The Walsh Family is back! This time the focus is on Anna. Anna is having a midlife crisis and finds out that she is perimenopausal. She makes some big changes in her life and finds herself back in Ireland without a job or meaning.
Thankfully fate steps in and she is roped into helping out Colm and Brigit in Western Ireland. The only problem could be Narky Joey - who she will need to work with.
This stirs up all sorts of memories, both bad and good, for her.
This is about relationships, friendships and families.
Another triumph from Marian Keyes.

"'𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒄? 𝑻𝒊𝒄𝒌! 𝑬𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑? 𝑻𝒊𝒄𝒌! 𝑷𝒊𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈? 𝑻𝒊𝒄𝒌!'
'𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒑𝒊𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈?' 𝑴𝒖𝒎 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒙𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒍𝒚. '𝑰𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒎𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆?'"

Post-pandemic and perimenopausal, Anna Walsh is feeling adrift in her glamorous NYC PR job and longs to be home in the bosom of her family in Dublin. Deciding to take the plunge and move back home, Anna finds herself no less confused about her future path, when a friend asks her to help with a PR job of sorts at a coastal retreat in Connemara.

My Favourite Mistake is the sequel to Anybody Out There. I had never read Anna’s story before, but I absolutely loved it and was thrilled to be approved for an advanced copy of the new book on NetGalley. I have a love/hate relationship with ‘big books’ (this one is just over 600 pages). I always dread them before reading, but I always inevitably become completely absorbed in the world between the pages and mourn the ending when it does arrive. I haven’t read all of Marian’s books yet, but whenever I have read them, I always find myself carrying them with me so I can read a page or two at any free moment. The pace is arguably… quite relaxed, shall we say, so fans of seat-of-the-pants books may find their attention wandering, however, this adds to the immersion in the narrative that the author builds in my opinion.

The book follows a dual timeline: the present-day where Anna decides to move home to Ireland, and jumps back to various points in the past as we slowly piece together how certain things have ended up as they are between Anybody Out There and this book. There is no doubt that Marian Keyes’ writing is just hug-in-a-book stuff; perfect for sitting on the couch under a blanket with a warm cup of something comforting in your hands. The comparison with the warmth of Maeve Binchy is obvious, but Marian peppers more laugh-out-loud moments throughout her books for good measure. I never get bored of reading about the Walsh family (Watermelon is probably my favourite and a re-read is definitely overdue), I’m always particularly delighted to meet Mammy Walsh again. If ever there was a quintessential legendary Irish mammy committed to paper, it is she.

Marian Keyes fans will not be disappointed with My Favourite Mistake - an all-round feel good which also manages to tackle some big hitters such as dealing with perimenopause.

So while I have read a number of Marian Keyes' books this is the first one about the Walsh family for me. It is a very entertaining novel that covers the trials and dramas of an Irish middle aged family and I enjoyed it immensely. Her legions of fans will not be disappointed I'm sure. Now to read all the earlier Walsh family shenanigans!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph/PenguinRandomHouse for the introduction to the Walsh family and the opportunity to read and review My Favourite Mistake.

I’ve loved all of the Marian Keyes books about the Walsh family and in My Favourite Mistake it was so lovely to be back with them all again.
All their beautifully hats and dramas but with their love for each other shining through all the time was wonderful (I never had any doubt that it would be anything less).
It was like a hug in a book and I adored it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you to Penguin Michael Joseph and Net Galley for letting me read this.

My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes
Published by Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House
Publication Date 11/4/24

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Full disclosure- Marian Keyes is my all-time favourite author. I could probably do Mastermind on her series of books about the Walsh family.
Her books never fail to pick me up, her unique blend of wit, humour and relatable characters and stories always resonate with me
This one does not disappoint. It was great to revisit Anna and see what life had in store for her and I especially like the fact that the sisters are ageing alongside me and facing the same midlife issues.

I absolutely loved it! I can’t wait to buy the physical copy for my collection.

Many thanks to the author, Publisher and to Netgalley for providing me with this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

i have been reading Marian Keyes books for as long as i remember, i love how you can lose yourself in her stories, how invested you become with the characters lives.
this is a story of love, life and its mistakes.
an absolute cracker of a read!

