Rachel's Holiday

I've been trying to remember when I first read Rachel's Holiday and I've come to the conclusion that it must have been when it was first published in 1997 as I clearly remember looking forward to Marian Keyes' next book, Last Chance Saloon, being published because I had loved Rachel's Holiday so much. In fact, I've always thought that this book was my favourite Keyes. Did I still think that after my reread? Well, read on.

Rachel Walsh is 27 and living in New York, away from her family in her native Ireland. You might think this means she has her life together but in fact her life is a mess, lurching from drug to drug, drink to drink. Rachel is a bit of a catastrophe but a fun-loving, somewhat likeable one. She shares a flat with her best show more friend, Brigit, and has a boyfriend who gets her hot under the collar but one drug-fuelled night too many sees her returning to Ireland to enter The Cloisters, a rehab centre that Rachel, in her haze, expects to be full of Jacuzzis, saunas and swimming pools.

Rachel's Holiday is THE most wonderful book. It's full of humour that had me laughing out loud on so many occasions. Keyes has such a dry and witty way of describing people and situations that just chimed with me. But there is a serious story underneath Rachel's surface, that of addiction and the effects not only on the addict but on those around them. Rachel and her fellow 'inmates' at The Cloisters go on such a journey, both physical and emotional, that it's impossible not to feel for them. I was so moved and at one point tears sprang into my eyes as I realised there was more to one of the characters than I (and Rachel) had at first realised.

At 600 pages you might imagine the story would dip in the middle, or not keep the reader's attention. Wrong! I was fully embroiled in Rachel's story from beginning to end and if it had been longer I would have been rejoicing. I'm certainly thrilled to know that we’ll be hearing more from Rachel in Again Rachel, out February 2022.

So is it still my favourite Keyes? Yes! Rachel's Holiday is superb in every way. It's emotional, it's sexy, it's hilarious, it's thought-provoking and thoughtful, and it's real. I LOVED it! show less

I’d avoided Marian Keyes’ books, wrongly assuming they were shallow chic-lit given the way they are marketed. But I was impressed by her on a book review (celebrating 25 years since Rachel’s Holiday was published) & immediately downloaded a copy of the novel.

And not disappointed.

Keyes illuminates drug-addiction in a way that is funny, clear-eyed, compassionate & psychologically convincing. She does this masterfully through an unreliable 20-something narrator, Rachel, who relates her story of partying in New York and of being sent back to Ireland by her family to holiday in a rehab centre. Rachel is funny, feckless & relatable. Here’s a typical excerpt:

« I put my hair up, I took it down, I put it up again. I took it down again. show more I finally decided to put it up and leave it.
Just before I left, I took it down again.«

Wonderful effortless-seeming writing, unforced humour, a cast of recognisable people, and a chance to walk in someone else’s (uncomfortable) shoes. show less

This has always been my favourite of Marian Keyes novels... I love the deflecting humour and the real pain that is gradually dug up, and eventually dealt with. I do have a minor quibble with the end, after making peace in New York and saying goodbye, well I just think it would have been a stronger ending without the "Malcolm the Mountie always gets his man" final chapter... But, still a five star read for me.

Well this is a fecking good book, so it is! It's a comedy about a woman who lives in a state of denial. She can't admit she's a drug addict, that she's tried to kill herself, that she's a completely unreliable narrator. It had me snorting with laughter again and again. It's also close to the bone. The therapy scene where she talks about the dentist was a bit of a personal eye-opener.

The simplest way that I can describe Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes is that I was impressed by how much it accomplished and yet I didn't like it at all. It's a complicated thing, because a large part of the reason I didn't like it was because the main character's attitude, actions, and state of denial were SO AGGRAVATING. Like, holy shit, I wanted to shake this woman and never let her go. But then that's the whole reason the author was successful - because she did such a spot-on job of portraying a non-recovering drunk, and then a newly-recovered drunk, and then a relapsed-drunk, and then a comfortably-settled-into-recovery drunk.

I hated how aggravating the main character was but she was aggravating because people in that state are show more aggravating. As a recovering alcoholic, I'm sure my behavior was just as confusing to other's as Rachel's was to me. I'm sure my denial, my entitlement, and my ability to find really bizarro excuses for my behavior were no better. And yet, it's rather unpleasant to be stuck in this character's head for hundreds of pages.

All of that said, would I recommend this book to a friend? Well, that depends on what you're looking for. A fun little book that lives up to the pastel purple cover and fun-loving stick figure above the title? Yeah, that's not here. Do you want answers to those, "What the hell were they thinking?!?" questions you've had about people whose lives have gone to hell yet can't seem to stop their bad behavior? Well, this book will answer those questions - though I don't know that you'll like the answers. show less

I waffled between five and four stars for all of ten seconds before deciding on five, simply because of my sheer inability to be rational about this novel.

I fell in love with Rachel, and I have no idea why. If I hadn't picked this up at a library sale when my impulse control was at it's lowest, I wouldn't have it at all. There's literally nothing about this book, from the cover, to the genre, to the jacket copy to make me think I'd enjoy it, or that it was my kind of book. Because it really isn't.

In fact, my first thought on opening the book on a whim a year after putting it on my shelf (not an uncommon phenomenon) was "oh, nice typeface." Rachel's story was convincing and compelling, if only because the reader is so well grounded in show more her mental state—she's all over the place emotionally and never seems to notice, but you still get a sense of who she really is under all the drugs. And even knowing that she's in more trouble than she thinks she is, Rachel's done a thorough job of hiding from herself, so as bad as it is, you're almost as shocked as she is when confronted.

Even that wouldn't be enough to give in five stars in my mental rating system, but when Rachel is forced to remember her early childhood, I abruptly found myself in tears. I haven't connected so strongly to a character in I don't know how long. And I don't know why it's Rachel, either. If I were anyone in this novel, I'd be Margaret, the 'brownose' But for Rachel, I spent much of the second half of the novel in tears for her, and was so proud of her recovery. Bizarre, but this unexpected total empathy is exactly why I read, and I haven't experienced it for a while. show less

It was a great read, just the thing when you are on a holiday (luckily not the same type as Rachel). Marian Keyes is a master at making you feel like you could be one of the gang and that her characters could become your best friends even if they are all a bit nutty because thats the type of friends I like to have. Rachels Holiday may initially come across as one of Keyes typical style of story but quickly becomes deeper and quite sad and poignant at times the issue addiction is dealt with using a clever mix of comedy and what I can only guess is in depth research.