‘The Walsh Sisters’ review: Marian Keyes’ iconic sisters finally have the TV series they deserve

It’s been three decades since Marian Keyes’s first Walsh sisters book was published, and we don’t have a TV series about them. This is nonsense, I know.

The beloved titles of Ireland’s monarch of contemporary fiction are on bookshelves around the world, with the lives of Rachel, Anna, Claire, Maggie and Helen Walsh meaning the world to dedicated readers since the ’90s. Now, BBC series walsh sisters Ultimately their stories intertwine.

A very human and heartbreaking adaptation by showrunner Stephanie Preisner (can’t cope, won’t cope) and Kefi Chadwick (their rivals), walsh sisters On Your Feet feels really connected to Keyes’ characters. At its core, Preysner and director Ian Fitzgibbon have assembled some of Ireland’s best actors to play Keyes’ iconic Walsh sisters: Louisa Harland (dairy girls) Caroline Menton, as Anna (oddity) as Rachel, Danielle Galligan (house of guinness, shadow and bone) as Claire and Mairead Tyers (Extraordinary, my lady jane) as Helen. Preisner plays Maggie herself.

A raw, authentic portrayal of brotherhood, addiction, grief and mental health, walsh sisters It’s too late on our screens.

walsh sisters Expertly weaves together several of Marian Keyes’ books.

In just six episodes, it’s impossible walsh sisters To cover all seven books of Keyes’ series, no matter how skillfully Preisner weaves together multiple storylines. The core of this series is Rachel’s holiday And anyone out thereBooks that center on Rachel’s path through addiction and Anna’s experience with grief, respectively. However, Preisner also cleverly draws events from the books that trace the lives of Claire, Maggie, and Helen, creating a linear Walsh story.

Established in Dublin, walsh sisters There is a deeply human drama that treats life’s events as monumental, no matter how serene, sudden, joyful or mundane. During the London preview screening of walsh sistersKeyes explained how she approached writing books involving the Walsh sisters:

He said, “I think, ultimately, we all go through life and have terrible things happen to us – the kind of things that happen to other people. And in a way, that’s what all the stories here are about.” “There are still people we love and who love us, and there are still jokes going on that will always give us some comfort. That kind of feeling, life will hurt us but we will survive it, and there are still things to be grateful for and happy about and love. That’s all I tried to write about.”

And it’s that all-too-recognizable feeling walsh sisters Really catches.

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walsh sisters It’s a raw, authentic portrayal of brotherhood.

TV shows rarely use the complex storm that is brotherhood with accuracy. bad sisters, freeridge, FleabagAnd grace and frankie — When it comes to representation of brotherhood, the show brilliantly presents the messy confluence of misunderstanding, love, protectiveness, anger, and eye-rolling that makes up this special relationship. As Mira Navlakha wrote about brotherhood bridgerton For Mashable: “Sisters are partners in life and everything that comes with it, against the rest and despite the noise.”

Now, Keyes – she can write sisters. And thankfully, Preisner can do the same, bringing Keyes’ characteristic empathy and charm to the ups and downs of the show’s cheesy dialogue. Hard truths fall like an anvil, the lowest point of a conversation can be lifted in an instant into a joke. There’s a lot of blame, a lot of “This is what you always do.” This is an absolutely unhealthy debate, and it is absolutely realistic. And in the hands of this talented artist and their effortless chemistry, walsh sisters Shines with the complexity of brother-sisterhood through grief, divorce, addiction, miscarriage, and life’s nastier entanglements.

Appropriately, Preissner is steadfast and poised as Maggie, her role pushed into a “straight” role, meaning she’s left without an outlet for her own struggles with fertility. While it’s not quite the terrifying discovery of motherhood night routine Or die my love, walsh sisters A rarely seen side of the “shit mom” feeling is presented through Claire, with Galligan’s wonderful performance leaning towards dry humor. As Helen, the youngest and most unfiltered sister of the group, Tyers balances deadpan delivery with hidden conflicts.

They’re all under the constant scrutiny of their mother (Carrie Crawley), whose desperation to get as much attention from the family as her daughters leads to some absolute tribulations. “I have problems too,” she declares, in a state where her problems are not serious at all.

However, the standout performances of the series come from Harland and Menton as Anna and Rachel.

walsh sisters Handles addiction and grief with compassion.

with Rachel’s holiday And anyone out there Menton and Harland delve deeper, creating the main dramatic narratives of the series.

One of the more universal themes of the series is grief, in which Harland excels as Anna as she navigates this surreal terrain. For anyone who has experienced a loss, watching Anna go through bizarre, mundane tasks, pondering unanswered questions, and pondering the “right” way to grieve is relatable.

Menton, meanwhile, sees Rachel through her addiction story with grace and vulnerability. We’ve seen some women experience alcohol and drug addiction on screen – including Andrea Riseborough to lesliesandra bullock in 28 daysin Saoirse Ronan move on, in anne hathaway rachel is getting married -Each has its own context and complexities. walsh sisters Rachel doesn’t glamorize addiction and recovery, leaning into the raw nature of withdrawal and having realistic conversations around relationships, sobriety, and edited memory. Denial, the need for validation, and control are key factors in Rachel’s addiction, and she must face difficult truths from the people she loves during her recovery – as well as from her roommate, Chuckie (an impeccable Debbie Mazar).

However, the series doesn’t completely drag you down. One of Preissner’s most key elements walsh sisters Is it the human ability to move from “rock bottom” to lightness and practicality in an instant without feeling fraudulent? It’s pure, sisterly bounce. And although it took 30 years to get here, this Marian Keyes adaptation is what we (and they) deserve.

walsh sisters Now streaming on BBC iPlayer in the UK with US details TBC.