The Break - Marian Keyes

Available on Amazon 

Amy's husband Hugh says he isn't leaving her. He still loves her, he's just taking a break - from their marriage, their children and, most of all, from their life together. Six months to lose himself in South East Asia. And there is nothing Amy can say or do about it. Yes, it's a mid-life crisis, but let's be clear: a break isn't a break up - yet . . .

However, for Amy it's enough to send her - along with her extended family of gossips, misfits and troublemakers - teetering over the edge. For a lot can happen in six-months. When Hugh returns, if he returns, will he be the same man she married? Will Amy be the same woman? Because if Hugh is on a break from their marriage, then so is she . . . The Break is a story about the choices we make and how those choices help to make us. It is Marian Keyes at her funniest, wisest and brilliant best.

My Review:

This one really took me on an emotion filled ride. I have been through every feeling, particularly for our female lead Amy.  If I'm being honest - even now I am still unsure if I actually LIKE her not. 

When Hugh decides he needs a break, some time for him to break away from everything and everyone on some kind of 'anything goes' trail around Asia, Amy and his kids are obviously devastated. Amy has trust issues, we find that out early on, from a previous marriage so this is a massive deal for her (as it would be for anyone I guess!) Hugh claims he loves her and WILL be back after six months, but realistically even before he has gone anywhere I didn't imagine for one second he'd be slotting back into place.

The story follows Amy through those next days, weeks and months of his absence. Yes, there is the sadness and she is obviously traumatised - I felt so sorry for her, I empathised and really quite disliked Hugh but rest assured it's not all gloom and doom. 

We journey through Amy making some shocking and - quite frankly - stupid life choices in my opinion. I began to quite dislike her at some points, and my sympathy towards her started to wain - we also get to see all was perhaps not what we originally thought and Hugh, well for me, he doesn't seem as such an idiot really - in fact I had more sympathy for him at some points. 

There are plenty of laughs in this story. There are so many wild and wonderful characters you are assured to find moments of true hilarity. The characters are fantastic, well written and even though there are quite a lot of them I didn't think this took anything away from the story only added some fun, interesting aspects. 

Marian's writing style is captivating, you get so engrossed in what you are reading. I read this in one sitting which is quite some feat! I love the relaxed and witty way Marian writes, makes the characters relatable too.  Though we have many lighthearted moments this story does also look at some serious, deeper issues that have need to be addressed. It's done in a brilliant way though, totally in-keeping with the tone of the book. 

As a big Marian Keyes fan, this book did not fail to live up to expectations. I highly recommend The Break. It's a keeper for me - I'll definitely re-read.