THIS CHARMING MAN
Marian Keyes
William Morrow
Fiction
ISBN: 9780061124020

• Read an Excerpt

Marian Keyes is one of those novelists who is never content to simply replicate her success. Back when she was at the forefront of the "chick-lit" movement, Keyes mastered that genre's formula of "single girl in the city" while still injecting sometimes subtle, sometimes startling glimpses of social commentary and grim reality. With each subsequent novel, she has probed further into some pretty dark territory, never losing her gift for whimsical dialogue and eccentric supporting characters that attracted so many readers in the first place.

With THIS CHARMING MAN, her ninth novel, Keyes introduces her audience to three unforgettable ladies --- and to their shared past, a dark secret that has affected each differently but, for each one, has deeply shaped the woman she has become.

The novel opens with an innocent enough event --- the announcement in a tabloid newspaper of the engagement of Paddy de Courcy. Handsome, charismatic, powerful de Courcy is a politician on the rise, the public face of a newly ascendant political party and the heir apparent to its highest position. But this announcement is anything but innocent to Lola, Grace and Marnie, each of whom has her own history with de Courcy.

Lola, a hip stylist, thought that perhaps she was destined to become the future Mrs. de Courcy --- after all, she had been dating the man for a year and a half! When de Courcy chooses a more politically advantageous mate, however, Lola is thrown into a crisis, fleeing Dublin for a tiny village on Ireland's western coast. There, as she relates in breathless, Bridget Jones-style journal entries, she gets drawn into the lives and secrets of the village's inhabitants --- from the surfer dudes and video store clerks to a small collection of cross-dressers who meet at Lola's house each Friday night. Her career is in jeopardy and her heart is broken. But will her time in Knockavoy be enough to get de Courcy out of her mind forever?

Grace Gildee, a features journalist, wants desperately to track down Lola for the "jilted girlfriend" interview of the year. But what Lola doesn't know is that Grace herself has a history with de Courcy, one that she can't share with her twin sister or even with her significant other. And Grace has problems of her own --- her boyfriend is rekindling a friendship with his ex-wife, a rival at work is scooping up all the best interviews, her beloved car has been stolen and torched, and her twin sister Marnie is slowly slipping away from her.

As for Marnie, she has always been a fragile woman; it's hard to believe this depressed, emotionally paralyzed mother of two could possibly be related to vibrant, brash Grace Gildee. Marnie finds it impossible to be satisfied with her comfortable London life, her loving husband, her job, even her two charming daughters. Instead, mired by decades of secrets, self-doubt and self-hatred, she turns to the only thing that might make her feel better --- but that threatens to tear her family apart.

With THIS CHARMING MAN, Keyes has not forgotten her chick-lit roots. Surprisingly enough, given the novel's subject matter, she still manages to insert plenty of humorous situations and lighthearted commentary, not to mention a most unconventional romance. But long-time Keyes fans will recognize that their favorite author is headed in new, darker but exciting directions. With its overlapping stories (each of which is told in its protagonist's highly individualistic voice), "ripped from the headlines" approach, and focus on political intrigue and public dishonor, Keyes's latest sprawling blockbuster reminds me a great deal of those by another popular author --- Penny Vincenzi.

Ambitious, multi-layered, with surprises around every corner and scandals at every turn, THIS CHARMING MAN signals a new direction for this already accomplished author --- one that her many fans will be eager to follow.

    --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

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