Marian Keyes
Marian Keyes
Marian Keyesis an Irish novelist and non-fiction writer, best known for her work in women's literature. She is an Irish Book Awards winner. Over 22 million copies of her novels have been sold worldwide and her books have been translated into 32 languages. She became known worldwide for Watermelon, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, and This Charming Man, with themes including domestic violence and alcoholism...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth10 September 1963
CountryIreland
suffering doubt circumstances
There's no doubt that relationships do suffer when circumstances change profoundly.
mind chicks worst
Do I mind being called a chick-lit writer? Well, it's not the worst thing that could happen.
jobs fear believe
As you know, I don't believe in fear, just an invention by men so they get all the money and good jobs.
optimism
Optimism can be relearnt.
bit cause causes people promise richer shock spouse stick
People promise to stick with their spouse 'for richer or poorer' but it's the 'for poorer' part that causes the worry. The big shock is that the 'for richer' bit can also cause problems.
allowed altered awful people positive strange turn
I think there is pressure on people to turn every negative into a positive, but we should be allowed to say, 'I went through something really strange and awful and it has altered me forever.'
constantly looking shift uneasy war
I'm not looking for pity, I'm really not, but I'm constantly uneasy and every day it is pretty much like getting up and going to war. Once I shift into the mindset of 'Yeah, you're alive. It's tough. Let's do what we can today,' it's easier.
burden discomfort everybody life meant psychic realised sort tough
I've kind of realised life is meant to be tough and everybody is in psychic and spiritual discomfort of some sort and has a burden to carry. I've realised I'm not special.
attitude balance control gender haughty higher highest lower money power purse regardless relationship reward spending strings suffer system takes uses wage
Regardless of the gender of the highest wage earner, the balance of power in the relationship will suffer if the higher earner uses control of the purse strings as a system of reward and punishment. It will also suffer if the lower earner takes a chippy, haughty attitude to spending money they haven't actually generated themselves.
less people safer
Bizarrely, I actually feel safer the older I get, like people will expect less from me, and I can become more and more invisible, yet more and more eccentric.
ball excited kicking men mocking whereas women
Men can be men and still get excited about other men kicking a ball around and they're never mocked, whereas it's easy for women to take mocking on board, to be belittled. Because we're used to it.
convey exchanges fancy nations simply
Many nations use language simply to convey information, but it's different in Ireland. With most conversational exchanges you get an 'added extra' like the free little biscuit you sometimes get with a cappuccino in a fancy coffee place.
badly books car company confounded couple devoid earn good job met paid pension published respect staff starting
When I first met my husband, he had a very good job - company car, pension plan, grudging respect from his staff - the lot. I, on the other hand, was badly paid and devoid of ambition. Then I had a couple of books published and confounded all expectations by starting to earn more than he did.
coming core decide literary people whereas writers
When you're a mass-market writer, people think that you can just decide 'this happens, this happens, this happens', whereas with literary writers it's coming from their soul and their core. But with me it does come from my soul and my core, and my soul and my core often go AWOL, and then I've nothing to write.