by Marian Keyes
First published 2006
Rachel Walsh lives hard in Manhattan, where being young and Irish means pushing every limit. Her party lifestyle catches up fast. An emergency room visit costs her both her job and Luke, the boyfriend she loves. Her family intervenes, flying her home to Ireland and checking her into a treatment center. Rachel expects luxury rehab with spa services and celebrity sightings. She gets group therapy sessions instead. The counseling forces her to examine herself in ways she never wanted. Rachel resists the process but slowly gains insights about her choices and patterns. Among fellow patients and staff, she meets someone unexpected. This man represents everything Rachel typically avoids in relationships. He might actually treat her well. Rachel must decide whether to embrace real change or return to familiar chaos.
Genres: addiction, contemporary, adult-fiction, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, redemption
Setting: Ireland, Manhattan
Period: 21st-century
592 pages · ebook · HarperCollins Publishers
Content warnings: addiction, alcohol-abuse, mental-illness