Product Description

With This Charming Man, Marian Keyes hits her stride as a novelist with her best novel yet, telling the stories of four women who are shaped by one man

Paddy de Courcy is Ireland's debonair politician, the "John F. Kennedy Jr. of Dublin." His charm and charisma have taken hold of the country and the tabloids, not to mention our four heroines: Lola, Grace, Marnie, and Alicia. But though Paddy's winning smile is fooling Irish minds, the broken hearts he's left in his past offer a far more truthful look into his character.

Narrated in turn by each woman, This Charming Man explores how their love for this one man has shaped their lives. But in true Marian Keyes fashion, this is more than a story of four love affairs. It's a testament to the strength women find in themselves through work, friendship, and family, no matter what demons may be haunting their lives. Depression, self-doubt, domestic abuse—each of these women has seen tough times in life, and it's through Keyes's wonderful storytelling ability that these subjects are approached with the appropriate tone and candor. Her deft touch provides a gripping story and, ultimately, a redemptive ending.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #545268 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-01
• Released on: 2008-06-17
• Format: Bargain Price
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 576 pages

About the Author

Marian Keyes is the bestselling author of nine novels and two essay collections. She lives in Ireland with her husband and their two imaginary dogs.

Customer Reviews

Keyes takes on tough subject matter but makes it work as only she can in this novel of suffering, laughter, love and redemption
From when I first cracked open WatermelonI've loved Marian Keyes, but at first it was a fickle sort of love, the kind reserved for light, fluffy books that were guaranteed to better my mood. This all changed with the publication of Anybody Out There?the astonishing last novel of Keyes that blew my mind (and my perception of her as an author) out of the water. Since then I've seen her as an extraordinary novelist in her own right, capable of drawing people in and invoking emotions you never expected to feel for fictional characters.

So needless to say when I saw she had a new novel coming out, I pre-ordered. I was hoping (desperately hoping) that it would be the next novel in the Walsh sister's saga, but apparently Keyes feels the need to string that out a bit more. Oh well. It's not like I haven't enjoyed her other novels. I decided to take a positive attitude about my disappointment.

In the end though there was nothing to be disappointed about. "This Charming Man" is an amazing book told by four distinct voices. Lola, a stylist, Grace, a reporter, Marnie, a working housewife and mother and Alice all have something in common that has changed and altered the course of their lives. His name is Paddy de Courcy and is hailed to be the political savior of Ireland. But though Paddy seems charming, suave, handsome and perfect on the outside our narrators know the secrets behind his smile-and the nearly deadly effect of his true charm.

"This Charming Man" is really extraordinary and unlike anything Keyes has written before. She's tackled tough subjects in the past, it's true, but the heinous nature of the depraved acts of violence and degradation described in this book take it to a new level that rises completely out of the genera of chick lit.

I raced through this book in one sitting because I was literally unable to put it down. The storyline is exciting and fast paced and despite the shared narration and seemingly random inserted scenes of domestic violence between parts the novel (which make sense eventually) it has a wonderfully cohesive plot that all comes together through our four very real heroines. This book made me laugh out loud, cry and more importantly think on the desperate situation that so many women are forced to live in because of domestic violence.

I'm not saying this book is a downer though. While it discusses very serious subjects there is a great deal of humor, mainly provided by Lola's diary (which in spite of the semi-annoying shorthand was my favorite part of the book) romance comes from Grace, and eventually, strength from Marnie. And triumph for all.

This is a truly amazing novel that any author would have been proud to write. I congratulate you Ms. Keyes on another remarkable book that made me loose sleep and I highly recommend that everyone reads this book.

Five stars.

(And I know it'll be another two years at least but I can't wait `till her next novel!)

Keyes disappoints.
Like other readers, I have read ALL of Marian Keyes' books. This one was not up to snuff. Several things annoyed me about the book. (CAUTION: Spoiler Alert!) First, I loved the character of Lola, but really felt that the "diary" style of writing was overly distracting and made the episodes on Lola's life quite stilted.

Second, the U.S. version was "Americanized" with a forward by the author explaining why we are all too dumb to understand the differences between the 2 major political parties of Ireland, Fine Gael and Fine Fail. Rubbish! Give us a break. Perhaps this was an editorial choice, but it also rubbed me the wrong way. Half the fun of a Marian Keyes novel IS being taken to Ireland! The slang throughout is kept intact (badgers arse, skangers), as well as some rather "inside" jokes on regional riffs,(Kildare bypass?)but female readers of "chick lit" must be too stupid to understand politics...shame on you!

Finally, and this may be just me, but as a person who survived a physically abusive relationship, I found the reactions of the survivors a bit hard to swallow, except perhaps Marnie and at times, Lola. Would they REALLY not be able to send this idiot to JAIL??? C'mon, he put at least 3 of these women in hospital and terrorized and physically tortured the others. The "comeuppance" scenes were the hardest to swallow, as I can't imagine any of these women wanting to make the effort to confront him WITHOUT contacting police or authorities in any way. When they at last find the courage to do something about his violence, the resolution is very unsatisfactory.

Fired? Kicked out of his political party? Where is the indignation and reason here? His most current "conquest",Alicia, is cast as a sort of "villain" when actually she is under his spell too and has just been "branded" by him at the end of the novel. And, yes, as another reader commented, his character is NOT charming at all. Keyes' does get the weird perverted part of his behavior, and even his motivations, but the masking CHARM that goes along with many an abuser is NOT well portrayed here.

Too difficult to finish
I have listened to virtually every Marian Keyes book, but I couldn't bring myself to finish this one. It's too graphic and disturbing. Perhaps if I was reading it I could easily skip the physical abuse, rape, and descriptions of battered women, but I'm not sure I could stand reading this either. Not for the faint of heart, or those expecting anything resembling her other works.