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    Rachel's Holiday
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    Rachel's Holiday
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    Rachel's Holiday
    Ebook646 pages9 hours

    Rachel's Holiday

    By Marian Keyes

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    The fast lane is much too slow for Rachel Walsh. And Manhattan is the perfect place for a young Irish female to overdo everything. But Rachel's love of a good time is about to land her in the emergency room. It will also cost her a job and the boyfriend she adores.

    When her loving family hustles her back home and checks her into Ireland's answer to the Betty Ford Clinic, Rachel is hopeful. Perhaps it will be lovely—spa treatments, celebrities, that kind of thing. Instead, she finds a lot of group therapy, which leads her, against her will, to some important self-knowledge. She will also find something that all women like herself fear: a man who might actually be good for her.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateMar 17, 2009
    ISBN9780061840050
    Author

    Marian Keyes

    Marian Keyes is the author of ten bestselling novels and two essay collections. She lives in Ireland with her husband and their two imaginary dogs.

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    Reviews for Rachel's Holiday

    4/5

    865 ratings33 reviews

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    • 5/5
      This has always been my favourite of Marian Keyes novels... I love the deflecting humour and the real pain that is gradually dug up, and eventually dealt with. I do have a minor quibble with the end, after making peace in New York and saying goodbye, well I just think it would have been a stronger ending without the "Malcolm the Mountie always gets his man" final chapter... But, still a five star read for me.
    • 4/5
      This was my 2nd Marian Keys book. I really liked Watermelon a lot, so I was looking forward to reading this one. I found Rachel's Holiday to be a somewhat serious story about Rachel who is addicted to drugs and is in total denial. Marian Keyes handles this subject very well and also writes it with lots of wit and humor. The story held my interest from start to finish and I'm now looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I highly recommend this series to those who love chick-lit with lots of humor.
    • 2/5
      Rachel Walsh's family sends her to what she believes is an exclusive rehabilitation center, but it doesn't turn out to be the vacation she'd dreamed about.I think the most difficult thing about this book was the fact that I didn't care about any of the characters. Rachel, the drug-addicted twenty-something, was a mess. I pitied her, but I didn't care about her. Neither did I bond with any of the other patients in the treatment center. As much as Rachel claimed that her boyfriend Luke, was an amazing guy, he seemed very cold emotionally as well as sexually demanding. Her bff, possibly the only likeable person in the book, showed up rarely. The nun who was in charge of Rachel's rehabilitation was a bully. Because I couldn't get close to the characters, reading this was like watching a train wreck.What I did like was the portrayal of Rachel's struggle to come clean. I also liked how she tackled her denial.Overall, it was kind of meh.
    • 3/5
      It was a great read, just the thing when you are on a holiday (luckily not the same type as Rachel). Marian Keyes is a master at making you feel like you could be one of the gang and that her characters could become your best friends even if they are all a bit nutty because thats the type of friends I like to have. Rachels Holiday may initially come across as one of Keyes typical style of story but quickly becomes deeper and quite sad and poignant at times the issue addiction is dealt with using a clever mix of comedy and what I can only guess is in depth research.
    • 4/5
      I've read this one before but I purchased it recently for a re-read because I've always thought of it as my favourite of Marian Keyes' books. It probably still is.I've said before and I'll no doubt say again that when Marian Keyes is good, she's brilliant and that brilliance lies in the honesty of her characters. She understands what being an addict is. The pacing of the book is excellent, gradually filling in what brought us to the present situation even as that current is moved along. It's the same structure she's used in her most recent (at the time of writing) The Mystery of Mercy Close, but that feels disjointed and heavy handed in comparison to this one.It's littered with Irish vernacular, which I really like.What I'm not a fan of - and it's just a question of personal taste - are the "chick-lit"-ee bits: those obligatory parts of the genre which those who don't read it thinks constitutes its whole. There aren't many of them and they don't detract too desperately, but personally, I could have lived without them.So, yes. I'd recommend it.
    • 5/5
      I waffled between five and four stars for all of ten seconds before deciding on five, simply because of my sheer inability to be rational about this novel.

