# Watermelon

By Marian Keyes · Walsh Family, book 1

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/watermelon-4a9018f3/

Claire has barely given birth when her husband announces he’s leaving her for another woman. She takes the baby home to her family in Dublin, where sympathy comes with her sisters’ competing interests. As Claire starts to recover, the possibility of another relationship makes her question what she wants from the marriage she lost.

## What makes it funny?

Claire is furious that her husband’s affair lacks even a little glamour: he has left her for a neighbor downstairs. When the couple hide their new address, she imagines the other woman’s waiter husband taking revenge with a dessert trolley. These barbed digressions arrive while she is still trying to tell us what happened.

### The comedy at work

The narrator talks to the reader as if she’s catching up with a friend, interrupting herself to explain, qualify and complain. Her jokes don’t mean she’s taking the betrayal lightly. The opening repeatedly moves from a sarcastic aside back to her shock and distress.

### Try this if…

A candid voice and an interfering family matter as much as the romantic choices. Readers who enjoy an unhappy heroine making sharp jokes while she works out how to live independently may find Claire’s account appealing.

### Good to know

The story begins with childbirth and infidelity. Claire’s distress includes heavy drinking, and the opening contains sexual language and disparaging comments about another woman’s looks and age.

## What to expect

- Genre: Contemporary & literary · Romance
- On the shelf: Family comedy · Romantic comedy
- Kind of humor: Dry wit
- Format: Novel

## A few distinguishing details

- A new mother returns to her Dublin family after her husband leaves on the day she gives birth.

## Sources & further reading

- Review: [Kirkus review](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/marian-keyes/watermelon)
- Book information: [Series bibliography](https://www.fictiondb.com/series/a-walsh-sister-novel-marian-keyes~22138.htm)
- Reading sample: [Opening excerpt](https://freshfiction.com/excerpt.php?id=5081)
- Book information: [Apple Books edition](https://books.apple.com/us/book/watermelon/id6743126280)
- Author commentary: [Author](https://www.mariankeyes.com/books/watermelon)