This Charming Man

When I saw this book, I immediately wanted to read it. I'd been waiting a long time for Marian's next book!

But when I finally started reading it...ugh. Marian Keyes has dealt with some very serious subjects before -- drug addiction, psychological trauma, devastating illness, loss of a spouse -- so I was prepared to be dealing with some weighty subject matter. Marian can usually handle even the most serious stuff with wit and a tender touch. But this book...wow. It was really brutal. I mean, considering the somber subject matter of the two different plot lines, maybe it had to be. All I know is that I usually feel that Marian's got another problem solved by the end of one of her novels, but this one's ending was so flat, stale and unprofitable that I felt both let down AND depressed. The way the problem was "solved" was a major, major disappointment.

The characters were very well done as usual, although there was one that I just could not understand. Well, make that two. I couldn't get inside their heads to understand what made them do the things they did, maybe because Marian didn't pave the way for me, so to speak. One character I liked very much and another I was interested in. I liked the way the book followed different characters with their own chapters. It's interesting to see things from the individual person's point of view, particularly when the author ties up all the separate story lines together.

This was definitely not one of my favorite Marian Keyes books, but my loyalty is unswerving. She is an excellent writer, even when the story isn't one of her best.

SPOILERS I had a little trouble getting into This Charming Man, but once I did, I was hooked. Keyes does an excellent job of showing just how Paddy wormed his way into these vibrant, smart women's lives and gained their trust. Yes, it's an offbeat book, but I think that's part of its charm, if you will. I did have trouble with some of the language in Lola's sections, and that is my biggest quibble. It was abrupt and felt unfinished, but I got used to it because I wanted to get to the rest of the story. The beginning was a little abrupt for me as I tried to figure out who these women were, but I liked the varying points of view.

Marnie's story was my favorite, and the phrase terminal uniqueness, referring to her not wanting to admit she was an alcoholic, has stayed with me. That was a heartbreaking story line and Keyes imbued it with her usual compassion and empathy. I'm also glad that Paddy got his comeuppance at the end; I was getting frustrated that he could abuse so many women and still go about his merry way. The interspersed passages relating the domestic violence suffered were at times a bit too much to take but again, were realistic. Grace was the toughest character to really get to know, and though perhaps she was more stable than Marnie or Lola, she was, in my opinion, the least sympathetic, though I was still rooting for her. I think that's the heart of a Marian Keyes book; no matter how low her characters go, you still want them to wind up happy, even if "happy" doesn't always look like what you thought it would be at the beginning.

I agree with some others who have given this book a middling review. I've never read any other Keyes books, so I can't speak to how this one compares.

My main comments are: 1) I agree with reviewers who say the story of the first narrator, Lola, is written in a very annoying way that seems to ape "Bridget Jones' Diary" for no good reason, even when she's quoting others. 2) This book is very Irish, meaning there are lots of references here that may seem foreign and a little puzzling to the American reader. And 3)It is too long and slow in many parts.

Having said that, I'm not sorry I read it...just glad that I borrowed it from the library rather than spending close to $20 for a very disposable summer read.

Part of my problem (and rating) of this book probably has to do with my expectations of it. Having read, and loved, all of Marian's previous books I was expecting more of the delightful entertaining chick-lit style, and it was certainly marketed that way.

Whilst all of Marian's previous books have dealt with some pretty heavy topics (addiction, death etc.) they all managed to do it in a thought provoking way that didn't descend to horribly dark and disturbing. Not so with A Charming Man. This is a graphic and disturbing book detailing rape, as well as sexual, physical and emotional abuse.

Not only that, and maybe this is part of trying to have four main female characters but, with the exception of Marnie and the female politician, all of the female characters felt two dimensional, contrived, weak and inspidless. Lola, in particular, almost caused me to give up reading after almost 100 non-stop pages of whining, pity parties and self indulgence.

