Watermelon
Marian Keyes
Fiction
Review posted: 7/20/03
The wildly,wickedly funny misadventures of Claire. When her baby is born, instead of
celebrating her husband marches into recovery to tell her he’s leaving her for the
downstairs neighbor. That’s the bad news. The good news is, it can’t get much worse.
Claire tells her story in a wry Irish voice, as she goes home to her family, none of
whom are altogether normal. Her father, who never cared for her husband James in the
first place is neither surprised nor please. In fact her father is more like a piece of
furniture than a member of the family, a spend a great deal of time avoiding family
conflicts with his charmingly offbeat wife and three daughters. There is Anna, her
generally drugged hippie sister, Helen, the sex-kitten, and their mother who spends a
great deal of time worrying about them, almost as much time as she spends watching her
soaps.
Then there is Kate, Claire’s precious daughter, who hasn’t been introduced to her father,
since he hasn’t shown any interest in her whatsoever. Faced with her family, her daughter
and her failures Claire sinks into a depression so deep it would probably have been
alarming if it wasn’t so funny. She ranges from morose to violent (how dare they watch
love scenes on the televeson when she’s been left by her husband!) and spends a great
deal of time wallowing in a self-indulgent veil of tears. Despite all this, Watermelon
never becomes depressing. Even when she’s sneaking around the house, searching for her
family’s booze stash (her mother hides and moves it to keep the kids out), or cowering in
bed with a bottle ( she doesn’t hide it with any great degree of success) Claire manages
to tell her story with a wry, darkly humorous voice.
It’s not until Claire meets the charming young Adam that her depression begins to
dissipate. Love is on the horizan and Claire looks better than ever (it’s amazing what a
diet of booze and cigarettes can do for you). She’s dropped her pregnancy pounds, found
a dashing new love and a greater degree of self-confidence that shocks James when he
finally puts in a second appearance.
This is a book for any day that you need a pick-me-up. Laugh out loud funny and
shamelessly indulgent, you’ll find yourself cheering as Claire takes one small step for
woman, one giant step for womankind.
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