Book info

• Title Watermelon
• Author Marian Keyes
• Year 1995
• Genre Romance

Meet Claire Walsh. On the day she gives birth to her first child, Claire's husband James tells her he's been having an affair, and that now's the right time to leave her. Right for who exactly Exhausted, tearful and a tiny bit furious, Claire doesn't know what to do. So she decides to go back to basics... and runs home to Mum and Dad. But it's not the sanctuary she'd been hoping for. Juggling her sisters' drama, her parents' pity and the demands of a baby, Claire desperately misses the way things were. So when James gets back in touch, eager to put things right, Claire faces a choice. Will she forgive and forget? Or can she find the courage to take a chance on herself, and start a life of her own?

Thoughts

I’m so aware of Marian and what a legend she is, but somehow haven’t actually read any of her books before - so started at the beginning with Watermelon, the story of a woman finding herself after being abandoned and then gaslighted by her soon-to-be-ex-husband. I love the detail in this, the characters, the many times our protagonist is spinning out, and how honest and relatable it is. Sometimes you just need to drink your sorrows away, and sometimes you don’t trust your own instincts, but eventually, things might just work out.

Rating: 4 / 5