This Charming Man: A Novel - Dark Publications

Location: Home » vampire: masquerade » Irish » This Charming Man: A Novel

Similar Items:

•	The Beach House
•	Love the One You're With
•	Chasing Harry Winston: A Novel
•	Certain Girls: A Novel
•	Remember Me?

Editorial Reviews:

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.

Customer Reviews: Read 60 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Keyes takes on tough subject matter but makes it work as only she can in this novel of suffering, laughter, love and redemption June 19, 2008
28 out of 32 found this review helpful

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!)

3 out of 5 stars

Not her best... July 12, 2008
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

I have loved all of Marian Keyes' books, both fiction and nonfiction up until now. Watermelon was my favorite, but Anybody Out There? was also beautifully written. From reading her nonfiction, I know that she has suffered with alcoholism, and the scenes with Marnie in this book dealing with denial and addiction seem so real that it almost hurt to read it. However, the character of Lola was annoying, the diary-type writing was difficult to read and made her seem unsympathetic and shallow (who CARES what color her highlights were??? And THAT is what she wanted Paddy to apologize for?) After all the women had talked about how badly this man treated them, you would think they would want A) to have SOME sort of revenge and B) to make sure this didn't happen to any other woman. It is clear that he is a serial abuser, so Alicia is pretty much guaranteed to either be badly hurt or killed in the near future, and he isn't exactly faithful so other women will likely cross his path and be hurt as well.

I don't mind the darker topics (try reading Good Grief by Lolly Winston for a beautifully written story that makes you want to cry the whole way through), but this story just seemed to lack Keyes' wonderful sense of humor. Even in Watermelon, when you decribe the book to people, it's hard to explain that although it is heartbreakingly sad about a woman being dumped by her husband the day her daughter is born, there is still a level of humor, even in the first chapter, that makes it worthwhile - and the surrounding cast of characters is wonderful. I couldn't really get to like any of the supporting cast in this novel. I think I would have liked Lola's friends if only it wasn't written the way it was which didn't allow you to get to "know" them.

Anyway, I gave it three stars because it's Marian Keyes and I love her work in general, but I honestly would like to have given it two and a half.

1 out of 5 stars

Disappointment July 13, 2008
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

I have liked almost all of Keyes' other books and was very excited to read her latest. However, I could barely get through the first chapter. It is such a disappointment; the women are not likable nor do they inspire empathy from the reader. Instead it seemed like whining and over-wrought behavior. Everyone has had bad breakups but for these women, their lives are over (in their minds anyway). It didn't bother me that Keyes addressed more serious topics than her lighter novels; rather, I just couldn't connect with the characters and stay with the story. The writing was in a style that was hard to follow and just was not a good read. Unfortunately, not worth the time.

4 out of 5 stars

A darker Marian Keyes June 17, 2008
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

This is the story of four women who all have a connection to Irish politician Paddy de Courcy (the "charming man" who gives the book its title). It focuses chiefly on three of them: Lola, his girlfriend, who is shocked and devastated to hear on the news that Paddy is engaged to someone else, Marnie, who had a relationship with him several years ago and Grace, her twin sister, who also has her own reasons to dislike Paddy. The true nature of their relationships with Paddy and how it has affected them will emerge slowly over the book.

One problem is that Paddy never comes across as being even remotely charming. It's evident from the outset that he's a two-timing womanizer, whose idea of a first date is taking a woman to an adult shop and watching through a peephole while she tries on underwear. Classy. The book's revelations would have had more impact if he had been portrayed in a better light at the beginning.

The book alternates between the perspectives of the different women. Lola's sections are written in a "Bridget Jones's Diary" style. She is a scatty and vapid character who writes in a particularly irritating form of Pidgin English, saying things like: "Paddy is politician. He is powerful man" or "What she mean?". It's distracting and annoying to read. Thankfully Marnie and Grace are far more sympathetic and likeable characters. While Lola is there to provide the light relief, Marnie's story is particularly dark and so convincingly written that it had me close to tears on occasion.

I struggled to know how to rate this book. It's longer than it needs to be and takes a long time to get going. I felt that it could have been heavily trimmed without losing much. The Lola sections were also a negative for me. But I liked the way the story twists - just when you think it's terribly predictable, it goes in a different direction. It kept me interested throughout and it comes together well at the end. It's less light-hearted than Marian Keyes's other books (no laugh out loud moments here), but it's still an easy read and for me, a more rewarding one. 3.5 stars.

2 out of 5 stars

Dark, grim, and bizarre.... July 4, 2008
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

I am a big Marian Keyes fan, but was very disappointed in this book. I commend the effort that went into writing it and the premise was good. However, the delivery was uneven, with several characters barely fleshed out. The book was dark and depressing, with barely any humor. The character of Lola, written in "shorthand" English, was difficult to read and disturbing to the flow of the book. I understand that Keyes was trying to differentiate Lola's voice from the others, but it resulted in virtually unreadable chapters. The ending was too tame, for the crimes committed. I am glad that I borrowed a library copy, as I know I will never want to read this book again. Let's hope Ms. Keyes "lightens up" for her next book and brings us the funny Irish tales we all enjoy.

Powered by Associate-O-Matic