The day that Marian Keyes first put pen to paper should be memorialised.. It makes no difference to me whether she is writing fiction, autobiographical stories or even a cookery book, I love them all. So I was so excited to see that she had written more books about the Walsh family. If you have never encountered Mammy Walsh you are seriously missing out. This story centres around the fourth Walsh daughter Anna who decides on a whim to give up her fancy P.R job in New York, dump her boyfriend and head back to Dublin. As Anna has been working in beauty P.R and could always keep her family in expensive cosmetics her mother and sisters are not too happy to see her. But she is home to stay and needs a job so agrees to head over to the west of Ireland to supervise the building of a new luxury spa hotel. Amid sabotaged equipment, unfriendly locals and "real man" lothario Joey Armstrong this job is not going to be easy but Anna is determined to make a success of it. And there are plenty of laughs to be had along the way especially when Mammy Walsh decides that a wee trip would do her and the other girls good and they land down mob handed. Needless to say, this book gets 5 big stars from me and now I'm off to dig out my ancient copy of Watermelon and re read it for the umpteenth time

Reading a Marian Keyes book is like coming home after a long day and being looked after by a loved one, and this new instalment in the Walsh Family series is no different. Full of humour and you’re pulled into a book with characters that you just don’t want to leave. I loved it.

First off just know that this is a Marian Keyes fan account. The warmth radiating from her books is like no other.

My Favourite Mistake sees us back with Anna, the Walsh sister with the best job in the world in New York. Except she’s tiring of her New York life. So, she packs it in and heads back to Ireland. She ends up in a PR job for a fancy coastal retreat and in doing so runs into someone from her past. Anna does what she knows best when life threatens to swallow her whole; throw herself into her work.

I love being back in the Walsh family fold, it just gives me the urge to re-read all of their stories. Mercifully this was nowhere near as sad as Anna’s previous book, Anybody Out There?, because that really delivers a gut punch. There are some flashbacks for context from the intervening years between the two books which feels like unseen footage.

This could technically be read stand alone but it is made much richer for reading its predecessor. If, however, you want the richest reading experience you simply have to do the entire Walsh family series 😌

Well I am ashamed to say this was my first ever Marian Keyes read! Plunging straight into the Walsh Family number 7 felt daunting initially, but I honestly didn’t feel like I was on the outside one bit. And I can see how there could be many stories told about this family!

In this story, we meet Anna Walsh. 48 years old, recently single and fed up with her high-flying PR job in New York, Anna is feeling burnt out and missing her family and home in Ireland. So off she heads, home for a break and some new inspiration.

Soon she finds herself in a tiny remote town, helping out her sister’s friend and her family. Whilst trying to cope with the awful news of their daughter’s cancer diagnosis, their new luxury holiday venture has been targeted by disgruntled locals and they need someone to come and help smooth over the relationship between the company and the community. In steps Anna.

However, what she doesn’t expect is to be working with Joey Armstrong - a figure from her past who she doesn’t expect is going to want to work with her. But why? We have to wait to find out!

This was such a joy to read. The way the story flipped back in time to show us Anna’s history - from first meeting Joey, to the violent loss of her husband, to the breakdown of her closest friendship - we go through everything with her. There is the perfect blend of seriousness and sadness with humour and all sorts of amazing hilarious and brilliant characters along the way.

My heart was warmed, I laughed loads, and I just want more Walshes to read about now to be honest! A brilliant introduction to a new favourite author.

I was so excited for this - the Walsh family continues to grow up, and we focus once again on updating ourselves with Anna's life. It is the usual mostly-jolly story, bubbly characters, laugh out loud moments and characters you would either love - or hate - to have in your life. Infinitely relatable.

This was, perhaps, a little slow in places, and the narrative was a bit jumpy in terms of slipping forwards very quickly at points. Certain points (the menopause!) were perhaps over-written in places - but these things do not detract from the beauty of the book. You're always in for a gleeful romp with this family - and Keyes definitely delivers once again!

