Last Chance Saloon: Amazon.co.uk: Marian Keyes: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

Author of the hugely popular Rachel's Holiday and Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, Marian Keyes is back swinging the doors of heartache and hilarity with Last Chance Saloon. Meet Tara, the rapidly expanding food-loving shopaholic; Katherine, the neat, male-ego-destroying singleton; Fintan, the fashion-conscious lovely, and Lorcan, the gorgeous but rotten redheaded womaniser. Marian Keyes deliberately deploys stereotypical characters and situations, then attempts to subvert the stereotypes, though perhaps in rather obvious ways. Throughout, Tara bores us with her lament that she is at the last chance saloon, meaning that if she ends her current relationship at 31, she's on the shelf for life. "For the first time Tara visualised it and she contracted with fear. It was like being told to jump off a cliff ... 'But what would become of me without Thomas? I'd never get anyone else and I hate not having a man. And it's not something I'm proud of' she added quickly. 'I'm going to puke', Fintan interrupted, urgently." Those who can resist the urge to follow Fintan's lead on the umpteenth rendition of this particular complaint will enjoy the book. It's addictive--reading The Last Chance Saloon is like watching the omnibus edition of Sunset Beach; you know the acting is awful and the same scenes keep on repeating themselves but you can't help being hooked and feeling sated afterwards. At almost 600 pages, settle down for a Saturday afternoon and don't expect to be getting up again until Sunday. --Nicola Perry

Review

From the author of the bestselling Rachel's Holiday, this book is a monster of laugh from page one. Take three friends from Knockavoy, County Clare: food-obsessed Tara, meticulous Katherine and club-crazy Fintan. Speed them through to the age of 31 and life in Camden Town, London. Add Liv, the Amazon-like Swede, and Sandro, Fintan's little Latin lover, then throw in Joe and Lorcan and you have a recipe for mayhem. This is the world of the LCT - the Last Chance Trendy. A hot-headed, warm-hearted read, awash with humour and pathos, the value of friendship and the desire to find true love in the shadow of the millennium. (Kirkus UK)

In the "Bridget Jones "tradition, young singles in London conquer self-esteem problems before finding true love: a witty if predictable fourth novel from Keyes ("Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married", 1999 etc.). Katherine, Tara, and Fintan moved to London together from their small Irish hometown and have remained best friends into their early '30s, even though they seem to have little in common. Overly self-controlled Katherine comes across as an Ice Queen. In fact, that's her less-than-flattering nickname at the advertising firm where she is an accountant. When a fellow worker gently flirts with her, Katherine is so afraid of her own feelings that she accuses him of sexual harassment. Tara is Katherine's opposite: desperate for affection, she clings to her boyfriend Thomas despite his consistently rude and unpleasant behavior. Softhearted Tara also eats compulsively. (Keyes perfectly captures the overweight overeater's mindset.) Only Fintan, who is gay and in the fashion industry, natch, has found happiness and true love with Sandro, "the Italian Pony" (he's too small to be a stallion). Then Fintan becomes seriously ill. It's not AIDS, but with a cancer that requires intensive chemotherapy. Fintan's mother and brothers arrive from Ireland and stay in Katherine's apartment, disrupting her perfect order, while Thomas refuses even to accompany Tara to the hospital. Possibly near death's door, Fintan exacts promises from his friends to bring some happiness into their lives. He wants Tara to dump the awful Thomas and Katherine to take a chance with her office suitor, the charming and genuinely nice Joe Roth. Meanwhile, their very sophisticated Swedish friend Liv falls madly in love with Fintan's very unsophisticated older brother Milo, a farmer who has never seen an escalator until now. Will Tara leave Thomas and get back to a size eight? Will Katherine cheat herself out of her big chance for romantic happiness? Will Fintan recover? Will Milo move back to the farm? No surprises, but a pleasant read. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

A Fabuously Funny Book 27 Oct 2006

By A. Rose TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Excellent ! This was the first of Marian Keyes books I have read and thoroughly enjoyed it. Laughs from start to finish with an excellent storyline. The characters are strong and well defined with the right amount of description, sympathy etc for each. I shall certainly be reading more of her books and would think that she would appeal to most female readers.

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A fantastic read! 9 Dec 2005

By "alicooperuk"

If you want a book that will make you laugh and cry, then this is the one for you. I loved this book and I couldn't put it down. The best line in the book has to be the one that follows Tara's body wrap experience commenting that she looked like she had just been exhumed. As I had just had a body wrap myself and knew all to well the exhumed look, I was almost falling off the chair laughing at this observation. There were many more observations that had me nodding and laughing in agreement too.

There is also an underlying message in this book that life is short and that we should make the most of it whilst we have it. I would love to read this book again. If you buy this book you certainly won't regret it.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

Brilliant! 6 Oct 2006

By Ms. J. C. Brown

I am currently working my way through Marian Keyes books (initially on recommendation from my daughter) and this is one of my favourites so far. I loved the characters, Katherine in particular and, as with all her books, felt I knew them and felt I was there. She researches her subjects well and I found myself going to bed early just to read especially towards the end I couldn't put it down. Definate page turner and, as with all her books, I was sorry when it was all over...

Entertaining and absorbing

I'm a fan of Marian Keyes but I still read reviews before I purchase any book. So, I was wary of buying this one after reading some of the low-rated reviews on here. Read more

Published 24 days ago by Jan-Jan

fun/charming/tragic all in one

a modern tale of 30 somethings-their loves,lives and woes.as funny as it is sad in parts.very well written.has something for everyone to relate to. Read more

Published 2 months ago by tsn

Shallow

All the central characters to me were very one dimensional with the SL going round and round in circles, the last 2 chapters especially I wanted to scream at Katherine with a K, I... Read more

Published 3 months ago by bookworm

I wish I could say more

I had high expectations on the product as I have read many of Marian's books and liked them very much indeed. Unfortunately it got lost. Read more

Published 9 months ago by cpaponcio

Best of the lot!

I've always like Marian Keyes books, especially those that involve the Walsh family (Watermelon (Claire), Rachel's Holiday (Rachel), Angels (Margaret / Maggie), Is Anybody out... Read more

Published 18 months ago by Alison Ireland

Really enjoyed this

I have nt yet read all of Marian Keyes novels but anything I have read ive enjoyed. Having said that I didnt think Id find one I enjoyed as much as Watermelon, until I read this... Read more

Published on 2 Mar 2010 by L Murphy

some hard moving bits with some feminist energy.

What I liked about it was that we followed the story of 3 characters, like in This Charming Man and the book was packed with twists and moving bits.

Published on 28 Jan 2010 by Le Tigre

Last Chance Saloon [Paperback]

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