The Break, by Marian Keyes, published on 7th September 2017, is not about falling but staying love. Amy is devastated when her husband, Hugh, declares that he wants a 6 month break in order to find himself. His plan is to spend 6 months travelling around south East \Asia. As he trundles off with only a back pack, Amy is left essentially a single mother, with a full time job, 3 daughters, Neeve the vlogger, Sofie her niece and Kiara and an online shopping habit. The break focuses on Amy coping with a variety of problems thrown at her by clients, her family and workmates. She has to solve these issues whilst watching Hugh (through social media) backpack in S-E Asia without a care in the world! He arrives home early and the sparks fly!
I liked this book but I did not love it. It is very cluttered. There are too many story lines which are: interesting; sad (Pop having Alzheimer disease and how his wife and family deal and don't deal with it) full of black humour, humour (Marc Jacobs primer and the trials of online shopping) and political (abortion in Ireland) issue, Some of these lines intersect but some would have made a great stand-a-lone story. The book also jumps back and forth to flashbacks to 2 years ago when Amy first met Josh Rowan which can be confusing. There are several peripheral characters - Domenik, pop's carer, Maura, Amy's eldest sister and her husband, TPB and Derry, forever unlucky in love, who all seem wasted. From the glimpses we are given they all seem to have interesting stories to tell. I also wonder how this book will last. The break is very contemporary: youtubers being the new celebrity, blagging expensive items for free; stalking and ghosting on facebook, instagram, twitter etc; Terry Wogan dying and Marc Jacob's new primer (its not that good by the way), is the best/ well known primer, but how will it be received by future readers when social media has moved on to new apps Terry Wogan has been forgotten about and a new primer is the must have. There are issues that will not become dated. The stresses and strains of looking after those with dementia and the need to repeal Amendment 8 so women do not need to travel abroad to have an abortion will remain relevant issues in the future. I do not think the break is a book I will pick up and read again and again as I have done with some of her earlier books but I did like it.
I received my copy from NetGalley, Penguin UK and Michael Joseph but this does not influence my opinions as all opinions are my own.
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