Anna Walsh has a fantastic life in New York. A swish beauty PR job, her own apartment and a handsome, loving partner Angelo. But during the pandemic, the veneer on Anna's life cracks. Although her job has always been intense, the stress has ramped up. And living with Angelo during lockdowns brings things to an end. Anna doesn't know exactly what she wants except to be back home in Ireland. So she breaks up with Angelo, hands in her notice and goes to live in Ireland for the first time in 20 years. Once home, her sister Rachel enlists her to help with a PR for her friends Brigit and Colm. Anna heads west to Maumtully, to investigate why the new luxury resort business venture is being targeted and to try smooth relations with the locals. There's just one problem: one of Brigit's business associates is Joey Armstrong, who has a complicated relationship with Anna.

While you can read this book without reading Anybody Out There (the book where we first see Anna's story), it is possible to read this without AOT. Having just reread it myself, I had Anna's story fresh in my head but in a way I think it may have hindered my enjoyment of this slightly. There is a dual plot line in this, with flashbacks to Anna's time in New York. Some parts of AOT are mentioned in this and slowed down the pace. Also it is clear there's some history we don't know that's happened with Anna and Joey, set after the timeline of AOT and it's slowly drip fed to us. I would have prefered knowing this earlier, rather than having the characters allude to them mysteriously before they finally talk about it. The pacing is a bit mixed. Aside from the flashbacks, the first half of the book is set a week in March, when Anna is first arrives at Maumtully and the second half is just after this up to November, so that moves a lot quicker.

I did enjoy the book. It's not just set on the romance element of the book, but there's also the mystery of what's happening to the business, Anna's intigration into this small town and all the characters there and of course the Walsh family themselves and all their antics. Keyes is honest and refreshing when it comes to portraying Anna, in her late 40s and the different issues that come with being this age: romance, health, friendship and self belief. Tender hearted and endearing, with the trademark Keyes humour thrown in, it;s one for Walsh family fans for sure!

Another fantastic read from the super-talented Marian Keyes. Another instalment of the Walsh family, with the focus this time around on Anna. I loved the dual timeline of the novel, jumping back to Anna's time in New York and the incidents that led her to choose to return to Ireland and her family. The book is humming of the irish humour you would expect from a Marian Keyes novel and I savoured every page. Reading a Marian Keyes is as comforting as warm socks and hot soup on a cold day. Brilliant.

y Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes.

There is nothing like picking up a new Marian Keyes book. I know I am in safe hands, that I will laugh, maybe cry, have numerous moments of recognition and be completely distracted from the real world and the daily monotony of same. Being reunited with the Walsh family is like meeting up with old friends. The same warmth , humour, familiarity and care is there. I love that I have grown up and grown older with these women.

My Favourite Mistake centers around Anna Walsh. It is 18 years since Is There Anybody Out There was published ,Keyes book that featured Anna as a protagonist ( You don’t have to have read it ,My Favourite Mistake works as a standalone if there anybody out there (I’m sorry) who has not read all of Keyes previous novels.)

The book opens in post pandemic New York, Anna is now in her late 40s and is reassessing her life. Her career in PR , her relationship , her Manhattan apartment no longer bring her happiness and so Anna returns to Ireland , swapping her NY life for life in a small town on the rural coast. Anna is there to help old friends who are setting up a luxury resort. The locals hate the idea and Anna is tasked with getting them onside. Her old flame , Joey is also involved in the project and all her previous mistakes are waiting to be confronted.

This book was lovely, like a hug. A page turner, a bit of mystery, some brilliant characters old and new, simmering sexual chemistry, perimenopausal rage and the quest for hrt and the perfect blend of humour and tenderness that makes Keyes the powerhouse she is. Where the book really shined for me was when the Walsh family were together and the snippets of how life is going for the Walsh women. While this one doesn’t rival some of my favourite Keyes books, it is a comforting, entertaining and gorgeous read and nobody writes like Marion Keyes. An icon.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love Marian Keyes and I adore the Walsh family!
This is Anna's story, the follow up to Is There Anybody Out There which I think I will need to reread to appreciate her story all over again. I do remember the Real Men and the Feathery Strokers which make a reappearance here.
I love the Irish setting, the humour and the Walsh family dynamics. I did find it a wee bit difficult to keep track of all the characters introduced in this book but the familiar names were a joy to catch up with.
I loved how menopause issues were highlighted, hopefully some doctors were reading and taking note!
I always look forward to a new Marian Keyes book, she has been one of my favourite authors for a long time now.