There were parts that were well written - expecially Marnie's character and the occasional light hearted interlude but, when I reached the end, I wished I hadn't read it because of the disturbing, explicit and graphic nature of its content and an ending without justice.

If you are looking for the light-hearted entertaining chick-lit I recommend you try Jane Green or Sheila O'Flanagan.

I've enjoyed almost all of Marian Keyes' earlier novels (the lone exception being Lucy Sullivan... I just couldn't get into that one or care at all about the protagonist) and was excited to find this book in my library. A quick warning, there will be spoilers ahead.

I did not care for the style in which Lola's part was written. The diary thing can be OK in small doses, but when it's a major chunk of the book the novelty wears off FAST. Strangely, the part that annoyed me the most was the way she still wrote in choppy diary-style writing when recording actual conversations between people. The people themselves most likely spoke in a real style, so the conversations being short-handed like Lola's inner thoughts was really annoying to me.

Beyond that, which I could get over, is the character of Paddy. He isn't charming and it's clear that he's a total sleaze from the beginning. I wasn't shocked with the domestic abuse (meaning I wasn't surprised when it happened, not the acts themselves) but I was extremely disappointed with how Keyes ended the story. I do not believe for one minute that these women, most of whom landed in the hospital with excruciating injuries inflicted by this man, would be satisfied with him just stopping a scandalous story on another politician. Even their demands of him resigning and backing down were unrealistic at best. They would all want him in jail, and even if they knew they didn't have much of a chance to get him there I feel like they still should've tried. The ending is not a happy one even when he loses his job and is more or less done with politics because the reader knows he will continue his abusive ways with his wife. She even senses the danger and writes it off.

I have no problem with Keyes taking on a subject like domestic violence/abuse. It happens, and needs to be talked about more openly despite how uncomfortable it makes everyone. But that said, she did not handle it in a way that does it justice, in my opinion. The abuser got off more or less scot-free and several of his victims were so damaged as to have basically ruined their lives over him.

Overall, I'm not sorry I read the book, but I won't be buying this one. I'm disappointed that Keyes was unable to explore the topic as well as she has other intense topics (drug addiction, divorce, death, illness, etc). I hope her next book is more like her past ones that I've enjoyed so much.

Having read all of Marian Keyes' novels, I was eagerly anticipating this one. While it has the intimate and conversational style her fans have always enjoyed, this one is much darker than any before and often made me uncomfortable with its graphic depictions.

Paddy de Courcy, Irish politician, is the charming man of the title, but Keyes gives no clue as to what his charm is. We only see him as a depraved and deranged man who inflicts such emotional and physical abuse on the women in his life that they are scarred forever. We read that he is handsome, but no action of his explains why he is able to attract women so easily. Everything about him is actually repellant.

The story is told in turns by Lola, Grace, Marnie, and Alicia. It is the announcement of his marriage to Alicia that sends shock waves through the other three and thus begins a tale of abuse, alcoholism, and depression which Keyes unfolds with her usual storytelling skills. Missing is the humor which has softened the more serious subjects in her previous novels. Oh, there were a few funny moments, but not enough to alleviate the darker subject matter of this one. However, this may be the novel that removes the undeserved "chick lit" tag from Keyes' resume.

Lola is a stylist to Dublin's social elite. Devastated by news of DeCourcy's engagement since she was his current girlfriend, she flees to Knockavoy on the Irish coast and deals with bouts of deep depression. I feel sure her encounters with the transvestite/cross-dresser characters were meant to be humorous, but I never quite understood why this was thrown into the book and it was definitely my least favorite section.

Grace is a journalist who knew Paddy as a teen and watched him slip through her grasp into the waiting arms of her twin sister Marnie. Even after watching him devastate her sister and wreck her life, Grace could not overcome her attraction to him and allowed him to wreck her own marriage.

Marnie, Grace's twin, has the most poignant story. Her descent into the hell of alcoholism was the most realistic though perhaps the most uncomfortable to read. I wondered how her family let her go on for so long without forcing her to get help and it was Marnie's story that brought tears to my eyes and made me applaud her epiphany.

