Customer Reviews

This Charming Man

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

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!)

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.

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.

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.

This Charming Man by Marian Keyes




Four women, all charmed by the same man at one time or another in their lives. Meet Paddy de Courcy, the "John F. Kennedy" of Dublin,Ireland. Then meet Lola, Grace, her twin sister Marnie and Alicia whose engagement to Paddy starts this ball rolling.

Meet Lola first - her voice is written in the style of a diary or journal and is written in a type of short hand. The fact that it was extremely annoying to read this style aside, we learn very early how Lola,was devastated by Paddy's cruel way of breaking things off...thus we learn early on not to expect too much "charm" and a lot of cruelty from this man. Then comes Grace, a reporter and the strength of both her family and this story...then Marnie who we quickly learn is an depressed,alcoholic with suicidal tendencies, and also Grace's twin sister, and interspersed in bits and pieces in this story is Alicia, Paddy's new fiancee.

To tell the truth I didn't really enjoy this novel, I found the women for the most part to be weak willed and naive...something that we do learn came from the hands, literally, of Paddy. And when it is time to dole out justice for what he's done, they turn to blackmailing him instead of going to the police. I had a major issue with this fact. If this was written for some sort of comic relief,to balnce the horrors of the rest of the book, it was in very poor taste. Perhaps in Ireland things are much different for women to be able to get justice from an abuser, even if he was a politician (or perhaps I'm just being naive?), but as an American woman in the 21st century, I found what they did to him to be false, childish, unbelievable and intolerable .

I think that this was supposed to be of the "Chick-Lit" genre, but since it tackled such difficult subjects as alcoholism, depression, and terrible abuse against women, I was appalled at the flippant way this novel ended. yes he did get his just desserts, just not the way I would have liked to see it happen. Very Chick-Lit ending to a very deep subject matter..

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.

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.

This is one of Marian's best books...I couldn't put it down. I had it read in 3 days...and it's a pretty long book. I would suggest reading Marian's non-fiction books (Under the Duvet and Cracks in my Foundation) before reading her novels. After reading her two works of non-fiction, her novels become so much more accessible because as a reader, I knew a lot more about her as a person (especially her battle with alcoholism and career experiences, etc.)

I love Marian Keyes work. I have all her books and pre-ordered this book from Amazon. That said, I was disappointed in both the writing (the annoying voice of Lola almost drove me crazy) and the lack of a female character who stood up to an abusive man right from the beginning. Where is the author who writes a female character who says to the man who raises his hand the first time,"If you dare, they'll have to identify the body by dental records?" Also, there are too many characters. I want to follow one person's story and get emotionally involved. Jumping back and forth from one character's story to another's just made me care less about each one. I will always wait for a Marian Keyes book, but I did not keep this one. I donated it to the library.

Normally, i can't put her books down which then force my family to physically move me from time to time in order to just make sure i'm still alive and not turned into a corps gripping a marian keyes novel in my skeleton hands. But my god, the tales and women in this novel gripped me so much that it was depressing at times to the point of hiding the novel from myself. written as gold, but should come with a warning to have mounds of chocolate near by while reading at all times!