Product Description

It's bad enough that Claire's husband James left her the day he was at the birth of their first child - I mean, if he thought it was going to upset him that much he should have just stayed at home - but to rub salt into the episiotomy, he didn't even have the decency to leave her for someone skinny!He's just absconded, leaving Claire with a newborn baby, a broken heart, two extra stone and an …er…birth canal ten times its normal size.In the absence of any better offers, Claire goes home to her family. To her beautiful sister Helen, her soap-watching mother, her bewildered father. And in a story that's both hilarious and bitter-sweet, Claire just gets better.A lot better.In fact so much better that when James slithers back into her life he's in for a bit of a surprise.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14697 in Books
• Published on: 1996-01
• Binding: Paperback
• 608 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Marian Keyes begins Watermelon with a rather inauspicious romantic opening when the heroine's husband leaves her for Denise from the flat downstairs the day their first child is born. Claire, the deserted wife and mother, returns to her family in Dublin and, after going through the required stages of "Loss, Loneliness, Hopelessness and Humiliation", begins to feel much better--so much better that when James tries to win his way back into her affections, he gets more than he bargained for.

The author's style is too blunt and her setting too suburban (with its all-too-human heroine struggling to keep her sanity, tend to her new-born baby, fight it out with siblings and begin to love again) to be a traditional romance, but there is enough chemistry and mystery to keep you guessing in the lip-smacking Watermelon--a dish that may not fill you up but will certainly give you a taster of Marian Keyes' work, of which there is much to sample, including Lucy Sullivan is getting Married, Rachel's Holiday and Last Chance Saloon. --Nicola Perry

Synopsis
A debut novel about a woman whose husband leaves her on the day she gives birth to her first child. With her new-born baby, she returns to her family and begins to find the strength to start again.

From the Publisher
An hilarious and bitter-sweet tale of baby-blues and fruitless men. The original Marian Keyes novel is back!

Customer Reviews

Blast from the past
Oh Gosh, I came across this book recently after finding it in a second hand bookshop and bought it immediately as my original copy was obviously stolen by one of my flatmates all those years ago. I began reading chicklit in college when I was supposed to be studying and I read everything from Marian Keys to Patricia Scanlan. Watermelon blew me away though it was so funny. Written in the first person it's self depreciating honest and just an excellent read that tugs at the heart strings. It's the story of Claire, the first of the Walsh sisters and in this book Keyes demonstrates the raw talent that she has so successfully continued with throughout the years. I've read all her books now and pounce on them the minute they come out but Watermelon will always have a special place in my heart. It might not be the most sophisticated book ever but I just adore it. The authour, in my opinion is THE undisputed chicklit queen.

Not a bad start
i know this is marian's first book, and you can really tell too. i've only read one other book of hers (last chance saloon), but could really tell the difference. i wasnt sure i was going to like this book at first. It reminded me of sophie kinsella's books that are written from the characters point of view, and i never prefered that. the first chapter was slightly annoying, it had lots of 'funny' bits written in brackets. and i just wanted to get on with the story, it was like marian was trying too hard to be too funny and witty. it did get better after that though. and it got even better after claire came out of her depressed state (not that you could blame her). I especially LOVED the character of adam. if only men like that exisited! and really hated james. wow, claire should of punched him and cut his bits off.

I also loved claire's mad family. they provided much of the laughs of the book. especially helen and anna. i have the other books too about the walsh family and i'm looking forward to reading them too. I'm happy to say my early doubts of this book were wrong, and it proved to be a much much better book than i thought it would be. and if i was a writer i would be very happy if my first book was like this!

A wonderful first novel
This was Marian's first tale about the Walsh family and as with all of them it has a wonderful mix of tears and laughter. Claire our heroine starts out as a victim, and you'll be cheering her on as she struggles to cope with a new baby, a slightly eccentric family, and her own low self esteem.