Alicia is portrayed as a villainess who after stealing Paddy from Marnie aids him in some of his diabolical endeavors. Alicia's story is the least delved into and the ending sadly foreshadows the hell that is about to be brought upon her.

This is a devastating story of four broken women and the man who weaves his way through the worst parts of their lives. Will they be able to move on? Will they finally exact revenge on this womanizer? Will he have a collapse and will it be fitting for such a despicable character? Female readers will certainly have differing opinions but I think will all agree we want more, more, more from Marian Keyes.

Having just read some recent reviews being not at all happy with the Lola Daly character in this book, I just have to say I thought she was the standout from a group of women struggling with their insecurities. Lola is one of my all-time favourite characters and I loved her narrative style. Must have read it half a dozen times and still it makes me laugh. This would have to be my favourite MK book, but very closely followed by Last Chance Saloon.

Marian Keyes is known and loved for her charm, her spectacularly unique and irrepressible wit, and her very Irish humor. But she is not above writing on quite serious subjects; "Rachel's Holiday" comes to mind.

"This Charming Man" is such a book, delving deeply and horrifyingly not only into alcoholism, a subject Keyes has written about before, but upon domestic abuse (in this case, "boyfriend abuse." It is unblinking, terrifying and depressing to read, despite Keyes' attempt to inject her usual charm.

Add to that a series of flashbacks that get increasingly hard to keep straight, and it makes for difficult reading indeed. Keyes is her usual talented self, but she didn't quite pull off her usual masterpiece in this story of a man so horrendous that no amount of explanation about his charisma truly made this reader understand his "charm."

The book is worth reading because it's Keyes, but don't expect to be amused or uplifted in any way.

Have enjoyed other books by Marian Keyes, and eagerly awaited this one but after reading, came away disappointed with the story. It took a long time for the storyline to actually get going and develop (I was over the 300 page mark before it did pick up).

One issue I did have was the writing of Lola's character (portrayed only in diary format, and so only real perspective we get on her life, is by Lola - reminds me of those books that are written only in email conversations - lacking in character depth). Apart from this, the other characters were more interesting and better portrayed to the reader.

Finally, a poor ending in which "the charming man" was not dealt with adequately or realistically (or idealistically??) left me feeling that the author wasn't quite sure how best to end this story and took an easy and disappointing ending to a 650 page book.

I have always loved Marian Keyes' novels and I believe they have always been incredibly well written, entertaining and funny. It is unusual for an author after so many novels to actually get so much better (especially when she was already so amazingly talented) and write such a complex and relevant tale as "This Charming Man". Right from the clever title, which I believe helps to set the scene as Grace and Marnie, I believe, would have been listening to the Smith's when they had first met charming Paddy in the late 80's, the novel is brilliantly put together with several interesting stories that are uniquely interwoven. There is nothing obvious at all about having the point of view of two sisters experiences with the same man and having a completely different character's experiences as well which gave it a interesting perspective on how domestic violence can work in many ways.

The author is genius in the way she captures the 'voice' of Lola with brilliant creative narrative and makes her someone that anybody could relate to and love although she is incredibly a person that if you met you may think you had nothing in common with at all. For the people that found the 'broken' English difficult (I was surprised at this comment that I read in another review). Using colloquialisms to 'flesh out' a character is a technique used by brilliant authors to add authenticity and colour to their work. This technique has been used from Dostoevsky to Irvine Welsh. Lesser authors don't bother with this technique and their characters are pretty one dimensional eg. Isabella from another popular novel. I agree that when it is done poorly it can be distracting but I believe that Keyes has done it perfectly and it made the character the easiest to relate to of all her novels. Everyone I speak to likes Lola and relates to her best (myself included) this is in spite of the fact that she is a flawed character and that most people would not normally relate to a fashion stylist with purple (sorry, Molischino hehe) hair. This is how you know that she is one of the best written fictional characters in history, yes, several hundred years of literature that I have studied and have an undergraduate degree in. It is also interesting to read about the world of fashion styling and cross dressing. I always feel like I am learning something about popular culture and societal trends from reading her novels, which is an added bonus to their entertainment value. This novel has to have benefited the cross dressing community. Millions of people now have an understanding and affinity for cross dressers, which can only make the world a less prejudiced place and has probably really helped some wives to understand their husbands better.

