Rachel's Holiday by Marion Keyes

Summary

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. Perhaps it will be lovely -- spa treatments, celebrities, that kind of thing. Instead, she finds a lot of group therapy, which leads her, against her will, to some important self-knowledge. She will also find something that all women like herself fear: a man who might actually be good for her.

My Thoughts


Everytime I pick up a book written by Marion Keyes I have to change my mind about my favourite book. This time I am in love with Rachel's Holiday.
Rachel...a cunning, man-crazy, cocaine snorting heroine is so likeable that she just jumps out of the book and takes you by the hand and becomes your best friend immediately.
You know that she is completely messed up but she is so much fun that her little quirks seem to slip by you.
She steals from her friends though....calls in sick most of the time and is embarrassed by her boyfriend Luke's retro-rocker look so you know that she has some work to do but ...you just know that she is this wonderful vulnerable little girl underneath all the bravado.
This book is a wonderful glimpse of someone who is trying to mess up their life because they truly believe themself unworthy of a happy ending.
You find yourself rooting for Rachel because she deserves to feel some peace and find a place for herself.
The Walsh family again show themselves to be this unusual raunchy family of which Rachel is the forgotten middle child. She doesn't believe good things for herself but eventually accepts her family's caring and regard to help her along the path of beating her addiction.
I love Rachel!
This is a 4.5 out of 5 stars

After River by Donna Milner

I was given After River by a friend who passes along books that she has read and reviewed. I do the same for her and pass along old favourites as well. It is good to have such a friend. :)
The first page was quickly devoured and I moved right along into the story.
Brief synopsis: Natalie Ward hasn't returned home to live since she left at the age of 17 under a cloud. A draft dodger from America named Richard (River)camed to work on the family farm and affected every member of the Ward family.
Natalie is so tormented and I can feel her pain. The characters in this story feel so alive that they reach out and touch your heart. Farming families in rural Canada in the 60s were not like the families that we know nowadays. Everyone worked together for the common good of the family and to support the farm so the slightest deviation from the normal routines can have a domino effect and the whole family is forever changed.
I cannot believe that this was Donna Milner's first novel. She is supremely skilled with her plot, character development and every word feels lovingly crafted.
I believe that this novel is truly one of the best that I have read this year.
5 out of 5 stars.