Cracks in My Foundation

Marian Keyes turns to non-fiction here: a collection of essays on her own life, with a few pieces of original short fiction mixed in. It follows her earlier essay collection, Under the Duvet, and goes further into her private thoughts.

The subjects are everyday ones. She writes about friends and family, home, glamour and beauty, children and travel. Specific pieces take her to Siberia, into a break with a long-standing hairdresser, through a shopping trip, and into the year she turns forty.

Her husband, whom she calls Himself, appears as she describes living with him. She also gives her thoughts on feminism, which she calls the F word.

The tone is funny, frank and conversational, closer to a chat with a friend than a formal book of essays. Moments of sadness sit beside the jokes, and she is open about her passions and her worries. The pieces are short, so the book suits dipping in and out, a chapter at a time with a cup of coffee.