It is amazing how she can comment on all sorts of social issues such as domestic violence, cross dressing, class distinctions and discrimination, the inside workings of newspapers and political parties, raising the readers awareness of such practices, whilst still being so entertaining and never preachy or negative. I also feel she does the setting beautifully as I have an urge to go to Knockavoy and Dublin to see the places she describes first hand. I find that all brilliant authors make you want to travel to the settings of their novels. All in all I loved this book and reading it for the first time was a very enjoyable 8 hours (I could not put it down). I wish I could read her novels for the first time again. Interestingly I have found a couple of my students, some as young as 12 (I am a high school English teacher), reading this novel in their free reading time at school, which I think they must have gotten from their mothers (it is not kept in the school library) and I think that there are many valuable lessons in there for young girls in relation to domestic violence as well as an understanding of the wider 'adult' world eg. newspapers and journalism and could not be better reading. This novel should be on the curriculum! I hope they make Irish movies of all of her novels but especially this one. I hope she does a reading in Australia one day too.

As a "chick-lit" author myself, I can honestly say that with each book, Marian Keyes pushes the bar higher for the rest of us. This Charming Man is no exception. Writing from so many perspectives and voices while keeping the humor and emphasizing uncomfortable non "chic-litty" subjects is a challenge and a risk. Marian did it beautifully, I thought. And while others may have found Lola's voice grating, I believe she served as a perfect contrast.
It's such an exciting time in women's fiction to see formerly "fluffy" authors like Jane Green and Marian Keyes writing books that are worthy of any New Yorker review. You won't be wasting your valuable time with THIS CHARMING MAN.

I really liked this M. Keyes' book because of the mystery throughout the book. It kept me reading, as well as all the female characters which were very well portraid. One thing I love about M. keyes is her description of small town life, it always makes me want to move (back) to Europe. While one of the main subjects of the novel is really shocking, and horrible, I liked how all the women came to face with it at the end. And where do I find cross-dressing friends to hang out on weekends? These characters were hillarious. Good fun read.

My friends and I adore Marion Keyes. We read all of her books and discuss them later, and laugh all over again. She is brilliant. This Charming Man seemed very different than her usual style. I did not mind the harsher subject matter, nor did Lola's clipped verbage bother me. I just could not get behind a hero who wears women's clothing, and enjoys acting like a woman. Not sexy. What we are all waiting with baited breath for is Helen's story. We are dying to know what happened to her and hoping her man is of the Irish Spring variety. Manly. Hurry, Marion, give us Helen's story!!!!! Please!!!

BUY THIS BOOK! Just finished this book, am very sad. did not want it to end. she must do a sequel and not take so long. excellant job of bringing all those characters together. usually hate jumping from story to story, but aside from her abilty to make you love her characters, she brought in the suspense with the evil man. i say this is her best book yet. and i have loved them all. her editors need to let her write longer books, this is the longest yet (i beilieve) but really want to know more about Dee Rossini, and how do you live with a cross dresser? struggling with that bit. plus would have liked to see the "charming man" get a little more of what he gave out.

I have just finshed this book. What I thought would be a light, beach read, turned into something far more. Through the narratives of four different women, two uncomfortable and unpleasant subjects were brought forth. There were no easy or pretty solutions.
Abuse of women is common. It is ugly. It takes place over the world. No amount of denial changes that. Alcoholism is a significant fact of life for many.
Ms Keyes has written a complex book which is part romp and part reality show. She explored both alcoholism and violence against women in a way to make them bearable to recognize. We must get beyond denial to address these issues. She did an admirable job weaving these into a readable format. I applaud Ms Keyes.

