Here is my review of Marian’s latest novel. It’s fabaliss. The End. What? You need more? What more is there to say? Ok, I will elaborate. Firstly, the premise of this book is totally original. Man in mid-life crisis wants to take a break from his marriage and head-off to South-East Asia to live the bachelor life for six months, leaving his stunned wife with their three daughters, the house and all the bills to look after on her own and she lets him. So far, so unbelievable you might say, why would she do that but I promise you, thanks to various complications in his life and the dynamics of their relationship it makes perfect sense in the book. The rest of the story then centres on how Amy copes with his absence, how her feelings about him change over the course of the separation and whether they will be able to pick up the pieces of their marriage if and when he comes back. The development of realistic and sympathetic characters is where Marian has always excelled and why we, her devoted readers, adore her books and this is no exception. Amy is a warm and likeable but flawed individual that you will take to immediately and you are drawn straight into her plight and are firmly on her side from the beginning. Her life is far from straightforward with a complicated past and three hormonal teenage girls to look after. Her daughters are very accurately drawn (with five of my own, I speak with some authority in this area) and they are her main concern. Marian explores the fears, concerns and angst of teenagers with candour and they face some current and heavy issues (I don’t want to give away any spoilers but Marian is not afraid to address very emotive topics head on, to her very great credit). I liked the way social media plays a huge part in the storyline of this book to reflect its importance in the current world, not just for the younger generation but in Amy and Hugh’s relationship too. There are some wonderful peripheral characters in the novel. Amy’s mother steals the show and she was my favourite character in the book (am I the only one of Marian’s Twitter followers who feels like she might recognise elements of this person? Art imitating life?) Her depictions of a slightly chaotic, extended family with its own internal tensions and quirks but who all pull together in times of crisis will warm your cockles and make you vow to appreciate your own motley collection of kin a bit more. The main question that the book asks is whether it is ever the fault of one person when a marriage is in crisis or whether we all need to look to our own behaviour and see if we had a part to play before we condemn the other person for their actions and consign our relationship to the bonfire as a result. None of us are perfect. Relationships, however outwardly steadfast they may seem, need constant work and attention and we are all subject to stresses and strains from external sources. Ultimately, we need to decide what is worth clinging too and what we are willing to risk or to lose. In the end, a big part of love is forgiveness and understanding. The book made me think and it made me feel all the feels and it made me happy and sad and then happy again. I devoured it in two days over the Bank Holiday weekend and it was no chore. For me, this is Marian on top form and that it something it is difficult to beat.

Mariane Keyes is one of my favourite authors. It doesn’t matter what story she tells in her novels I am always totally booked out with my reading schedule glued to the story. I absolutely loved reading every page of The Break. As readers should know by know one of my favourite subjects I like to read about is fiction marriage problems. Here’s the problem poor Hugh needs to take a break from his marriage to Amy and the kids, but to matters worse he only wants to go to swanning of to South East Asia for six months. Yes I say poor Hugh as I feel that men can’t take what happens in life like us women have to hold everything together. For men everything just falls apart. So Hugh is off for a break for a whole six months. What if he doesn’t come back? I’d have put my foot down hard telling him he can’t just leave me and the kids for six months. Seems like husbands can walk all over their wife and do whatever he wishes too, but of course a wife can’t possibly go jetting off any where, she’s the children and the home to look after. But Amy sees it as letting Hugh go to save their marriage. In my view what’s good enough for any husband is good enough for a wife. If Hugh is on a break then so is Amy, right? The question is will Amy see it that way? All the characters are bold as life and real joy to read about and I truly mean that. I loved every word, ever sentence, ever chapter. For me The Break was so much fun to read with serious scenes. I couldn’t even pick out my favourite line as I loved all the funny lines. The Break should be at the top of your list to read with very funny lines to chuckle over.

Marian Keyes's books are always a delight, full of memorable and believable characters, likeable but flawed. She balances the more emotional side to her story with a heavy dose of humour - one section in particular had me genuinely laughing out loud on the bus. If you haven't read Marian Keyes before, read this book - and then read all her others too!

This book made me laugh out loud on multiple occasions! It’s well written, easy to read and absolutely relatable. I love how the author doesn’t just abruptly end the story in a cliche way after having taken you on a detailed journey of “the break”. No, she also details the return from the break which i found so real. I got attached to the characters and just really wanted things to work out! That’s how good it is :)

A brilliant, funny and poignant story from Maria Keyes and a lot of women would definitely relate to this story on one level or another as I did. With just the right amount of humour mixed with real life problems. It is well written, heartwarming and funny, a very enjoyable read and one of her best books in my opinion. Loved it and I would definitely recommend this book to Marian Keyes fans, even if you are not into the whole Chicklit genre it is a good read.