A Keen Eye..
A compelling read once again from Marian Keyes with this big hearted gem of a novel. Anna has had her fill of the Big Apple and returns to the little town of Maumtully - a coastal retreat is on the horizon, old friends, family and above all an old flame. Filled with empathy, humanity, humour and a smidge of mystery and relayed as always with a deft pen and a keen eye, this is another joyous and warm hearted tale sure to please.

I was so excited when I knew Keyes was writing a new Walsh sisters book especially when it was based on my favourite sister, Anna.

When we meet Anna this time, she's burnt out from her hectic lifr in New York. Her relationship is on the rocks after too much forced protiximity during lockdowns and she needs a new start so decides to pack in her beaity PR job and move back to Ireland – to the dismay of her family, who enjoyed her steady stream of cosmetics freebies.

After a rocky start back in Dublin, Anna gets shipped off by the sisters, to support old-friend Brigit who is setting up a luxury wellness retreat in the fictional Connemara town, Maumtully and the locals aren't happy with this new development and things are escalating. They are in need of some of Anna's amazing PR skills to rebuild local confidence and their resort!

Anna needs to resolve the local development situation but tied up with that is a complicated history with Narky Joey, and the estrangement with her former, BFF Jacqui who was her rock during Anybody Out There? . Add in the mix that she's perimenopausal and struggling to get medical support in Ireland for it, we have a perfest story of Anna coming to terms with her new stage in life and an America Ferreraesque speech on how hard it is to be a woman "You’re too serious, too short, too confident, too flat-chested, too ambitious, too repressed…”

Overall, the book is Anna leaning to accept the mistakes of the past and finding a new dirction in order to live her best possible life. .

There's lots going on in this book and you really need to be a Keyes fan to property appreciate this one as there are links to previous books and characters. The Walsh family has grown exponentially over the years and I found it hard to keep track of the various partners and children in the mix! I’m not sure My Favourite Mistake would work as a stand-alone but if you're a Walsh family fan you're in for a treat!

My Favourite Mistake* by Marian Keyes is the hotly anticipated follow-up to Anna’s story. Published some 18 years after the first, Anna seems to be in the throes of some kind of crisis, with the pandemic causing her to question everything she thought she wanted from life.

In a dramatic fashion, she leaves her world in NYC behind and returns to Ireland, only to find that there’s not as much there for her as she had hoped. Through a series of twists, she ends up being in the right place at the right time and agrees to help out a friend, moving temporarily to Maumtully, a small Connemara town. As if navigating the community drama wasn’t enough, Narky Joey shows his face and dredges up a whole heap of buried history and trauma.

Though over 600 pages, I tore through this book and, while I loved being back in the fold of the Walsh family as always, it was the whole new cast of characters in M’Town that had me not wanting to reach the end. Marian just writes Irish people and Irish women so well and I really hope she continues to add to the Walsh family tales. Out 11/4.

I’ve read some Marian Keyes books in the past so was excited to receive My Favourite Mistake as a review copy. I’ve not read any of the Walsh sister books which was a slight problem as there were many characters in this book and I was really not up to speed on all of them. It took a while to get to know who was who.
Anna Walsh is living in New York and working in PR for a cosmetics company. However, after the Pandemic and suffering from burn out, she splits with her boyfriend and decides to return to Ireland.
She has a year to decide whether to stay or whether to return to her old life.
The premise is good, particularly as she meets on/ off old flame the delectable Joey who is now single. However there is a lot of bad feeling and past mistakes to get beyond if they are to have any chance.
The story is really about Anna coming to terms with her new life and getting over her mistakes in order to live in the best possible way.
The author has a light touch and writes in humorous way which made for quite an enjoyable read. However there was a lot of extraneous detail in places which I skimmed. Maybe because I haven’t read the other books in the series it didn’t quite grab me as much as I’d hoped. There were some very funny parts and some lovely descriptions of Irish life and the theme of the importance of family and home after the pandemic was a good one.
I definitely like Marian Keyes’s books but I don’t think this one is my favourites.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

I did not enjoy the story of Anna Walsh like I enjoyed Rachel's. It had too much backstory for me. Maran Keyes is however, a fantastic author, just this book was not for me.