Heroine brokenhearted. So despondent lost pronouns. Articles, too.

This is not a preview for those who haven't read this--or other--Marian Keyes books. For those people, yes, she's great, go get all her stuff and enjoy it. (That's why I'm rating this 4. Because she's basically excellent.) But don't start with this one. She's trying some new stuff here, and a lot of it really doesn't work.

Our first heroine, Lola, is the one who has lost her pronouns and articles. Her chapters in this book make one think that Ms. Keyes has taken to composing her stories on her Blackberry with arthritic fingers. As a literary device, I personally think it sucks. (Or as Lola would say, "As literary device, sucks.") And Lola is not a character to whom I can realate. A stylist? I'm a west-coast American, which means I'm necessarily in the know, right, so why am I cringing about this woman's career? (Is she like whatever underpaid minion chose all of those "styles" for Sarah Palin, I wonder?) That said, at least Lola's situation has some of the characteristic Keyes whimsical comedy. She and her cross-dressing friends and her lively romances are about the only light points of the book.

The other female characters--I can hardly call them heroines--are sadly lacking. Marnie the precious, self-centered alcoholic, has no redeeming qualities. Am I the only one who was kind of hoping for suicide here? Grace, probably our "main" heroine, lacks depth, and although the "mystery" of her relationship with the villian isn't much of a mystery, she is the focal point for the action in the book. But that action isn't well-developed or well-paced. She sets out to expose the villian in order to support Dee, the "good" politican, who is also underdeveloped. Why? The relationship between the two is not developed enough to understand the motivation. Alicia, the villian's current amour, is so underdeveloped that one wonders why there are even passages devoted to her. She has no personality and sees no action in the book. Is it just that a dullard was required as background material? There are occasional glimpses of the quirky, charming Irish family life we are accustomed to from Keyes through Grace and Marnie's parents and aunt, and some of the villagers in Knockavoy, but really not enough to redeem this novel.

This is a harsh novel about domestic violence--battered women's syndrome really--alcoholism, severe personality disorders, and bleak survival. To the extent that Marian Keyes is striving to shed the light "euro-chick-lit" Sophie-Kinsella-like label, this should certainly do it. But it is self-consciously "different" from Keyes' usual presentation of lively, quirky Irish, and makes me long for Mammy Walch to come back to Los Angeles (Angels) and hit us with some more blarney.

This book is absolutely BRILLIANT! Four women and all of them entangled with a manin different ways. I came to think of 'One man to rule them all! "(LoL) I was so curious right from the first page. What have these women in common with this man? One of them seems to hate him and another seems to worship him. How does this fit? This book is exciting from start to finish. How can this man be the center of all four of these women's lives? She writes with a real dry sense of humor and I laughed till I cried on almost every page, but do not think anything other than that this is a tragic story. Yes it is a sad book, but written with humor and sarcasm, which is actually a brilliant combination.

Having read all of Marian Keyes previous novels, I was very disappointed in "This Charming Man." Like many other reviewers, I had to entirely skip over Lola's portion of the stories because I found the shorthand writing style to be essentially unreadable. I thought the ladies' revenge was anticlimatic. One positive thing is that, while very depressing, Marnie's story rang true and was very evocative of the plight of the alcoholic. I thought her sections were the most interesting. All in all, I thought that "Rachel's Holiday" did a superior job of addressing a tough subject in an endearing, touching manner.

I love Marian Keyes' books and this one was great. It reminds me of a cross between fifty shades of grey and the big book of alcoholics anonymous! But it tells a wonderful story about how women are affected in different ways by domestic violence. It would make a great movie, so many cameo roles. Two questions remain...is the bypass really that good? And was Colin Farrell really a travelling line dancer?

I love Marian Keyes' books. I love their humour, honesty and their humanity. This book too has a wonderful story, but I almost missed finding that out.

