It’s officially cosy season, so we couldn’t be more thrilled to curl up with a good book and settle in for an incredible read by one of chick-lit’s most illustrious writers – Alice O’Connell reviews Marian Keyes’ My Favourite Mistake, available at The Warehouse now! (And click through for our previous installments!)
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I was at university the first time I picked up a Marian Keyes book. It was 2000 and the book was Sushi For Beginners – brand new at the time, but about to become an absolute phenomenon – and I read it, lightning fast, enthralled by the stories of three women, all in a state of flux.
A few years later when I was made redundant from my job at TVNZ and my boyfriend-at-the-time simultaneously dumped me (can someone please remind me why I eventually got back with him?), my first instinct was to immediately reread it. Perhaps inspired by one of the characters who was launching a glossy magazine, I started applying for magazine jobs and was soon back on my feet. So of course then, when I was made redundant from a magazine job some 20 years later, one of my first thoughts was, ‘Is it time to read Sushi for Beginners again?’
If you’re going through a life crisis, of any description, Marian Keyes really should be your go-to woman. She holds your hand and tells you a story that leads you through a very necessary and cathartic pity party before lifting you up and introducing you to a whole new world of possibilities that could lay ahead.
And it’s a formula she brings out again with My Favourite Mistake, her 24th (24th!!!!) book, which came out this month and is surely about to sell a gazillion copies and be on every book club’s list.
This time around the story focuses on Anna. When we meet her we’re in the depths of the pandemic in New York where she is realising her relationship is doomed and the gloss is coming off her high-powered job, overseeing PR for a beauty brand.
Marian perfectly captures those first fraught moments of the pandemic where we faced so much unknown. What is happening to the world? Is everyone going to lose their job? How do I work Zoom? Should we be washing our groceries?!?
Anna feels a strong pull to go back to her home in Ireland – perhaps due to a mixture of wanting to start a new chapter, alongside the reality check of not being able to visit her parents and (quite insane) large family. She can’t stop thinking and worrying about how much time she has left with her folks.
But like any Marian Keyes book it’s not as simple as that. There’s layers upon layers upon layers. Just when you think you’re reading some sort of rom-com, it veers to become a thriller-mystery, then a tragic drama, and then an uplifting story of friendship.
It flicks between the present day and pivotal moments in the past, slowly revealing more pieces of the puzzle, adding more and more depth to the characters in Anna’s life.
There are many acts in this book and although at times I found the transitions between them to be a little drawn out, on the whole I found this to be a beautiful book.
And, as I said, it’s a perfect companion should you be facing a crisis.
I think you’ll find it particularly interesting / comforting (and, maybe triggering?!) if any of these situations apply to you:
- A civilised, amicable break-up, that nonetheless has you renegotiating your new pathway ahead and what a new future might look like
- The loss of a close female friendship (which can often be just as or even more gut-wrenching than the end of a romantic relationship?? It’s so strange this is something we rarely talk about despite the fact that so many of us experience it at least once in our adult life???)
- Perimenopause (maybe you’re in your early 40s thinking, hell, I am way too young to be facing that – but then are confronted by Anna’s increasing number of symptoms?!)
- Have had to make a career pivot or taken a leap of faith to see if there’s something better out there for you.
- Menopause (particularly if you’re a fan of HRT – Marian is obviously an A-Grade convert!)
- Approaching 50. This book spans several years, so yes, you will see her turn 50 and all the ups and downs in her path there. Personally, on occasion I felt Marian overdid the ‘late 40s’ aspect of the book – maybe I’m touchy being in my early 40s, but some of the ‘my God, look how old we are with our bunions and failing eyesight’ felt a bit OTT? Nevertheless this book is still a celebration of the privilege of aging.
- Have experienced the death of a spouse, or someone of great significance. The way Marian portrays grief is an art. In My Favourite Mistake Anna’s loss is well in the past, but a significant piece of who she is and something that is revisited often.
- Have a ‘one who got away’ or man in your life that is on-again, off-again, whom you feel immense chemistry with, but can’t make it work or get the timing right??
- Have a large, insane Irish family?!
My Favourite Mistake is photographed here with homewares all available at The Warehouse.
This story has been produced with the support of our partner The Warehouse. Every click, like, share and comment supports Capsule’s work and our commitment to keeping our content free. Thank you for supporting independent, female-owned media! 💛