The Walsh family saga: Quirky Irish women at their hilarious (and heartwarming) best

I've now read the complete saga of Marian Keyes's Walsh family, updating the original version of this post with the latest outing published in 2024. Each book tells the story of one of the five sisters in the family: Claire, Rachel, Maggie, Anna and Helen. There is a second novel featuring Rachel as the protagonist and a second Anna story.

If you haven't read any of Marion Keyes's works, I suggest you start with the Walsh series. I've also read some of her standalone novels: The brightest star in the sky, Sushi for beginners, Grown ups and Lucy Sullivan is getting married.

Marion Keyes is an acquired taste and may not appeal to everyone. She is a hugely successful Irish novelist and non-fiction writer although best known for her 'chick lit', a label that makes my feminist hackles rise. She is also often described as a romance writer. I wouldn't describe her novels in either of those ways. They are essentially about people with all their flaws, foibles, eccentricities and bad decisions, all told with characteristic sardonic Irish wit. They're quirky and very Irish. I do think that you need to relate to the Irish sense of humour to connect to the books, so I suggest you give them a hard pass if that's not your thing.

I like reading Marion Keyes as a palate cleanser from my usual dark and disturbing fare, even though her books do leave me with lots of think about. The stories deal with heavy subjects, making me laugh and cry at the same time. I think poignant is a good word to describe Marion Keyes. This poignancy lifts her works above your standard chick lit to provide astute observations on human nature that are presented with empathy and understanding.

The Walsh family is an eccentric and eclectic bunch, headed up by the fierce but mad-as-heck Mammy Walsh and the gentle Dad Walsh, a shadowy figure in the background, fighting a losing battle for a place in a sea of forceful women. The family feels authentic, as they are messy, loud, and completely dysfunctional. The only way they seem to interact with one another is through sarcasm and barb-tossing (that could be read as meanness if you don't understand Irish humour!) yet somehow they still support one another. There's lots of humour in the stories but also a lot of heart, even though the family seems completely bonkers and chaotic.

I have felt somewhat exhausted when I've finished reading each book! My social battery is low at the best of times, so I'm worn out reading about the Walsh sisters' crazy lives, played out in each other's pockets. The are A LOT. They have terrible eating and drinking habits as well...

My one little niggle is that Keyes describes the sisters as attractive - and their boyfriends and eventual husbands always seem to be gorgeous, too. For me, this detracts somewhat from the authenticity. I want the Walsh sisters to be a little more ordinary looking to balance out the beauty. That said, they definitely do not go through life unscathed, and their personal traumas are explored in depth in each of the books in the series.

I would recommend reading the books in order. It's not essential, as there's enough detail about each sister to enjoy the books as standalone stories yet not enough to spoil too much. It's a much better reading experience if you read in order, though. I didn't do that, as I stumbled across the fourth book first. I should have then read the first one and carried the series through.

Anyway, here are my thoughts on each of the novels:

Watermelon | Claire Walsh (1995)

I read Watermelon after I'd read the first book on the other sisters. I didn't have high expectations as I'm not a huge Claire fan although I do appreciate her characterisation and place in the family. Claire appears throughout the remaining books with her second husband, Adam, as shallow and self-absorbed in her privileged life. Watermelon is Claire's origin story, where she is very different to the Claire I was reading about in the other books. This difference felt a little jarring for me, as there's a huge gap in her story between the late 1990s setting of her own book and where her life is at in her sisters' stories, without much explanation of how she got there. That said, if I had read the book first, I may not have felt that way.

From a writing perspective, I felt Keyes relied too heavily on the literary device of internal monologue for my liking. I didn't mind the way Claire talked to the reader as it felt as if I was Claire's friend, as if I was a sounding board for her personal dramas. I did find her inner ramblings a bit silly and annoying after a while, though, and full of detail I didn't need. This made the novel much longer than it should have been. All that said, I still enjoyed the book and the backstory it provided me with on the Claire I know from the subsequent novels.

Claire is turning 30 in this book. She has a new baby and is back in Dublin after leaving her unfaithful, arse of a husband behind in London. Claire's struggles felt authentic, and the phases she goes through after discovering her husband's infidelity are interesting to read about. There's lots of characteristic Marion Keyes humour while Claire sorts herself out. There is much to ponder about infidelity, gaslighting, second chances, post-natal depression, and self-esteem.