I loved Lola's character, but the staccato writing style of her character drove me bats. I felt as if I was being asked to read a novel sent to me via text message.

I then became confused by amount of relatives everyone seemed to have and about half-way through I gave up and put the book back on the shelf. I spoke to my sisters, and they too had been unable to persevere.

However....two days ago I tried again...and it was so worth it. I found the accounts of Marnie's life incredibly moving and honest. And blessedly, I didn't have to translate her story though text speak.

The beautifully plotted story then began to unfurl like a flower and I had to stay up till 2am to finish reading because I couldn't put the book down.

I love Marian Keyes' books. I love their humour, honesty and their humanity. This book too has a wonderful story, but I almost missed finding that out.

I loved Lola's character, but the staccato writing style of her character drove me bats. I felt as if I was being asked to read a novel sent to me via text message.

I then became confused by amount of relatives everyone seemed to have and about half-way through I gave up and put the book back on the shelf. I spoke to my sisters, and they too had been unable to persevere.

However....two days ago I tried again...and it was so worth it. I found the accounts of Marnie's life incredibly moving and honest. And blessedly, I didn't have to translate her story though text speak.

The beautifully plotted story then began to unfurl like a flower and I had to stay up till 2am to finish reading because I couldn't put the book down.

Unlike some of the readers that seem confused and frustrated by the first chapter of the book, I actually really enjoyed it. It is supposed to be the inner monologue of a depressed tired angry and sad woman that just got booted out of a bad relationship. The fact that sentences are fragmented and erratic actually brings you into the character's mindframe that much faster and adds humor and color to what would otherwise be whining and boring. I actually like her last two books better than any of the rest (with the exception of the other side of the story which was great too). The characters finally have more than one dimention and the multiple narrative makes a book about love and relationships stand out amongst a sea of similar books.

I have always enjoyed M. Keyes style of writing. This book was tedious and grueling to read. Forget Lola's story....I just had to skip the min-phrases she talked in. The only part of this book I did enjoy was Marnie'story. Maybe the whole book could have been shortened down to just Marnie. Fell way too short for me to like it. Maybe I live in the wrong part of the world, but Americans should enjoy chick lit no matter where's it's written. Borrow, don't buy!!!!

Unlike her last novel, this one reminded me more of her older books. I love how she deals with serious subjects and can make it easy to relate. Having had troubled with alchohol and depression in the past, I could totally see myself a little in Marnie. I could not believe this Paddy guy, who by the way is NOT charming. Keyes does a good job of showing us that. I liked how you were always wondering why these girls were connected and I had a hard time putting it down until I found out all the answers. The trannie thing was a bit annoying but something good did come out of it for Lola! I just finished it and am sad it's over!

There are parts of this book that are well written and gripping but, over all, it was a disappointment. I felt too much time was spent writing on one scene or character and too little on another.

The character of the "Charming Man" in this book was not well developed. There was little to no "charm" presented. I buy the fact that abusive men can be charming (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome) but, I couldn't find anywhere in the book in which this character was portrayed as such.

There were unbelievable moments too, in which I felt cheated out of a more plausible reason leading up to an event. Does the author think her audience is dimwitted?

This book had no consistent flow. It's like the author completely absorbed herself at times; then simply said, "good enough" at other times.

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.

As another huge Marian Keyes fan, I eagerly anticipated the arrival of her long awaited book This Charming Man, only to find myself somewhat disappointed. I was expecting the Keyes charm of the walsh family, something that would allow me to escape to Keyes' Ireland and the hilarious idiosyncrasies of her characters but what we got instead was a shocking and explicit account of abuse and alcoholism.

I applaud Marian for going there. Marnie's story is obviously somewhat to do with Keyes' own personal story of battling addiction and the story is definitely well written, well planned and executed (with the exception of Lola's stilted diary dialogue which I found annoying).

