Her characters are convincing and credible, their faults and foibles laid bare, but also their capacity for love and generosity. Keyes writes with empathy and compassion but avoids being maudlin.

What struck me most about the book was the wit and warmth of the writing. This is my first Keyes novel - the covers seem to be designed specifically to deter men from buying the books - but after coming to it from a Twitter recommendation, I am pleased to have found her and will be going back. In the depths, however, every character is dealing with one issue or another and as with every family, the tensions ebb and flow, sometimes breaking that surface with dramatic results.

On the surface, of course, everything in the Casey world looks calm and happy. A five star retreat for Easter in County Mayo, summer holidays in a villa in Tuscany and countless dinner and other parties. The anchor of the tale is Jessie Parnell, successful businesswoman and owner/manager of PIG, a cookery enterprise that provides her with enough cash to feed an online shopping habit and to lavish her generous hospitality on the family including a cast of about 10 children) she didn't have growing up. In Grown Ups Marian Keyes takes us on a breakneck six-month ride through their lives and loves, triumphs and disasters, heartbreaks and joys. Liam: restless and rakish, giving marriage a second go with budding set designer Nell. Ed: solid, reliable, completely in love with his lovely wife Cara, whose knows her secret problem, but not how to help her. Meet the Casey boys! Johnny: handsome and charming, married to his best friend's widow, the effervescent gourmet entrepreneur, Jessie.

Grown ups marian