Product Description

'Everybody remembers where they were the day they heard that Paddy de Courcy was getting married'. Lola has every reason to be interested in who Paddy's marrying - because although she's his girlfriend, she definitely isn't the bride-to-be. Heartbroken, she flees the city for a cottage by the sea. But will Lola's retreat prove as idyllic as she hopes? Not if journalist Grace has anything to do with it. She wants the inside story on the de Courcy engagement and thinks Lola holds the key. Grace knew Paddy a long time ago. But why can't she forget him?Grace's sister, Marnie, might have the answer but she also has issues with the past. Her family is wonderful but they can't take away memories of her first love: a certain Paddy de Courcy. What will it take for Marnie to be able to move on? And what of the future Mrs de Courcy...Alicia is determined to be the perfect politician's wife. But does she know the real Paddy de Courcy? Four very different women. One awfully charming man. And the dark secret that binds them all...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #674 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 688 pages

Review
Four Dubliners regret misguided liaisons with a sadistic Irish politico.Keyes (Anybody Out There, 2006, etc.) displays her trademark uncanny ability to wring humor from cliches in this story of four women whose paths cross with that of handsome Irish party hack Paddy de Courcy. Lola, whose narration hilariously parodies the article and pronoun-challenged diary of Bridget Jones, learns from the press that Paddy, her boyfriend, is engaged to Alicia, a horsey widow respectable enough to be a political helpmeet. Grace, a Dublin tabloid reporter, and her fraternal twin sister Marnie, met Paddy while all three were students working in a Dublin pub. Grace flirted briefly with Paddy before losing him to Marnie. But as his ambitions escalate, Paddy dumps Marnie, leaving her emotionally shell-shocked. Lola, fashion advisor to Dublin's nouveau riche matrons, had found Paddy's sexual proclivities increasingly problematic, but she's so unsettled by his summary betrayal that she flees to a rustic seaside cabin in County Clare, where she becomes reluctant housemother to a growing contingent of transvestites. A brief fling with a surfer helps her weather Paddy's rejection, but memories of how his kinky sexuality segued into "isolated" acts of physical abuse undermine her struggle to recover her sense of self-worth. Grace learns that Paddy may be behind the seemingly random torching of her sports car, but withholds her full history with him from the reader. She's more preoccupied with trying to keep Marnie, who until recently lived happily in London with her commodities trader husband Nick and two daughters, from drinking herself to death. The weight of attention devoted to Marnie's harrowing alcoholic free-fall deemphasizes and defuses the devastating impact of Paddy's horrendous behavior. The gradual reveal of Paddy's monstrosity toward the novels' women, interspersed with the flip entertainment of Lola's Bridget Jones-speak, generates a jarring unevenness of tone. Flabby, often implausible plot propelled by original prose. (Kirkus Reviews)

Synopsis
'Everybody remembers where they were the day they heard that Paddy de Courcy was getting married'. Lola has every reason to be interested in who Paddy's marrying - because although she's his girlfriend, she definitely isn't the bride-to-be. Heartbroken, she flees the city for a cottage by the sea. But will Lola's retreat prove as idyllic as she hopes? Not if journalist Grace has anything to do with it. She wants the inside story on the de Courcy engagement and thinks Lola holds the key. Grace knew Paddy a long time ago. But why can't she forget him?Grace's sister, Marnie, might have the answer but she also has issues with the past. Her family is wonderful but they can't take away memories of her first love: a certain Paddy de Courcy. What will it take for Marnie to be able to move on? And what of the future Mrs de Courcy...Alicia is determined to be the perfect politician's wife. But does she know the real Paddy de Courcy? Four very different women. One awfully charming man. And the dark secret that binds them all...

About the Author
Marian Keyes' international bestselling novels include Rachel's Holiday, Last Chance Saloon, Sushi for Beginners, Angels, The Other Side of the Story and most recently Anybody Out There, a number one bestseller. Two collections of her journalism, Under the Duvet and Further Under the Duvet, are also available from Penguin. Marian lives in Dublin with her husband.

Customer Reviews

One of the worst books ever!
I have read many books and all of Marian Keyes and is one of the worst books i have ever read! It took me 4 and a half weeks to read and couldn't wait to finish it so I could a better book! It was far to long but u never get to know any of the characters properly, starts off funny and then gets a bit depressing. Very dissapointed!

Enjoyable
I thought this book was a wonderful read. I generally did not want to put it down.
This was the first Marian Keyes book that i have read and since doing so, I have bought 2 more of her books.
I believe the voice of 'lola' could at times be too much and her stories/observations were long winded, however overall i thouroughly enjoyed this story.

I thought it was just me!
I've just been reading the other reviews about This Charming Man & feel comforted as I've been battling on with the book out of sheer loyalty to Marian Keyes and was beginning to feel like my attention span or imagination must be deteriorating as I get older! Well at least I know I'm not the only one who is very disappointed by the book - the story & the characters are not even a stratch on her previous books and I'm praying that the next one will be a hell of a lot better!