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
Synopsis
This novel is irresistible, life-affirming, uplifting, compulsive reading. Tara, Katherine and Fintan are best friends since they were teenagers in Knockavoy, County Clare in the days of legwarmers, pink stretch jeans and Duran Duran. Now in their early thirties, they live in London where they are still bound together. But so far only Fintan has managed to find true love. Tara is on a permanent diet and stuck in a dead-end relationship. Katherine lives in ordered calm with her matching bra and knicker sets. Both of them propping up the bar in the Last Chance Saloon. But when you're not up for change yourself, life sometimes has a way of making changes for you. And fate is about to step in to alter all their lives in wholly unexpected ways...