not the stark reality she discovers The Cloisters to be.

But the subject matter isn't the only thing that propels RACHEL'S HOLIDAY from "just another chick lit" novel to an extraordinary read for any woman of any age. It's the perfectly timed turn of phrase from Keyes via Rachel's voice. It's the extraordinary cast of secondary characters. It's the sense of place. To put it quite simply, this is another outstanding offering from Marian Keyes.

Reviewed by Maudeen Wachsmith
Posted August 19, 2001

Summary

The fast lane is much too slow for twenty-seven-year-old Rachel Walsh, who is always the last one still standing whenever there's a party. And New York City is the perfect place for a young female to over-do...everything! But her love of a good time is about to land her in the emergency room and alienate her best friend and her boyfriend.Soon the Walsh clan has come to hustle their daughter home to check her into the local version of the Betty Ford Clinic. And just when another million hours of group therapy are about to drive her crazy, Rachel meets a new man and resolves to ride this wild dream to love -- or wherever else her heart may lead her.