Louisa Harland & Máiréad Tyers to Star in 'The Walsh Sisters'

Irish author Marian Keyes is a success story out of a novel. After growing up in Limerick, she moved to London only to suffer depression and addiction. But in the depths of her recovery, she began to write short stories drawn from her family experiences, only to have her editor ask for a full-length novel. That was in 1995, and it resulted in the publication of her first book, Watermelon, in which she introduced the world to the Walsh family via the eldest sister, Claire. Six more novels followed featuring the family, including bestseller Rachel’s Holiday. Now Rachel's Holiday will form part of the basis for the BBC's The Walsh Sisters, loosely adapted from the series.

The new series will draw from two of Keyes' middle books, the second book, the aforementioned Rachel's Holiday, and Anybody Out There, the fourth novel. The seven-book cycle was a major coming-of-age series for Millenials and the Gen Z crowd coming up behind them, and the BBC is giving the series the ensemble cast treatment befitting its status as a cultural marker.

Danielle Galligan (Obituary) stars as eldest Claire, with Stefanie Preissner (Finding Joy) as mum's favorite, second sister Maggie; Caroline Menton (All Creatures Great & Small) is middle sister Rachel; Louisa Harland (Derry Girls) is second youngest Anna, and Máiréad Tyers (Extraordinary) plays baby of the family Helen. Carrie Crowley (The Quiet Girl) plays Mammy Walsh; Irish-American actor Aidan Quinn (Legends of the Fall) is Daddy Walsh.