Marian Keyes Books in Order (Watermelon, Grown Ups, Again Rachel)

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Marian Keyes is an Irish writer known for her work in women’s literature. Many of her novels are known for their more comedic tones, but they cover dark themes including family, divorce, mental illness, domestic violence, drug abuse, and alcoholism.

Born in 1963, Marian Keyes studied law and accountancy, and first had an administrative job. She began writing short stories during that period and while suffering from alcoholism. Encouraged by her publisher to submit a novel, Keyes started writing Watermelon, which was published soon after. Since then, she has continued to write fiction and non-fiction.

How to read Marian Keyes’ Books in Order?

The Walsh Family series

1. Watermelon (1995) – Claire has everything she ever wanted: a husband she adores, a great apartment, a good job. Then, on the day she gives birth to their first baby, James informs her that he’s leaving her. Claire is left with a newborn daughter, a broken heart, and a postpartum body that she can hardly bear to look at. She decides to go home to Dublin. And there, sheltered by the love of a quirky family, she gets better. So much so, in fact, that when James slithers back into her life, he’s in for a bit of a surprise.
2. Rachel’s Holiday (1998) – The fast lane is much too slow for Rachel Walsh. And Manhattan is the perfect place for a young Irish female to overdo everything. But Rachel’s love of a good time is about to land her in the emergency room. It will also cost her a job and the boyfriend she adores. When her loving family hustles her back home and checks her into Ireland’s answer to the Betty Ford Clinic, Rachel is hopeful. Instead, she finds a lot of group therapy, which leads her, against her will, to some important self-knowledge.
3. Angels (2002) – After catching her husband having an affair and being fired from her job, Maggie Walsh suddenly finds her perfectly organized existence has become a perfect mess. She decides, for the first time in her life, to do something daring — and flees to her best friend, Emily, in the faraway wonderland of Los Angeles. In this mecca of tanned, beautiful bodies, unsvelte, uncool Maggie is decidedly a fish out of water. Yet, overnight, she’s mixing with film folk, pitching scripts, even experimenting with sex — and discovering that the end of a marriage is not the end of the world.
4. Anybody Out There? (2006) – Anna has the best job in the world, a lovely apartment, and great friends. Then one morning, she wakes up in her mammy’s house in Dublin with stitches in her face, a dislocated knee, hands smashed up, and no memory at all of what happened. As soon as she’s able, Anna’s flying back to Manhattan, mystified but determined to find out how her life turned upside down. As her past slowly begins coming back to her, she sets out on an outrageous quest-involving lilies, psychics, mediums, and anyone who can point her in the right direction.

5. Mammy Walsh’s A–Z of the Walsh Family: An e-book Short – It does exactly what it says on the tin, giving an A-Z list of things that are somehow relevant to the Walsh clan.
6. The Mystery of Mercy Close (2012) – Private investigator Helen Walsh doesn’t believe in love, fear or hot drinks.But when a missing person case takes her into the dark, glamorous world of her dodgy ex, Jay Parker, she is drawn away from Artie Devlin, her distinctly unglamorous detective boyfriend. And this isn’t good news. To save herself from black doubt she’ll have to start believing in something – fast.
7. Again, Rachel (2022) – Back in the long ago nineties, Rachel Walsh was a mess. But a spell in rehab transformed everything. These days, Rachel has love, family, a great job as an addiction counselor, she even gardens. Her only bad habit is a fondness for expensive running shoes. But with the sudden reappearance of a man she’d once loved, her life wobbles. She’d thought she was settled. Fixed forever. Is she about to discover that no matter what our age, everything can change? Is it time to think again, Rachel?

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Other Fiction Books by Marian Keyes

• Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married (1996) – When a psychic tells Lucy that she’ll be getting married within the year, her roommates panic! What is going to happen to their blissful existence? Lucy reassures her friends that she’s far too busy arguing with her mother and taking care of her irresponsible father to get married. And then there’s the small matter of not even having a boyfriend. But then Lucy meets gorgeous, unreliable Gus. Could he be the future Mr. Lucy Sullivan? Or could it be handsome Chuck? Or Daniel, the world’s biggest flirt? Or even cute Jed, the new guy at work? Maybe her friends have something to worry about after all….
• Last Chance Saloon (1999) – Best friends Tara, Katherine, and Fintan have survived small-town ennui, big-city heartbreak, and endless giddy nights out on the town. But now that they’ve graduated to their slightly more serious thirties, only Fintan has what can honestly be called a “love life.” With Tara struggling daily with her eternal diet and Katherine keeping her single existence as organized as her drawer full of matching bra and panty sets, it seems they’ll never locate the exit door out of the “last chance saloon.” But it’s always when you are least ready for change that fate insists on one. And when catastrophe inevitably follows crisis, the lives of three best friends are sure to change in unexpected ways … and not necessarily for the worse.
• Sushi for Beginners (2000) – Lisa Edwards thinks her life is over when her “fabulous” new job turns out to be a deportation to Dublin to launch Colleen magazine. Ashling Kennedy, Colleen’s assistant editor, is an award-winning worrier, increasingly aware that something fundamental is missing from her life. Ashling’s best friend, Clodagh, lives the domestic dream in a suburban castle. So why, lately, has she had the recurring urge to kiss a frog — or sleep with a frog, if truth be told? As these three women search for love, success, and happiness, they will discover that if you let things simmer under the surface for too long, sooner or later they’ll boil over.
• No Dress Rehearsal (2000) – Lizzie is dead – she just doesn’t know it. The next day, Lizzie goes to work as usual and meets two unusual people, spirits who have been sent to break the bad news. But our Lizzie is not ready to go anywhere. She has yet to say her goodbyes. Help is at hand with Jan and Jim, messengers who have seen it all before. Before Lizzie crosses to the other side, she’ll get her chance to stage the closing scene of a lifetime.