      I fell in love with Rachel, and I have no idea why. If I hadn't picked this up at a library sale when my impulse control was at it's lowest, I wouldn't have it at all. There's literally nothing about this book, from the cover, to the genre, to the jacket copy to make me think I'd enjoy it, or that it was my kind of book. Because it really isn't.

      In fact, my first thought on opening the book on a whim a year after putting it on my shelf (not an uncommon phenomenon) was "oh, nice typeface." Rachel's story was convincing and compelling, if only because the reader is so well grounded in her mental state—she's all over the place emotionally and never seems to notice, but you still get a sense of who she really is under all the drugs. And even knowing that she's in more trouble than she thinks she is, Rachel's done a thorough job of hiding from herself, so as bad as it is, you're almost as shocked as she is when confronted.

      Even that wouldn't be enough to give in five stars in my mental rating system, but when Rachel is forced to remember her early childhood, I abruptly found myself in tears. I haven't connected so strongly to a character in I don't know how long. And I don't know why it's Rachel, either. If I were anyone in this novel, I'd be Margaret, the 'brownose' But for Rachel, I spent much of the second half of the novel in tears for her, and was so proud of her recovery. Bizarre, but this unexpected total empathy is exactly why I read, and I haven't experienced it for a while.

    • 2/5
      British, sort of chick lit but maybe a little heavier (literally at almost 600 pages in a small sized paperback). Pam McCullough recommended this book as “really funny” and “delightful,” but I think it’s a lot heavier than that. Unlike Cruise and Phillips, who concentrate on the girl/guy romantic elements (which is, of course, why they have romance stickers on the spine) this book deals with Rachel’s drug and alcohol addiction as the main focus of the book. She does have a relationship with Luke, the eighties rocker-dressing hunk, but the book really focuses on how her addictions affect the relationship. At least 400 pages of the book takes place in the “Cloisters,” the rehab facility she enters after landing “in hospital” after an accidental overdose. Keyes is funny but the book is not a straight romance/chick lit. I kept wondering if I should recommend the book to Kristin, or if she’d view it as a whack over the head.
    • 5/5
      This has to be my favorite Marian Keyes' novel. I adore the character Rachel, so funny and real. Absolutely lovely story.
    • 4/5
      Rachel is living in New York, working a job that really doesn't demand much from her which is good because she's not giving much back, she's addicted to drugs, specifically cocaine and is breaking the hearts of her friends.It's heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time and while it makes you glad you're not like her, you also think about ways in which you are alike.Yes it's a fair number of pages long but it's also quite a quick read as it drags you in and doesn't let you go to the end. All the time you're rooting for Rachel to have a better life.
    • 3/5
      Fun, with some serious overtones. It's part of a series of books by Marian Keyes about th Walsh sister.
    • 4/5
      I really struggled with how to rate this book, as well as how to tag it. The cover contains a review from the Boston Globe that reads, "Hilarious... a coming-of-age journey of love and self-discovery... propelled by its unforgettable heroine." On the back, Newsday calls it the perfect "beach read."This is a story about addiction and the desperation and associated self-absorption. Keyes is a great story teller and I was engaged throughout the entire book. Though it is touted as a light comedic beach read, I found it to be much heavier than described. More than 75% of the book takes place in an addiction recovery facility. The tough-love psychological approach used there helps the addicts face their weaknesses head on and admit their helplessness. I didn't find myself laughing during the book, nor did I think her relationships would fit into the category of romance for me. That being said, this difficult to categorize and poorly marketed book did tell a good story and seemed to deal realistically with the subject of addiction.
    • 4/5
      I'm loving Marian Keyes! This was so funny in places! Rachel expects rehab to be a plush spa experience. Ha!
    • 2/5
      An interesting twist on the typical chick lit. Rachel is an addict, and is forced to return home to Ireland (I believe) to detox. Not a bad read
    • 5/5
      Rachel's Holiday turned into my own holiday from the easy reads I like to take on vacation with me. I was pulled in and had my eyes opened up to Rachel's world of rehab and recovery. Marian Keyes did a great job of helping me understand the addicts point of view.
    • 3/5
      Young woman goes to a rehab in her native Ireland. She leaves her life in New York behind to embark on her sometimes funny journey.
    • 4/5
      Marian Keyes is a very funny writer, and like so many of her books, this one manages to deal with a serious subject and still be tremendously entertaining. The serious subject here is drug and alcohol addiction. In New York Irish ex-pat Rachel Walsh's life devolves as she develops cocaine and alcohol addictions. After losing her job, her boyfriend, and her best friend, Rachel finds herself back in Ireland in treatment. Refusing to believe that she is an addict, Rachel agrees to treatment only because she thinks she might see celebrities. What follows are Rachel's comic misadventures as an addict in denial while in treatment, interspersed with the story of how she became an addict. Keyes has an amazing ability to bring humor to horrible situations, and this is a book to read when you need a pick-me-up. The ending is a bit unbelievable, but the book is by and large light and fun reading.
    • 4/5
