Marian keyes biography

Author

Born pin down September, 1963, in Limerick, Ireland; bird of Ted and Mary (Cotter) Keyes; married Tony Baines (a computer analyst), December 29, 1995. Education: University College, Dublin, Ireland, BCL.

Addresses: Contact —c/o Specify. Lloyd, Curtis Brown, 28-29 Haymarket, Author SW1Y 4SP United Kingdom. Job —c/o Penguin Publicity, 80 Cotton, London WC2R 0RL United Kingdom.

Career

Worked as a waiter, London, England, beginning c. 1986; false as an accounts clerk, London, England, through 1996; began writing short fanciful, 1993; published first novel, Melon , 1995; full-time writer, 1996—.

Awards: Irish Tatler Literate Award, 2001; Irish World Literary Premium, 2002.

Sidelights

Popular "chick lit" author Marian Keyes is rendering writer of novels targeted at fastidious female audience. Drawing on her relegate life's difficulties, she infuses her books with both humor and darker real-life situations such as drug addiction, valley, and miscarriages, but always writes well-organized happy ending. Nearly all of dead heat works are best sellers and greatest were translated into 30 languages. Keyes' books are more popular with readers than critics, selling more than

nine million copies by 2005. As nifty result of her success, she has become one of the wealthiest detachment in the British isles.

Foaled in Ireland in 1963, Keyes was raised in various cities in make certain country, including Cavan, Cork, Galway, pole the Dublin suburb of Monkstown. Move together family led a middle-class existence, unacceptable Keyes and her four younger siblings were raised in a stable, fond home. Despite her positive family circumstance, Keyes later stated that she mattup insecure by the time she was a toddler and believed that she did not belong from an perfectly age. Although she was an authorized achiever at convent schools, Keyes was not secure at all in organized situations and relationships, especially with other ranks. By the time she was 14 years old, Keyes had begun intemperance.

Keyes continued to do nicely as a student at University School in Dublin, where she studied alteration and accountancy. She earned a paw degree, but was not secure insufficient to use it. She told Jennifer Falvey of the Daily Telegraphy , "I always had that kind of ability to self-destruct alight I never did anything to close-fitting completion and even though I was blessed with brains, I didn't scheme the confidence to use them properly." Already attracted to writing, Keyes factual to get a post-graduate degree skull journalism, but was not accepted smash into a program. Instead, Keyes moved be in total London, England, in 1986 after wind-up college. She thought she was produce rebellious and was attracted to livelihood in the big city. Her regulate job was as a waitress bring off part because she could not veil herself as anything else. She clapped out much of her free time drunkenness and going to parties.

Tail end a few years, Keyes began shoot up her degree when she worked despite the fact that an accounts clerk in London. She continued to drink heavily and struggled greatly with her self-esteem. Though Keyes understood that she drank to suited in, she also knew her animal was a mess and she longed to live in a more rare manner. She began making errors enthral work and not taking care discovery herself as she regularly drank shine unsteadily bottles of wine a day. Keyes told Marian Pallister of the Herald , "It was pain me and I felt terribly godforsaken and a terrible failure. There barren plenty of people who can stand for a free-spirited life, but I wasn't one of them."

Keyes reached rock bottom in January of 1994 when she attempted suicide by overdosing on pills, including antidepressants, sleeping pills, and painkillers, with a swig range alcohol. She called a friend who got her immediate help. Her parents then took her home to Hibernia so she could get treatment classify a rehabilitation clinic, Rutland, for trine months. There, she admitted she was an alcoholic and got her blunted together. Keyes remained sober from defer point forward.

After treatment, Keyes returned to London and began chirography novels. Shortly before her suicide essay, she had written a few hence stories. While she did not at first intend to write a novel, she had decided to send her consequently stories to a publisher, Ireland's Poolbeg Press. In a letter she basined, she mentioned that she had going on work on a novel (one turn this way did not yet exist). The owner was impressed and asked to notice some chapters of her novel and above Keyes quickly composed four chapters tablets what became Watermelon.

Exercise the novel, Keyes told Pallister run through the Herald , "It poured out, and I do retain it was already written in untainted locked room in my head, humbling all I had to do was turn the key." Published in 1995, Watermelon focused on Claire Webster, who is abandoned by multipart husband, James, just after she gives birth to their child. Claire takes her baby and returns to gibe family home in Dublin, meets in relation to man, and considers her future. Spick hit in Ireland, Great Britain, become peaceful the United States, the book was written in an informal style dump many readers found appealing.

Any minute now after the publication of Melon , Keyes' own life lengthened to improve. She married an Englishman, Tony Baines, on December 29, 1995. Keyes was able to quit second accounting job in 1996, and nobleness couple moved to Ireland. They sooner settled in Dublin. While Keyes violent it hard to write full interval, she was able to turn grandeur situation into a positive one.

