Chasing Marian
Pan Macmillan
Amy Heydenrych, Gail Schimmel, Pamela Power,
Qarnita Loxton
Review: Karen Watkins
Four strangers hear a rumour that an Irish author is due to visit a local literacy festival.
From Cape Town and Johannesburg, they have one thing in common; they are all die-hard Marian Keyes fans.
Desperate to meet her for one reason or another, the pandemic throws a spanner in the works so they take to social media and form the MK book club.
Joining forces, they come up with a novel idea to meet their favourite author, and in the process form firm friendships and become allies to deal with techno jargon, a porn video and sex with a stranger in a unisex bathroom.
Jess is beautiful, kind and mum of two children whose life is slowly unravelling after recently separating from her investment banker husband.
Ginger is a happily widowed granny who was married to a boring man.
This brash, bold broad has a wicked sense of humour and instead of enjoying life, she has to deal with her meddling daughters who are constantly putting her down.
Matt is the only male and lives with an alcoholic dad and seriously ill mum while finishing his degree in psychology – which has nothing to do with the story.
He is having a “friends with physical benefits” relationship with Sadie while searching for love.
Queenie is a librarian in a long-distance relationship with Kevin and lives with her sister. She yearns to jump into new adventures and not just secretly write about them.
Each character has been written by a different author. Each chapter is written from the point of view of one of the characters.
Topics deal with issues of alcoholism, depression and falling in love.
It’s no literary masterpiece but if you are looking for a feel-good, humorous, entertaining read about the power of making connections, taking a few risks and the love of books, this is it.
Marian Keyes is an Irish author of 19 best-selling novels sold around the world.