      This book took me a while but that was a lot to do with the festive season. It was a little slow at times but I did like it. I liked Rachel (the protagonist) and saw her vulnerabilty as well as seeing that she was not the horrible person she was sometimes put across as being. She was merely an addict who in the thick of it had been a bit of an unsavoury version of herself. Once getting to know her, and the longer she spent in the rehabilitation centre, the more I warmed to her. Her final acceptance that she was indeed an addict was touching, and you really felt for her, especially as most of the time she was looking at the other addicts as if she had nothing in common with them, when in fact she was exactly the same. The ending was nice too, and you almost wished her to succeed after the book, even though its not actually real =)
    • 3/5
      The simplest way that I can describe Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes is that I was impressed by how much it accomplished and yet I didn't like it at all. It's a complicated thing, because a large part of the reason I didn't like it was because the main character's attitude, actions, and state of denial were SO AGGRAVATING. Like, holy shit, I wanted to shake this woman and never let her go. But then that's the whole reason the author was successful - because she did such a spot-on job of portraying a non-recovering drunk, and then a newly-recovered drunk, and then a relapsed-drunk, and then a comfortably-settled-into-recovery drunk.I hated how aggravating the main character was but she was aggravating because people in that state are aggravating. As a recovering alcoholic, I'm sure my behavior was just as confusing to other's as Rachel's was to me. I'm sure my denial, my entitlement, and my ability to find really bizarro excuses for my behavior were no better. And yet, it's rather unpleasant to be stuck in this character's head for hundreds of pages.All of that said, would I recommend this book to a friend? Well, that depends on what you're looking for. A fun little book that lives up to the pastel purple cover and fun-loving stick figure above the title? Yeah, that's not here. Do you want answers to those, "What the hell were they thinking?!?" questions you've had about people whose lives have gone to hell yet can't seem to stop their bad behavior? Well, this book will answer those questions - though I don't know that you'll like the answers.
    • 5/5
      Probably my favorite Marian Keyes.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book! It read like a memoir and I didn't want it to end.
    • 5/5
      I really like the way Marien describe characters, situations and conflicts. The book is funny and sad at the same time. I couldn't put it down and we never know how it is going to end. When I finished reading this book, I felt starting reading it again at the same minute.
    • 3/5
      A fun read about a young woman brought back from New York by her parents and put in a rehab clinic in Ireland. An easy read as with all Marian Keyes books.
    • 2/5
      I picked this book up looking for a quick, easy, light read. I found the main character hard to like and it took a very long time for me to start to care about what happened to her. It was a very heavy subject matter for what I expected to be light and carefree. I don't know enough about addiction and addiction treatment to evaluate it that way.
    • 4/5
      This is the first book by Marian Keyes that I've read, and I've come to realize that I should have started with the first book on the Walsh-sisters. Despite of that, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I felt that Keyes described so well what went on in Rachel's head, and that I really learned a bit about how the mind of an addict works. Topping that off with a great sense of humor - excellent!
    • 4/5
      Well this is a fecking good book, so it is! It's a comedy about a woman who lives in a state of denial. She can't admit she's a drug addict, that she's tried to kill herself, that she's a completely unreliable narrator. It had me snorting with laughter again and again. It's also close to the bone. The therapy scene where she talks about the dentist was a bit of a personal eye-opener.
    • 4/5
      An interesting story about addiction but it was too long, filled with superfluous details which I started skimming. Still I was drawn to continue even though the rehabilitation process overshadowed the romance. Rachel's family checked her into a rehab center because of her drug addiction.
    • 5/5
      An all-time favorite. Fond memories of reading this many moons ago.. highly recommend
    • 4/5
      I don't read a lot of chick lit - I always think it's not my thing, but every now and then I yearn for a light read and end up reading something from the genre, and find myself really enjoying it. Rachel's Holiday is no exception.The story follows Rachel, a twenty-something living in New York, as she's made to go back to Ireland and into a rehab centre after ending up in hospital from an overdose. She's convinced that she isn't an addict and only goes because she thinks there'll be celebrities there. The story focuses on her time at the Cloisters while flashing back to her NY life to show the events leading up to her overdose.Rachel isn't particularly likeable at first, but her wit and vulnerabilities made her an appealing heroine for me. There are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments alongside the more serious stuff, thanks to some great characters in the Cloisters, and I was even engaged with the romance plotline, although I think the very final part of that could have been left out without detriment to the novel.The most interesting thing for me was definitely Rachel's journey through her denial and obnoxiousness to self-awareness. I understand that Marian Keyes is a recovered alcoholic and it's clear from the novel that much of Rachel's story comes from her own experiences. I'd definitely be interested in reading more by Keyes based on Rachel's Holiday.
    • 3/5
      Originally on my book blog!

