In all of Marian Keyes's books, The heroines go through horrendous times before getting to the happy and uplifting. Rachel is madcap, earnest, witty, giving and so sharply observant, and yet she also has the most enormous cognitive dissonance about herself.

While I know they added a bit to Rachel's own story, I just didn't care enough about her clients at The Cloisters to want to read so much about them. All profoundly written, hilarious, and deals with each sibling going through a tumultuous time in their lives. Marian brings back the patients and their heartbreaking yet entertaining stories that I found so involving in Rachel’s Holiday. Having really enjoyed Rachel's Holiday years ago, I was really intrigued to see what happened to her next.There is chaos and humour in the life of the Walsh family, as when Rachel and her sisters prepare a “surprise” party for her mother’s 80th birthday. I took my time, savouring the stories, almost feeling like I was part of this family catching up on all the goss.

With a number of heavy topics (and possible triggers) surrounding addiction, alcohol abuse and loss, readers need to be open to this if they select Again, Rachel. While there are parts of the book that are bit fanatical, the expensive dresses etc, and far fetched that is allowed cause although reading about the Walshes is like catching with old friends it is fact a work of fiction so a little bit of fantasy is okay especially when it involves Tom Ford dresses. Rachel's relationship with Luke is one of the most intense and well-written romances I've come across in recent memory. I enjoyed where every Walsh Family member was at this stage of their life, particularly Claire because I feel she is the most absent in the other books.She is in a happy relationship with another man, Quin, who is not easy, but he is interesting and complex.

She was a great character with flaws and struggles in ‘Rachel’s Holiday’ and now is older and maybe a bit wiser (although maybe not)!In this one, Rachel is an addiction counsellor, and Keyes had a good time writing the group counselling scenes. It's an ingenious way of dealing with social issues that can shatter lives, whilst doing so with the warm and belly-laugh humour that the author is so good at. Their sisterhood, portrayed with warmth and humour , suggests that Keyes might be channel l ing some of her familial experiences.

Menopause seemed like a strange country with some very odd practices and I did my best to pretend I’d never be old enough for it. The two are middle-aged now and have spent years apart, but Keyes manages to emphasise their connection so powerfully that I, along with Rachel, went from hating him and being so cross with him, to slowly warming to him, to falling in love with him all over again. For those that are interested in Rachel’s story you must read Rachel’s Holiday first, in fact all of the Walsh family novels. Family dynamics, like those in the Walsh family from Again, Rachel , are a common focal point in literature.The audio is highly recommended, and as an added bonus there is a lovely interview with the author and Graham Norton at the end.