Grown Ups is a lively, fast-paced and moving story about a highly dysfunctional (although hilarious at times) Irish family, The Caseys, and all of their complex, entangled stories.
The three Casey brothers, their wives and assorted children all spend a lot of time together, but tensions are simmering under the surface from old resentments, second marriages, truculent teenagers, step-siblings and fears of insufficiency.
Throughout the book the Casey clan delivers an endless amount of drama peppered by author Marian Keyes’s signature humour, while simultaneously addressing serious, real-life issues such as bulimia, anxiety, depression and alcoholism.
With the countless characters and their many complex relationships, the book can seem a little confusing at the beginning for some; but stick the pace because it all falls into place and, once finished, most are sad to see the complicated clan go. It’s a bit like arriving into a dinner party and immediately forgetting everyone’s names once you’ve been introduced, but as the stories unfold and the night passes, you put it all together. Personally I didn’t need it, but the family tree at the beginning of the book ought to have helped some!
Keyes brilliantly captures the impossible paradox of being a 21st-century grown-up, furiously trying to keep up, pretending you know what you’re doing, never feeling like you’re enough, parenting children who seem more savvy than you, and sometimes just wishing someone else would sort it all out for you. Told from multiple points of view, Keyes knows best how to bring out her character insecurities and flaws, making them incredibly relatable – and perhaps this is why the book is such a hit.
Overall I found the book witty and engaging in a light-hearted and typically Marian Keyes way - it’s difficult not to become so immersed in the lives of these people that the pages just fly by – but it’s also a page turner for the more serious and powerful themes around the dynamics of family, marriage and body image. There really isn’t a dull moment, and this is tragicomedy at its heartbreaking and witty best…