MARIAN KEYES is an internationally bestselling Irish author who is published in 39 different languages. Her latest novel, My Favourite Mistake, is a funny and moving novel that returns to the world of Anna Walsh. AKINA HANSEN writes.
Marian Keyes is an internationally bestselling author with over 30 books under her belt and a career spanning more than 30 years. She’s arguably one of the most successful contemporary Irish authors to date, yet her career and literary achievements hadn’t always seemed possible to her.
‘I was always a voracious reader; books were my first addiction. But I never thought someone as ordinary as me could be a writer – I thought they belonged to some elevated class of people, who had every confidence that all doors would open for them.’
Throughout her 20s Marian struggled with alcoholism and at age 30 she found herself in a deep depression. During this time and just four months shy of going to rehab for her addiction, an impulse to write overcame her.
‘In retrospect I was trying to keep myself alive by offering myself some hope. After rehab, I felt far more proactive about life. There were a few short stories I’d written between that original impulse and ending up in rehab; I sent them to a small Irish publisher. I was outrageously lucky in that they offered to publish me.’
This impulse to write ultimately led to the publication of her debut novel Watermelon in 1995 and is our first introduction to the Walsh family.
Since her first novel, Marian has been drawn back to the Walsh family time and time again with each of the five sisters receiving their own novels.
Her 1997 novel Rachel’s Holiday sold over 1.5 million copies and catapulted Marian into cult status. The novel follows the third oldest Walsh sister, Rachel, and notably there are parallels between her own struggles with addiction and Rachel’s.
Like many writers, Marian has drawn from her own life when writing. Much of her fiction deals with challenging issues such as addiction, depression, death and grief.
‘I’ve always been open about my addiction and my bouts of depression because I’m not ashamed of them. They’re illnesses, not moral failings. However, the world doesn’t always see it as I do; the stigma is real. But the more it’s openly acknowledged, the more attitudes will change.’
Last year, Marian returned to Rachel’s world with a sequel titled, Again, Rachel. And now, Rachel’s younger sister, Anna Walsh, has returned to the page.
‘After finishing my previous book Again, Rachel, I was all set to write an ambitious book about seven frenemies, set over 40 years. But some of the characters were really dodgy, and post-pandemic, I just didn’t have the emotional resources to spend two years – the length of time it takes me to write a book – in the company of bad people. Readers had often asked me how Anna was getting on after Anybody Out There, the first novel I wrote about her. And because Anna is definitely one of the kindest of my female characters, writing a sequel for her seemed like a no-brainer.’
The result is My Favourite Mistake, which follows 48-year-old Anna Walsh, a hot-shot PR executive who finds herself reevaluating her job, relationship and life in New York City during the COVID pandemic. Feeling homesick and worried about her parents, she makes the bold decision to move back home to Ireland without a job or a place to live.
Notably, this novel follows Anna in her midlife – a period that has its own unique set of challenges for women. In particular, Marian explores the societal impacts of ageing. For Anna, this is highlighted through her struggles with perimenopause and, in particular, the difficulties of getting access to HRT in Ireland when she arrives.
‘Women have tended to be infantilised when it comes to their health. We’ve been told that others know our bodies better than we know them ourselves. It’s taken time for us to realise that we have rights and power and we don’t have to submit to being patronised.’
Indeed, Anna carries this empowered attitude with her as she navigates the challenges of the health care system.
‘There’s so much I love about Anna. Fundamentally, she’s a kind person who prefers to think the best of people. I love this mindset – you can keep your jaded cynicism, give me the pure-of-heart any day of the week! What I also appreciate is that she’s quite unconventional: she presents as a regular citizen, but there’s a brave adventurer just beneath her surface.’
When Anna returns home to Ireland, she quickly jumps at the opportunity to help her old friends Brigit and Colm Kearney who have received local backlash over their plans for a high-end retreat called Dolphin Cove.
With Anna’s help, they hope to temper and resolve any concerns locals may have about the development’s plans, and to figure out who’s behind the vandalisation of the construction site.
Unfortunately for Anna, taking the job requires her to work alongside an old flame from decades past, Joey Armstrong.
Both Anna and Joey have hurt each other, they’d done things that have had meaningful consequences
‘What interested me was writing about a 20-year romance “thing” where at least one of them was usually in love with the other but it was never the right time, mostly because of their own unhealthy motivations or behaviour.
‘Both Anna and Joey have hurt each other, they’d done things that have had meaningful consequences. But they’re older now, more experienced about life, equipped with greater self-knowledge – and even if they’re never meant to be, they can help each other to forgive themselves.’
As the novel progresses and the story weaves between past and present, we gradually learn what unfolded between Anna and Joey; in particular how it impacted the relationship between Anna and her best friend, Jacqui, who she hasn’t had contact with for over a decade.
‘The mythology around female friendships is fascinating. We’re told that no matter how dysfunctional all other relationships are, our female friends will love us predictably, unwaveringly and unconditionally forever. That’s an unreachably high bar for any dynamic. Humans – all of us – live in flux. Our external situations are perpetually shifting, and our internal emotional landscapes are always evolving. To expect any relationship to fuse and crystallise is bound to end in disappointment. Yet we persist in doing it. But a friendship is as subject to change as any other relationship.’
‘Because of this, huge shame is attached to the end of a friendship: it’s not “meant” to happen. Nor is there any space to publicly mourn it, the way you can if it’s the end of a love affair.’
Like many of Marian’s other novels, we see a common thread of redemption.
‘Personally, I believe most of us are capable of emotional growth, of reaching a time in our life when we understand our earlier, shameful actions, actions that perhaps had baffled us at the time.’
My Favourite Mistake looks at the challenges and rewards of taking a chance and the endless possibilities that come with starting a new chapter regardless of what stage in life you’re at. For Anna and for Marian, age is irrelevant when it comes to pursuing their wants and needs.
‘I believe that human beings can fall in love at any age or make new friends or start a new job or any other number of things. I also believe that we can “improve” on the flawed dynamics our younger selves indulged in.’
Indeed, Marian hopes this is one of the biggest takeaways from her novel: ‘I’d love for readers to feel that life can be seized at any age. So many of the ways we constrain or punish ourselves are simply societal constructs. Life is short and we shouldn’t waste it. If we have unfulfilled curiosities or interests, no-one will reward us for ignoring them. •
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marian Keyes is the bestselling author of some of the most widely loved genre-defying novels of the past 30 years – such as Rachel’s Holiday, Anybody Out There and Grown Ups – and has millions of fans around the world.
As a beloved author herself, Marian is a passionate champion of storytellers everywhere, playing an active role in encouraging new voices. She has been the chair of judges for the Comedy Women in Print prize, a sponsor of the Curtis Brown Creative Marian Keyes scholarship, and most recently ran her own hugely popular Instagram Live series bringing free creative writing courses to thousands of viewers. Marian also uses her position to raise some of the most challenging issues of our time, including addiction, immigration, depression, domestic violence and the Repeal the Eighth campaign.
Both critically acclaimed and commercially unstoppable, Marian’s 14th novel Grown Ups went straight to No.1 in hardback and paperback in four global territories: UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and was shortlisted for the British Book Awards Audiobook of the Year. In addition to her novels, Marian has written two collections of journalism, as well as been the star of the second series of her hit show Between Ourselves aired on BBC Radio 4 at the start of 2021.
Marian is based in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin.
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