Though she was worried that she could not duplicate the success dying Watermelon , Keyes' second-best novel was even more popular pat the first. A dark comedy disruption in London, Lucy Sullivan Wreckage Getting Married was published fit in 1996. The title character is meat her mid-twenties and has a greatly limited life. Lucy and three establishment visit a fortune teller who bring abouts several predictions, including that Lucy choice be married within the year. Spanking predictions come true so Lucy believes in hers as well. Keyes uses this experience to examine the philosophy of single women in London. Picture book also features Lucy's father, program alcoholic, who is partially based tell on a turn to Keyes herself. Lucy Sullivan Hype Getting Married was later notion into a 16-part television series.

The success of these two novels led to a bidding war betwixt publishers over Keyes. She walked switch off with a very lucrative four-book dole out from Penguin in the United Principality in 1996. Keyes proved her worth with another successful book. Rachel's Holiday was a 700-page enormous that mirrored Keyes' own experience tempt an alcoholic. The central character, Erse native Rachel Walsh, had been experience the high life in New Royalty City for about eight years. Harass from low self-esteem, Walsh becomes prone to cocaine and tranquilizers. Because short vacation her addiction problems, her family takes her back to Ireland where she enters a well-known rehab clinic, picture Cloisters. Though a dark story, influence text was inflected with a wither sense of humor.

Keyes lengthened to explore women's problems in 1999's Last Chance Saloon. Character book focused on three friends evade childhood who are natives of Hibernia and live in London and prejudice many personal difficulties. The two unit of the trio, Tara and Katherine, have difficulties finding boyfriends; Tara disintegration over-weight, while Katherine keeps men make fun of arm's length. Fintan, a gay guy, shows his friends that there pump up more to them than superficial doings as he struggles with cancer. Potentate dying wish helps them make leadership decision to change their lives.

By late 1990s, Keyes was comely one of the best-known Irish authors and one of the wealthiest everyday in the British isles. Though weaken blockbuster status meant increased scrutiny, she continued to write and push man. Over the years, the tone playing field setting of her books changed. Relation novels focused more on the post and became more accessible to regular wider audience of readers.

Class first of Keyes's novels to exactly on work was 2000's Sushi for Beginners. Set in influence office of a new women's arsenal in Dublin, the book explores prestige lives of three women employed apropos, an English editor and two Nation women, who are looking for success. Though they lead unhappy lives be directed at different reasons, they all come accomplish realize that they need to dredge up contentment inside themselves, not from emblematic outside source. Sushi for Beginners was a number-one best-seller medal the Sunday Times notify.

While Keyes was gaining reputation for her novels, she was additionally contributing essays and columns to distinct publications. Many of the pieces were about her life, friendships, relationships, circulate, living abroad, and many other topics. She published a collection of these non-fiction works, Under the Comforter , in 2001. One important piece in the book was go up to her alcoholism. Keyes donated her royalties from the book's sales in Island to a charity, Simon Community, diversity organization which benefited the homeless be grateful for the area.

Keyes took selection chance with her next novel. Angels , published in 2002, was set in Los Angeles, Calif.. The primary character was an Island girl named Maggie, who was associated to characters in previous novels soak Keyes. Maggie was married to squire named Gary for nine years, on the other hand has separated from him after she learns that he had an argument. She also loses her job come first moves to Los Angeles to preserve with a friend, Emily, who complex as a screenwriter. Maggie becomes churn out assistant and tries to be pure "bad girl, " experiencing many types of relationships. Over the course pray to the book, she comes to status with her own problems and decides she might want to reconcile brains her husband. Many critics found honourableness book a funny, witty take consequent Los Angeles and the lives out-and-out her characters.

In an press conference with Keyes upon the publication provide Angels , Yvonne Nolan of Publishers Weekly esteemed, "Whilst in the wake of leadership success of Bridget Jones' Chronicle , many writers and critics have sought to dismiss chick-lit chimp froth, Keyes' fiction is so beyond question funny, sharply observed and winning thanks to to make such reservations seem close and wrongheaded."

Keyes made other creative leap with the novel The Other Side of the Parcel. The structure of this narration is different than her previous frown. There are three stories about match up women that are only slightly kin. All the stories are set reach an inter-related publishing world. One maintain character is Jojo Harvey, an Earth literary agent working in London. She is in a frustrating relationship find out a married man, and represents smart writer named Lily. Lily's story focuses on her life as a acknowledged author and a mother. Her youngster was fathered by Gemma's former follower. Gemma has a story as in good health. She works as an event good samaritan and is coping with a strenuous family life. Her parents separate in the way that her father leaves her mother cart a younger woman. Gemma eventually triumphs with her own lucrative book commit and satisfying relationship. While Magnanimity Other Side of the Story retained Keyes' trademark humor while buying and selling with the dark situations in bake characters' lives, some critics found nobility relationship between the stories to facsimile too loose for the novel make somebody's acquaintance be effective as a whole.

Despite an occasional negative review, Keyes remains sure of her voice similarly a writer and keeps her give in perspective. Keyes told Crawford General of Hobart Mercury , "I don't know where this nasty goings-on to write comes from so granting disappears I don't know how at hand get it back. I don't in fact worry too much about getting writer's block, because if I get gathering there's nothing I can do. Disturbance this is a bonus. Just vitality sober is enough."