• The Other Side of the Story (2004) – Jojo, a sharkish literary agent, has just made a very bad career move – she’s slept with her married boss Mark. Lily, Jojo’s bestselling author, has blown her advance on a house with new boyfriend Anton, only to come down with writer’s block. Gemma used to be Lily’s best friend until Lily ran off with Anton. Now she’s pouring her heart out, and a certain literary agent likes her style . . . Soon the fortunes of Jojo, Lily and Gemma are horribly entangled. But each is about to discover that there’s more than one side to every story . . .
• This Charming Man (2008) – Slick, handsome politician Paddy de Courcy is on the up. His party is set to do well in the elections and he’s just announced his engagement to the beautiful Alicia. Which is news to his girlfriend, Lola, who, within hours, finds herself dumped and warned not to talk to the press. Yet journalist Grace is on the prowl. She has been after Paddy ever since he ruined her sister Marnie’s life way back in college. Grace is looking for the inside story and thinks Lola holds the key. But do any of them know the real Paddy?
• The Brightest Star in the Sky (2009) – As the couples, flatmates and repentant singletons of No 66 fall in and out of love, clutch at and drop secrets, laugh, cry and simply try to live, no one suspects the visitor patiently waiting in the wings. For soon, really very soon, everything is going to change . . .

• The Woman Who Stole My Life (2014) – One day, sitting in traffic, married Dublin mum Stella Sweeney attempts a good deed. The resulting car crash changes her life. For she meets a man who wants her telephone number (for the insurance, it turns out). That’s okay. She doesn’t really like him much anyway (his Range Rover totally banjaxed her car). But this chance meeting sparks a chain of events which will take Stella thousands of miles from her old life, turning an ordinary woman into a superstar, and, along the way, wrenching her whole family apart.
• The Break (2017) – Amy’s husband Hugh says he isn’t leaving her. He still loves her, he’s just taking a break – from their marriage, their children and, most of all, from their life together. Six months to lose himself in South East Asia. And there is nothing Amy can say or do about it. For Amy it’s enough to send her teetering over the edge. For a lot can happen in six months. When Hugh returns, if he returns, will he be the same man she married? Will Amy be the same woman? Because if Hugh is on a break from their marriage, then so is she?
• Grown Ups (2020) –Johnny Casey, his two brothers, Ed and Liam, their beautiful, talented wives and all their kids spend a lot of time together – birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, weekends away. And they’re a happy family. Under the surface, though, conditions are murkier. While some people clash, other people like each other far too much… Everything stays under control until Ed’s wife, Cara, gets concussion and can’t keep her thoughts to herself. One careless remark at Johnny’s birthday party, with the entire family present, starts Cara spilling out all their secrets. In the subsequent unraveling, every one of the adults finds themselves wondering if it’s time – finally – to grow up?

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Non-fiction by Marian Keyes

• Under the Duvet (2001) – A collection of personal essays on shopping, writing, moviemaking, motherhood and all the assorted calamities involved in being a savvy woman in the new millennium.
• Further under the Duvet (2005) – Marian’s second volume of journalism and previously unpublished writing.
• Saved by Cake (2012) – Marian Keyes gives a candid account of her recent battle with depression and her discovery that learning to bake was exactly what she needed to regain her joie de vivre. A complete novice in the kitchen, Marian decided to bake a cake for a friend. From the moment she began measuring, she realized that baking was the best way for her to get through each day.
• Making It Up As I Go Along (2016) – A collection of essays from Marian’s tales of her eye-lash extension horrors to domestic Goddess attempts and the time that she decided to become a yoga instructor.

If you like Marian Keyes, you may also want to see our Lucinda Riley reading order, or our guide to Lisa Jewell books. Don’t hesitate to follow us on Twitter or Facebook to discover more book series.