REVIEW: Grown Ups by Marian Keyes

Grown Ups is the latest book by Marian Keyes and it is simply wonderful. It’s a strong, character-driven family epic that explores important modern issues in a very human light, including mental illness and deep-rooted insecurity. Like life itself, these kinds of issues are ingrained in the book and are not just a hurdle to overcome, but a long-term process of understanding and persistence. In capturing this, Keyes has managed to portray the complex balance of being a grown up.

Marian Keyes

The Casey brothers and their families spend a lot of time together, living a seemingly picture-perfect life where wedding anniversaries, birthdays and weekends abroad are all celebrated. Grown Ups opens with Johnny Casey’s birthday dinner, where everything is proceeding as usual until a concussed Cara, married to Ed Casey, can’t stop herself from spilling family secrets that have been simmering below the surface. Jumping back six months, we are taken beyond the happy facade and onto a journey where the struggles of each of the characters are intimately explored at various family gatherings. That fateful dinner, which I initially read with mild interest, becomes fraught with tension.

The Caseys are just so enmeshed in each other’s lives, as Liam Casey laments, and we spend 600+ pages in orbit around the main six family members, with Marian Keyes constantly shifting perspective to give voice to the insecurities of each individual. The characters are human; nuanced, ambitious, flawed and prone to fallacy. As an outsider looking in with a bird’s-eye view, the building tension is palpable. It’s not a matter of if the truth will come bursting through the door, but when.

Grown Ups serves as a masterclass in character-driven storytelling. Keyes’ prose is elegant, sophisticated and (of course) witty. She creates a family dynamic that feels wholly at home, to the point where the Caseys feel like people you’ve known your whole life. This novel takes its time exploring the values that drive each family member, creating authentic and dynamic interactions that feel utterly human. In doing so, Keyes expertly navigates the experience of being a 21st century grown up, which in this case means being not quite grown up at all.

With the breadth of characters found in this novel I can safely say that this is a must-read for fiction fans. Like any family, you will resonate strongly with some and find frustration in others, but feel a fond affection for all. Grown Ups shows its readers how one moment can change the course of a relationship, and how time keeps us moving forward. To put it simply, this book is grand.

—Review by Ashleigh Berry, Campaigns Coordinator

Grown Ups

by Marian Keyes

They're a glamorous family, the Caseys.

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. Johnny's wife, Jessie - who has the most money - insists on it. Under the surface, though, conditions are murkier. While some people clash, other people like each other far too much ...

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About the Contributor

Ashleigh Berry