Grown Ups by Marian Keyes, a book review
I panicked a bit when I first started this one. There were so many characters, they had so many children, and everyone had the same surname! I spent the disastrous birthday dinner of the opening scenes trying to work out who was married to whom, rather than concentrating on anything they were saying to one another. However, when the chapter concluded with a promise that someone named Cara had suffered a bump to the head and was about to spill everything she knew about the lot of them, I decided to persevere.
Marian Keyes has been a favourite author of mine for a long, long time for her uncanny ability to write about topics as heavy as rape, addiction and bereavement, but to write them lightly, authentically and with a hearty injection of wry humour. She continues the tradition with Grown Ups, a sprawling family drama centred around the Casey brothers, their (many) wives and (many) children.
Johnny, Ed and Liam Casey were not blessed with a happy or loving childhood, and none of them have come out unscathed. However, they have all internalised their past in different ways and are seeking to build different kinds of families of their own.
Johnny and his wife Jessie work together on the empire she has built for herself selling unusual (for Ireland) groceries and cooking ingredients. His life revolves round her, he is her rock and, as far as he’s concerned, even the kids see him as a bit of a wet blanket. Their children, “the bunnies”, are three in number and include Bridey whose scathing attempts to police the adults in her life had me laughing aloud even as I rolled my eyes and thanked the deities that my little brothers are far easier to live with. Ferdia (along with sister Saoirse) is also fruit of Jessie, though a stepchild to Johnny, and while starting off as a petulant know-it-all, evolved quickly into a kind, sexy, gentleman, and my favourite character.
Botanist “Nice Ed” and his hotel receptionist wife, Cara are adorable, successful, mad about each other, and their kids, Tom and Vinnie, a bit more manageable than some in the Casey brood. All is still not well however, as the bulimia that stalked Cara earlier in life has returned with a vengeance, and she’s determined to keep it from everyone – including Ed.
Then come ex-professional runner Liam and his new wife, Nell. She’s the black sheep of the Casey clan, being both the newest member and the least like the rest of them. As a penniless set designer with pink hair and a love of dungarees, she starts off as a bit of a novelty, until the extended family gradually realise they like her a lot more than they like Liam.
Throw in an ex-wife, a late husband, two stepdaughters and assorted in-laws and you start to see where I originally struggled to pin everyone down. However, as we start to learn more about respective jobs, interests, problems etc and the characters are fleshed out, it doesn’t take long to catch on and it shouldn’t be taken as an obstacle to enjoying the story.
Through a series of forced-family-fun events organised by the almost hysterically family-oriented Jessie, to which attendance is mandatory for all, we jump back in time and gradually creep back towards the disastrous dinner that opened the book. In this way, by the time we get back to Cara’s concussed confessions, we know what’s coming and are gritting our teeth and curling our toes with nervous anticipation.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read and its complexity is actually a big part of why. The family are believable, their niggles and complexities familiar and the huge variety of inter-relationships keep us guessing on their conclusions right up until the end. Almost every issue that is likely to crop up in a family of this size is tackled to some extent: adultery, divorce, inappropriate attraction, dislike of one’s family members, addiction, illness and death. In true Marian Keyes style, she tells us a fictional story that we very quickly forget isn’t true and encourages us to make friends with characters as real as those we live with ourselves.
I’m so sad to have finished it, I’m having to reread Rachel’s Holiday to cheer myself up.
P.S. For those of you who want to get a grasp of it quicker than I did, the author has very helpfully drawn up a Casey family tree (thank you, Marian) It can be viewed on her website at:
https://www.mariankeyes.com/grown-ups-family-tree
P.P.S Grown Ups is apparently coming to a Netflix near you as a TV series in 2026!! :D