I don't like Claire much in the other books so it didn't bother me that I didn't like her in this one. I do think that the new romance could have been left out of the novel as it didn't quite ring true to me. Keyes would have been better delving into where Claire thought she might go next in the second half of the novel.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Rachel's holiday | Rachel Walsh book 1 (1997)

Rachel is my favourite Walsh sister and both books featuring Rachel as the protagonist are the best of the series. I enjoyed reading about Rachel's struggles and road to recovery in this first installment. Rachel is NOT on holiday; she is holed up in an exclusive rehab clinic in Dublin to try to beat her recreational drug habit after overdosing in New York, where she had been living with her boyfriend.

Marion Keyes takes an authentic approach to the subject matter in the book - addiction, self-destruction, eating disorders, and emotional fragility - as Rachel faces up to the truth about her life. I completely and utterly related to Rachel (the insecurities and people-pleasing, especially) and I felt connected to her from the outset. Her story is compelling and emotional as it is presented entirely through Rachel's eyes. The reader is taken on a journey with Rachel that feels completely immersive.

The book still has all the usual Marion Keyes humour, but there is honesty and insight that made me root for Rachel even when reading the heartbreaking parts. Rachel's holiday is painful to read at times. It is also a joy to see Rachel's journey unfold and to chart her road to honest self-appraisal and a more positive future.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Angels | Maggie Walsh (2002)

Angels is my least favourite of the Walsh books and its protagonist, Maggie, my least favourite sister. In a family full of dysfunction and eccentricities, Maggie is not a very interesting character. She's kind of bland, although she is probably the most likeable as she's sensible and dependable. I feel bad for relegating her to number 5 on my list when she is so damn decent!

In the book, Maggie's perfectly ordinary and nice life is interrupted when she suspects her husband is having an affair. She takes off for Los Angeles to find shelter with her best friend, Emily, who is trying to break into the film business as a script writer. Nothing much happens in Angels other than Maggie just hanging out in LA and doing a bunch of kind of corny, stereotypical things. Unusually for Keyes, there's not a lot of exploration of serious and interesting subjects, although there's still plenty of humour.

The last part of the book is the best and I liked the way Keyes explored the repairing of Maggie's relationship with the dependable Garv. That part gave the story more depth. Maggie doesn't feature much in the other books and I think that says it all - she's the least compelling of the Walsh sisters.

Rating: ⭐⭐

Anybody out there | Anna Walsh book 1 (2006)

Anybody out there is the first novel in the Walsh series that I read. Anna is my second favourite sister after Rachel, and Anna's first outing is my third favourite of the series (after the two books about Rachel, of course!).

Anna is kind of flaky but she's also rather successful. In her first book, she is emotionally and physically shattered, spending time in Dublin recovering from an accident before she returns to her job in New York. Like Rachel's holiday, Anna's story is emotional and poignant but with an added twist that I didn't figure out until it was presented to me.

Anybody out there is a touching story, showing how Anna has to deal with a major upheaval in her life. I don't want to say too much about this upheaval for fear of spoilers but I will say that it provides fodder for exploration of serious topics, as per usual for the Walsh sisters' novels. Like the other books (other than Angels), the novel deals beautifully with heavy subjects but is infused with Walsh humour.

My only real criticism is that Anna seems to have undergone a major character transformation from the earlier novels. She is now a PR executive for a cosmetics company in New York, yet she was a spacey, waif-like minor drug user in the earlier books. It seems like she was better suited to Rachel's story. That transformation aside, I loved Anna's origin story and I was keen to see how her character developed in subsequent books in the series.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The mystery of Mercy Close | Helen Walsh (2012)

I'd been looking forward to reading Helen's story in The mystery of Mercy Close. Helen is always seems to be a peripheral player in the Walsh family saga as the youngest sister. She's often brought into the stories for the humour value, with her acerbic comments and Shovel List of things she despises. The one thing that does bother me about Helen, mind you, is that she seems to get away with being super sarcastic and brusque because she is small and pretty. That said, I can't help but like her, and I'm not really sure why. Perhaps it is her general disdain for people and her grumpy and cynical approach to life!

Keyes softens Helen in The mystery of Mercy Close by exploring her experiences with depression (that I understand Marion herself has suffered from). This provides interesting insight into the thought processes of people who suffer from this form of mental illness.

Marion Keyes takes an honest and refreshing approach to the heavy subject of depression although the book teeters between Helen's battles with depression and the mystery she is trying to solve in her job as a private investigator. I've read reviews of the book that complain that the mystery is not very mysterious. I didn't figure out what was going on but perhaps I was concentrating too much on Helen and the eccentric cast of characters.

