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The Break by Marian Keyes (first published in 2017 by Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Random House)
I’ve read every Marian Keyes novel since Watermelon in 1995, and as I’m getting older I’m enjoying them more and more. Because Marian (yes, I feel comfortable using her first name in view of our 22-year relationship, which is longer than my marriage) gets better with every book.
The Break, her latest, is about a marriage sabbatical; apparently a real trend in parts of the United States.
Marian says that, because we’re all living longer, “people in their 40s are… looking at another 50 years with their partner and…feeling quite claustrophobic. Some sabbaticals are nothing to do with sex; they’re just to go off and learn something and live differently. But some people are genuinely asking for time away from fidelity.”
Marian describes this trend as “interesting in an awful way”, and there you have the chief premise behind The Break.
Amy has a glam-but-also-not-glam job in PR, and lives a mostly contented life with her husband Hugh, three girls, and mad extended family, until Hugh announces that he’s ‘taking a break’.
For six months. In South East Asia. Where, while drinking mai-tais, he will also be schtupping other people.
Now, is a break a break-up?
Sometimes, but not always.
And is Amy ‘on a break’ too?
If you know Marian, you’ll know that ‘chick-lit’ is a lazy label for her work, which spans comic genius, empathy, utter ordinariness, and grief.
It makes serious points, with a light touch. It smiles at you, and pokes you in the eye.
In this novel Marian also covers, beyond the marriage sabbatical, the responsibilities of caring for aging parents, the trials of blended families, the heartbreak of unwanted pregnancy, the illegality of abortion in Ireland, and more.
I laughed. I cried. I felt understood. I felt enraged.
The characters are Marian’s usual: richly nuanced, deliciously likeable, and completely and totally crazy. In fact, I’d recommend The Break for Amy’s parents alone. With December coming up, you owe yourself a copy. Do it.
P.S. The sex scenes are notable.
Purchase a copy of the book from Takealot.com.
WATCH: Marian Keyes talks about The Break
