Clara’s Verdict
Book three of Marian Keyes’s Walsh Family series takes Maggie – sensible, dependable, reliably responsible Maggie – and deposits her in Los Angeles, where she proceeds to quietly fall apart and quietly reassemble. Angels is not the deepest entry in the series, but it might be the most entertaining; the LA scenes fizz with a particular kind of irreverence, and Keyes’s eye for the absurd is sharply focused. Read by Gerri Halligan in a performance that slots neatly into the Walsh world, it is a very pleasant 13 hours in excellent company.
About the Audiobook
Maggie Walsh has spent her entire adult life doing the right thing. She is steady, reliable, and not at all the sort of person who leaves her husband and flies to California to stay with her screenwriter friend Emily. And yet, that is precisely what she does. Los Angeles – where even the palm trees, as Keyes observes, are skinny – forces Maggie to be someone she doesn’t recognise: wearing sunglasses in the shower, pitching scripts to executives, and falling into the orbit of a man so non-committal he has been nicknamed Human Teflon.
The Walsh Family series is notable for Keyes’s willingness to address serious subjects – addiction, depression, grief – while keeping the comic momentum intact, and Angels is no exception. Beneath the jokes about Los Angeles and the culture-clash comedy, there is a real and honest examination of what happens when a marriage built on good intentions runs out of road. Fans who met Maggie in Rachel’s Holiday will find her reunion particularly satisfying.
The Narration
Gerri Halligan is a reliable narrator for Keyes’s work – she handles the Irish rhythms and the comic timing without overplaying either. Her Los Angeles characters have a gentle satirical edge that suits the material. This is not quite as special as hearing Keyes herself read (as she does in Grown Ups), but it is a thoroughly competent and enjoyable performance across 13 hours and 22 minutes.
What Readers Say
The audiobook holds a rating of 4.2 out of 5 from 4 ratings. Readers have called it “a real mixture of characters, some funny, some not so funny,” and praised its portrayal of life in two very different cities. One reviewer appreciated the recurring characters across the Walsh series – “I like the way that you get to meet characters again” – and noted this as an excellent holiday read. One reviewer did find the pace “a bit slow moving” in places, which is a fair assessment of its more contemplative middle section.
Who Should Listen?
Essential for anyone working through the Walsh Family series, and a very good standalone for those new to Keyes who want contemporary Irish fiction with both emotional depth and genuine comedy. Perfect for long commutes and holiday listening. The series is best followed in order, so seek out Watermelon first if you haven’t already – then work your way here. Available on Audible UK.