I like that the book added depth to Helen to make her rise above just being the sarcastic, cynical sister. There's the usual Keyes wit mixed with the dark side of human nature but I would have liked to have seen more about the connection between Helen's personality quirks and her depression. The book isn't as interesting or emotionally-deep as Rachel and Anna's stories. That said, I have a soft spot for Helen and I love reading about her wacky approach to life and her unorthodox methods of private detecting.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (only because I love Helen)

Again, Rachel | Rachel Walsh book 2 (2022)

Again, Rachel was written 25 years after Rachel's holiday. I was thrilled to learn that Marion Keyes had penned a second Rachel-themed story as her first outing was my favourite of the series. Marion has been writing about the Walsh sisters since the end of the 1990s and she does a good job of keeping the sisters' timelines in tact, writing each book at the same time as the action is set. Again, Rachel was published in 2022 but is set in 2018, a slight departure from Keyes's timeline adherence. I assume it was done that way to avoid having to fit the pandemic into the story.

I loved Rachel in her first story and I loved her just as much in the second. She is, as I have said, my favourite Walsh sister and the most relatable for me. She's strong and resilient, honest, and kind. After her stint in rehab in Rachel's holiday, Rachel is now a counsellor herself, providing Keyes with the opportunity to delve further into mental health issues with characteristic warmth, understanding and authenticity. There was a huge cast of characters in the counselling parts of the book, each with their own story, but all the rehab clients felt fleshed out and genuine. I enjoyed reading their stories even if it did make the novel quite long.

Rachel is doing fine until Luke, her boyfriend of the first novel, re-enters her life, causing all sorts of upheaval. What is a Walsh sisters novel without upheaval! The story follows Rachel's reaction to seeing Luke again and the impact it has on her mental health and her current relationship. It's the insight into why Rachel turned to drugs all those years ago in New York that is the most compelling and heartbreaking, though. I won't say anymore about the topic as it would spoil the novel (and the first one about Rachel) but I will say that once again, Marion Keyes handles difficult and heartbreaking topics with aplomb, through the lens of the crazy Walsh sisters, and with characteristic humour and poignancy. Some readers have taken issue with the ending from the relationship side of things (and that Luke's main appeal seems to be that he is still hot in his late forties). I thought it felt authentic, based on how I understood Rachel's journey from the first to the second book.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My favourite mistake | Anna Walsh book 2 (2024)

The first thing I will say about My favourite mistake is that it is essential that you read the first book about Anna (Anybody out there) before you read Anna book 2. There's a lot of reference to Anna's life in New York that is the subject of the first book. Many of the key players in her life feature in My favourite mistake or they resurface as the story progresses.

The second Anna book picks up her story some 15 years after the first novel. Anna is struggling with post-pandemic burnout and perimenopause, now aged in her late forties. She dissolves her life in New York as a successful marketing executive for a cosmetic company and returns to Ireland. Anna ends up in the wilds of Connemara - I have been there so I recognised the descriptions of the landscape. She's there to help her friends, Birgit and Colm, with their plans to create a luxury resort on their remote property. This bold move brings Anna back in close contact with her bonkers family and a guy affectionately known as Narky Joey Armstrong, an old friend/foe from her early days in New York.

As noted above, I loved Anybody out there, and Anna is my second favourite sister after Rachel. I was excited to read the second book about Anna as the second one of Rachel's stories was just as good as the first. Sadly, My favourite mistake was disappointing. It didn't feel like a Marion Keyes book to me. It was as if someone else had written it. The characteristic dark and dry wit and Irish charm were largely missing and I didn't find it as funny or heartwarming as Keyes's other books. The madcap antics of the Walsh family were also not as endearing as in the other books.

As with all of the Walsh sisters' books, My favourite mistake is long. I usually don't mind that, but this time it did feel long and a bit slow moving. The shenanigans in the town where Anna was based - sabotaging Birgit and Colm's retreat plans - weren't all that compelling nor the mystery of who was behind it all. The perpetrator reveal was a bit of an anti-climax. There was a massive cast of town characters and, while they were quirky and fun to read about, only one (Anna's new friend at the hotel where she was staying) really had the chance to shine.

I still love Anna although her voice didn't seem as authentically Anna this time and I felt my love for her wane a little as the book wore on. I could put that down to her maturing, but it made me feel disconnected from her in the first book and that was a bit jarring.

What DID I like? I loved that that Keyes explored women's experiences of navigating menopause. She did this with grace and authenticity and I give her props for going there. I also liked that she openly portrayed Anna as a woman who was able to reassess her identity in her late forties and remain happily childfree.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