‘I LIVE FOR TODAY!’
THE LITERARY HEAVY HITTER TELLS WHO SHE’S EMBRACING GETTING OLDER
She’s the author whose brilliantly observational novels have won her countless fans across the globe. From Watermelon and Rachel’s Holiday to The Break and Sushi For Beginners, the gritty laugh-out-loud tales of relatable,
awed women have seen Marian Keyes top the sales lists for the last four decades. But despite notching up book sales in excess of 35 million, the life of the Irishborn literary machine hasn’t always been a bed of roses.
“I wish I could say I had a grand plan,” the 58-year-old tells WHO. “But everything that has happened to me has very much happened by accident, including becoming a writer!”
Born in Limerick and raised in Dublin as the eldest of ve children, Keyes graduated with a law degree, but her writing career was kickstarted later in life in dire circumstances.
At 30, she attempted suicide and then entered rehab after a lengthy battle with alcoholism. Following several months of recuperation, she emerged and wrote her rst novel, Watermelon, and secured a three-month book deal – all within six months of her traumatic overdose.
“I didn’t start writing until I was 30. Up until then I thought I was a complete failure and good at nothing,” she re ects.
“I spent a lot of time being really skint – they say money doesn’t buy happiness, but being poor is awful.”
Her latest literary hit, Again, Rachel – the sequel to Rachel’s Holiday – mirrors her ongoing experiences of addiction.
Picking up 25 years on from the original novel, the book sees the eponymous Rachel navigate the everyday di culties of being a recovering addict – di culties that Keyes, despite being sober since her stint in rehab all those years ago, knows only too well.
“I’m so desperate to avoid it happening again that I take constant care of it,” she says. “I’m very connected to the ‘drinking me’ and I’m very aware that ‘that me’ is still there.
“Even now I see it in myself,” she continues. “If I like a song, I’ll play it 20 times in a row, for example. If I like a TV show, I don’t just like it, I LOVE it. I’m very all or nothing.
“I suppose the one huge good thing that has come from it is that every day when I wake up and feel halfway normal, I’m so grateful.”
It’s this kind of no-nonsense, straight-talking and selfdeprecating attitude that makes Keyes every bit as engaging as one of the ‘ awed’ heroines of her novels.
“I’m honest and it suits me; I’ve never had any boundaries,” she explains frankly. “By me
being honest about my own many, many aws, people can get comfort from that and think, ‘Thank Christ I’m not the only one!’”
Central to her life is her husband of more than 25 years, Tony Baines, whom Keyes met when she was in the grip of alcoholism.
“Over the years we’ve had di erent dynamics,” she says of her relationship. “We’ve probably had like ve or six marriages in that time!
“If you’re in a long relationship, it’s not a straight, steady line. I’ve had ups and downs, and so has he. There are times when we’ve been very close, and times when we’ve been less close.
“A relationship is constantly changing – it’s not a steady, static thing.”
While turning 60 is a milestone dreaded by many, Keyes is embracing it and all the positives that go with it.
“I don’t mind getting older at all,” she says, smiling. “As I’ve aged, I feel that life is kinder and that less is expected of me. If you go through something catastrophic, like I did, it helps put things into perspective. And if it happens again, I’ll deal with it again. But, for now, I’ve decided to lay o and just live for today – and today is lovely!”
• By Paul Ewart