Published Paper Details:

This paper examines addiction as a psychological response to betrayal, loneliness, emotional neglect, and isolation in selected novels of Marian Keyes, namely Watermelon, Rachel's Holiday, Anybody Out There, Angels, and The Mystery of Mercy Close. Drawing upon Erik Erikson's Psychosocial Development Theory, Attachment Theory, and Jennifer Freyd's Betrayal Trauma Theory, the study explores how emotional instability and fractured intimacy lead the protagonists towards both substance and behavioural addictions. Marian Keyes portrays addiction not merely as a habit, but as an emotional refuge adopted by women struggling with abandonment, insecurity, depression, grief, and shattered trust. The paper argues that the protagonists employ alcohol, drugs, shopping, anti-depressants, and superstitious rituals as coping mechanisms to suppress emotional pain and reclaim temporary emotional stability. However, these addictions gradually intensify their psychological suffering, alienation, and identity crises. Through her emotionally layered narratives, Keyes transforms chick-lit into a serious psychological exploration of trauma, vulnerability, and female emotional survival.