With the world seemingly in turmoil after COVID-19, she wanted to cheer up her readers by giving them another book centred around her beloved Walsh family characters.
"I had plans to write an entirely different book, but I was finding the world so dreadful and hard post-pandemic. The war in Ukraine and everything else was just too much," she tells HELLO! in our exclusive interview.
"I didn't want to be someone who wrote a book with bad things and bad people, so I wrote something I wanted to read, where any trouble is local and small and can be fixed."
This year is already proving an epic one for the author, who lives outside Dublin with Tony Baines, her husband of almost 29 years. Not only is her 2020 novel Grown Ups being turned into a Netflix series, but - having sold 30 million books worldwide - her portrait is now hanging in the National Gallery of Ireland.
Having turned 60 last September, Marian is finally happy in her own skin after living a life "full of ups and downs" that includes entering rehab for alcohol addiction - she is now 30 years sober and battling depression.
"Turning 60 used to be the age where you were just shuffled off," she says, laughing. "I feel most days that I am a much more confident person than I used to be: I've got so much better at asking for what I want; the fear of people not liking me is dialled down, and I feel kinder to myself in that I don't push myself as hard.
"I used to work all the time, but now there are other things I do. I have hobbies! It was knitting until recently. Before that, I was painting and upcycling furniture. I take care of myself physically and I make time to see my friends and my mother. I prioritise things differently and I like that."
この記事は HELLO! UK の April 15, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は HELLO! UK の April 15, 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
THROWING IT BACK TO THE 1990S 'VOGUE' ERA OF THE SUPERMODEL
KATE MOSS LEADS FAMOUS FACES REFLECTING ON FASHION HEYDAY
FORMER 'MADE IN CHELSEA' STAR FRAN NEWMAN-YOUNG
DAZZLES IN BESPOKE WEDDING GOWN AS SHE TIES THE KNOT IN STYLE IN MAJORCA
LENDING SUPPORT TO CHILDREN'S HOSPICE PRINCESSES BEATRICE AND EUGENIE
BRING LIGHT INTO LITTLE ONES' LIVES AS THEY PLANT A SYMBOL OF HOPE
ON BUOYANT FORM AFTER HIS WIFE'S GOOD NEWS THE PRINCE OF WALES
DISHES OUT THE HUGS ON VISIT FROM THE HEART
WITH AN INCREDIBLE GLIMPSE INTO FAMILY LIFE THE PRINCESS OF WALES
SHARES MESSAGE OF HOPE AS SHE LOOKS TO THE FUTURE AND BALANCING HER ROLE
IN HIGH SPIRITS AT THE BRAEMAR HIGHLAND GAMES THE KING AND QUEEN
ENJOY LAUGHS APLENTY AT A FAVOURITE EVENT BEFORE MONARCH QUIETLY MARKS TWO YEARS ON THE THRONE
AS HOLLY WILLOUGHBY RETURNS NATIONAL TELEVISION AWARDS
STARS DAZZLE ON NIGHT OF GLAMOUR AND GONGS
CREATING A NEW SISTER ACT ELIZABETH OLSEN
ON CO-STARRING WITH NATASHA LYONNE AND CARRIE COON
MAKING HISTORY AT STARSTUDDED EVENT IN NEW YORK TAYLOR SWIFT
SMASHES IT WITH SEVEN OF THE BEST AT THE V.M.As
KIM KARDASHIAN AND DAKOTA JOHNSONS
FASHION AND COMPASSION AT A-LIST CHARITY EVENT