Keyes understands the nuanced way that people grow together and apart. Jessie hires a male nanny: “It’ll be good for the girls to see a man in a servile position.” The women here are loudly feminist, telling their men they will take care of them, not just emotionally, thank you very much, but financially, too. Marian Keyes: the best-selling author on diets, sexism and being inspired by Gen Z I’ve yet to read a book of hers that doesn’t do this brilliantly ( Rachel’s Holiday was about addiction and The Break had a sub-plot about Ireland’s abortion laws). One of Marian Keyes’ signature moves is to address serious issues in such a relatable way. Ordinary life zings with destructive potential. Grown Ups doesn’t shy away from big issues. Characters are always at risk of taking a wrong turn.

But even without that, the ominous sceptre of life’s pitfalls looms large.

We know from the outset that something dreadful is going to split the group because of a prologue where the normally affable Cara gets concussion and the secrets start tumbling out. But a spell in rehab transformed everything. “Seriously, I get on my own nerves, but I’m not doing it to be sneery.” Marian Keyes tackles everything from bulimia to the decline of capitalism and the Syrian refugee crisis in Grown Ups (Photo: Dean Chalkley) Marians Latest Book Back in the long ago nineties, Rachel Walsh was a mess. And there is Liam, a former running champ, on to his second, younger – and very woke – wife Nell, whose earnest attempts to save the planet by buying only second-hand clothes and refusing to procreate are, in Keyes’ hands, somehow cute and not in the least annoying. There is kind Ed, whose wife Cara hates her body and for whom dieting is a Sisyphean battle. Johnny Casey, his two brothers, Ed and Liam, their beautiful, talented wives and all their kids spend a lot of time. There is “maybe-ever-so-slightly slippery Johnny”, the charmer and eldest brother, who is married to Jessie (who used to be married to his late best friend Rory, something he’d like to forget, but which his stepson won’t allow).

Grown ups marian keyes characters