MARIAN KEYES IS BACK WITH BIG-HEARTED FAMILY SAGA
GROWN UPS ★★★★ by Marian Keyes
Michael Joseph, £20
MARIAN Keyes has a deceptively breezy writing style. Her observations on family life are funny and fabulous but also tackle serious issues that pack a real emotional punch.
Grown Ups stars the glamorous Casey clan, a sprawling, affectionate family who spend a lot of their time communally celebrating birthdays, anniversaries and holidays.
We see the usual tensions and resentments of family gatherings – children bickering, couples sniping, teenagers sulking – but under the surface the well-drawn characters are dealing with matters such as eating disorders, fidelity, divorce, insecurity, doubt and reckless spending.The novel opens with a birthday dinner. Johnny Casey has turned 49, his powerhouse of a wife Jessie is serving dinner, and the atmosphere is buoyant, until Cara, usually the most diplomatic family member, announces: “I’m bored out of my skull,” and proceeds to spill secrets and unfiltered truths about and to her nearest and dearest. She mentions hidden bank accounts, “home-made” meals from a catering company, loans, and hints at affairs and relationship difficulties. It emerges that Cara suffered a bump to the head earlier that day so she is taken to A&E by husband Ed, leaving behind an atmosphere of “scandalised commotion”. Then the novel rewinds six months to Easter to show just what secrets the Caseys are hiding, including Cara herself.
The novel, if a little overlong, gives the main characters space to breathe as Keyes (below) deftly delivers intimate insights into their lives and relationships. There’s charming Johnny, big spender Jessie and their children, including Ferdia, careless and rude with his family, especially his stepfather Johnny who he thinks is cheating on his mum Jessie.
There’s narcissistic Liam and his wife Nell, who realises how unhappy she is in her marriage and sets her sights on someone too close to home.Then there is Cara whose life is controlled by her bulimia.
Grown Ups is big-hearted and entertaining, a dark, funny and hugely empathetic exploration of the Casey family’s dysfunctional dynamics and the loving ties that bind them together.