Overall though I have to say that I was disappointed and a bit freaked out by the seriousness of the subject matter (which to be honest at times I found outright disturbing). My only hope is that we will soon be getting Helen Walsh's story in print!!

Taryn Venske Redford

Wow some dark subjects in this book, very well understood and written.

There were twists to the plot I really liked.
There was a lot going on in this book but still kept me wanting to read more.
I felt as though I had grown to know them all (very clever)
Very emotional at times and very funny at times

As you read into the lives of four very different women and the MAN that connects them all together, it will effect you as you will want to help, so you never end up putting the bloody book down!
Read this in the bath for a few nights (I looked liked a raisin at the end of each bath)

I have read other reviews here, and I agree, reading the passages when Lola was "speaking" was difficult. I almost stopped after the first chapter...boy, am I glad I didn't! I found myself so wrapped up in the storylines, the characters, and I wanted revenge on behalf of the women against Paddy! Don't pass this book up. I did not find it too long...I wanted more!

I have read everything written by Marion Keyes. I am a huge fan. In my excitement I pre-ordered this book. I'm only 30 pages in and am completely annoyed by the style of writing. I hate incomplete sentences and so far that's all I've read. (I'm not a teacher.) I get enough of that on the internet and I read for educational enjoyment. I feel myself getting dumber as I reaad this so I ad the correct words myself while reading to make the sentences complete. If this continues much longer I won't be able to finish this book. Very disappointing!

I really enjoyed the different styles Keyes used while writing about each of the Characters. It really emphasised the different personalities.

My favourite characters were Graces family, had me laughing out load...

So frustrated by the writing style I could barely get into this book, let alone finish it. This book is NOT for you if you appreciate complete sentences and decent grammar. I appreciate that the author was trying a different voice but it all becomes too much as every line is a stop-start affair. Not for me thanks.

I read this while visiting Ireland in 2008, where it was just out and Keyes is immensely popular. This book is a real departure for Keyes, who I always think of as a writer of chick lit. Here she follows the lives of four women, dealing with depression, alcoholism, battering -- lots of heavy subjects -- without giving up the light touch that makes her so easy to read. This is by far the most serious thing she has written -- the best thing she has written -- and well worth your time.

after reading many reviews here felt must put own point of vue. TCM great addition to Keyes' oeuvre but, yes, admit that Paddy de C character mostly unconvincing, confrontation scene embarrassing and insufficent for anguish suffered by 4, also whole book too long. BUT, LOVED Lola text-speak, inspite of Bridget Jones' derivation, v. funny!! Look forward to next work.

I found this book quite enjoyable. It moved along nicely and had me guessing throughout. I have read all of Marian Keyes' books and this one is up there with some of her best. Unlike other reviewers, I enjoyed Lola's diary style of writing. Each character is different and is portrayed as such in the writing style...the only one I wasn't fond of was Marnie (whose story was told in the 3rd person), but it didn't take away at all from the story. The ending left me a little deflated which is why I gave it 4 stars and not 5, but overall I enjoyed this book.

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.

Appreciated how Ms.Keyes wrote differently from the main character's point-of-view; humorously, sadly, desperate and determined characters. Really invested in each character and couldn't wait to see how the story ended. Great job, can't wait to read more of her books!

I worked with clients of domestic violence for years and I have read many novels about dv. I read this book because I've never not loved one of Keyes' books. Her characters were woman I saw in the shelter. Usually when I start to read a book and the subject of dv comes up; I put the book down because its so unbelievable...not this one. You did you, Marian!

'This Charming Man' is Marions' best so far. it is more than chick-lit, in fact it isn't 'chick-lit' at all. It's a sad, funny, fascinating page turner of a book with warm believable characters. I couldn't put it down.

Lola writes just like she is writing in a journal and her grammar is a bit hard to grasp but then you get used to it. I just fell in love with Lola & Grace. LOVED the ending! This was hard to put down after I got through the first few chapters. "Trannies" will like it too! ;)