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msoh 's review for:
My Favourite Mistake
by Marian Keyes
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for providing this book, with my honest review below.
I love Marion Keyes writing (especially some of her older books and the Walsh Family series). Lately I’ve her books have explored the mystery genre and reflecting on her depression, and just weren’t for me. With My Favourite Mistake Marion finds a balance between those two topics and with the magic that is the Walsh family she put together an entertaining mystery that is full of humor and just the right balance of melancholy.
I had read Anna Walsh’s story years ago but hadn’t remembered it vividly (in fact had mixed it up with Margaret Walsh’s) until I got going. Anna had lost her husband and was finding a way to break through her grief in her first story. In this one she is about 18 years in the future and has moved on with life. But moving on sometimes means realizing your roots are where you come to roost, which happens to Anna post pandemic. The feelings that many experienced in the pandemic, the reassessment of life, are well done with Anna. What comes as brand new content is Anna’s further realization she’s not dumb or lacks drive, she just needs her passion to be at play. With flashbacks to fill in the past 18 years we see Anna settle into an Irish town as she works to change public opinion about her friends’ retreat while trying to avoid narky Joey, who was a key player in breaking her and her best friend up.
This felt a bit like a hug if you’re a fan of the Walsh family. We get back to that world in a way I haven’t experienced in recent books. At the same time it was great to revisit Anna, who had a great ending the first time around. Like others I hope this and Rachel’s story (which I hadn’t read due to how painful her first time around was - though so well done) starts a trend for revisiting each of the sisters. While this can be read as a standalone you would be missing out not to have experienced the poignancy of Anna’s first book.
I love Marion Keyes writing (especially some of her older books and the Walsh Family series). Lately I’ve her books have explored the mystery genre and reflecting on her depression, and just weren’t for me. With My Favourite Mistake Marion finds a balance between those two topics and with the magic that is the Walsh family she put together an entertaining mystery that is full of humor and just the right balance of melancholy.
I had read Anna Walsh’s story years ago but hadn’t remembered it vividly (in fact had mixed it up with Margaret Walsh’s) until I got going. Anna had lost her husband and was finding a way to break through her grief in her first story. In this one she is about 18 years in the future and has moved on with life. But moving on sometimes means realizing your roots are where you come to roost, which happens to Anna post pandemic. The feelings that many experienced in the pandemic, the reassessment of life, are well done with Anna. What comes as brand new content is Anna’s further realization she’s not dumb or lacks drive, she just needs her passion to be at play. With flashbacks to fill in the past 18 years we see Anna settle into an Irish town as she works to change public opinion about her friends’ retreat while trying to avoid narky Joey, who was a key player in breaking her and her best friend up.
This felt a bit like a hug if you’re a fan of the Walsh family. We get back to that world in a way I haven’t experienced in recent books. At the same time it was great to revisit Anna, who had a great ending the first time around. Like others I hope this and Rachel’s story (which I hadn’t read due to how painful her first time around was - though so well done) starts a trend for revisiting each of the sisters. While this can be read as a standalone you would be missing out not to have experienced the poignancy of Anna’s first book.