      “Of course I knew I was a shallow and horrible person and all that, but I couldn’t help it.”

      For most of this book, I completely agreed with that statement because it was the truth. I could not stand Rachel and I almost got to a point where I wanted to drop the book because I don’t like reading a book that I hate. I kept with it because I knew that was the point. We were supposed to hate Rachel so we could love her even more when she inevitably grew up and recovered. I am glad I stayed with the book, though.

      I will give Marian Keyes one thing: she can write a funny book. It’s hard to make books funny when they are about drug addiction and alcoholism, but Keyes did this perfectly. One thing I loved about this book was that it was funny. It was a light read, even though it had heavy material; I could picture myself sitting on a beach and reading this in an afternoon.

      Keyes also writes her characters very well and that’s probably why I didn’t like Rachel for most of this book. Rachel was selfish and self-centered. Many addicts are in a way, but Rachel just made me want to rip my hair out.

      She didn’t want to date Luke because she was ashamed of him and didn’t know what her “cool” friends would say. She only finally starting liking Luke after Brigit told her that Luke was cute. She didn’t want Luke to come to her house after going on a date, but that didn’t stop her from getting mad at him for not asking to go to her house. Then when he got home and called her to ask if he could come over, she slammed the phone down in anger. She only wanted to date someone from rehab to make Luke jealous. She honestly thought that she could get out of rehab and go get drunk and be totally fine
      She would not admit that she had a problem and usually chalked it up to “just having fun”.

      Basically, she was very annoying. I didn’t like her. She wasn’t a good person. But then…

      “For the first time I realized how selfish and self-centered I was.”

      After spending over 80% of the book filled with her lies and scapegoats, I was elated when she finally admitted that she was finally owning up to her horrendous behavior. I found myself rooting for her for the last part of the book after that. She was more bearable and at times it almost felt like a completely different person.

      When I wasn’t wanting to rip my hair out because of Rachel, I was enjoying the rest of the book. Marian Keyes sets up scenery well. Cloisters was a made-up clinic, but Keyes made it come alive. She made the other characters come alive. She is from Ireland and that’s where most of the book took place. It was fun reading a book set in a place where I’ve never been. Keyes brought in Irish accents and dialects that I didn’t know existed throughout the country.

      Part of the book was also based in New York because it went back and forth between Pre-Rehab and During-Rehab. The New York part of the book was about the same as most other books I’ve read about New York, minus all the drugs obviously. Pre-Rehab Rachel was obnoxious and very stuck up, so that part of the story was never that fun because it just annoyed me. Then there is Post-Rehab that is set in both places as well. I liked this part most because she was a likable person at this time.

      The other characters were fun and a good break from only hearing about Rachel. I loved the other people in Cloisters and was sad when they all left. I enjoyed that this was different from other books that I’ve read with institutions involved.

      In the end, I would probably read another Marian Keyes book if I saw one around. I see why she is popular. This one just wasn’t my cup of tea.
    • 5/5
      beautiful, made me fucking cry my eyes out. wonderful difference from beginning to end

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