Last Chance Saloon

Marian Keyes

Average Rating 8/10 (1 Review)

Tara, Katherine and Fintan.

Best friends since they were teenagers in the days of legwarmers, pink stretch jeans and Duran Duran. Now in their early thirties, they're living in London, but so far only Fintan has managed to find true love.

Tara, stuck in a dead-end relationship, believes that when you're in the Last Chance Saloon, even a man who keeps his change in a little-old-ladies' purse is better than no man at all.

Katherine wouldn't agree. Living a life of calm with her matching bra-and-knicker sets, the only relationship she wants is with her remote control. Never mind that gorgeous Joe Roth, the new boy at work, has offered to help her change the channels.

But when you're not up for change yourself, life has a way of changing for you. And fate, disguised first as an illness, then as a good-looking, dangerous, out-of-work actor called Lorcan, steps in to alter all their lives in wholly unexpected ways

'Plenty of heart, lots of laughs, and a fantastic twist in the tail.'

'The feel good queen reigns supreme a terrific book.'

'Marian Keyes is a born storyteller.'

'Accessible and addictive.'

'As ever, Marian Keyes manages to have you alternately blubbing and belly-laughing to the final page.'

Review by Chrissi (010202) Rating (8/10)

Review by Chrissi
Rating 8/10
It will probably suffice to say that I am of a similar age to the characters in this novel and I can see both my friends and I in the characters of this novel. The Last Chance Saloon is a metaphor for the stage in life where you are unlikely to find a decent relationship and therefore should take whatever you can find. This goes particularly for women, as men become distinguished and can attract (with their wallet) younger dolly birds, women have to make their catch earlier before everything descends towards their knees.

It deals very delicately with those people who are in bad relationships because they feel that even a bad relationship is better than none at all, even if it is with a man who keeps his pennies in a small brown old ladies type purse and who criticises everything about his girlfriend, saying that he is only being honest. In his opinion, his honesty entitles him to be rude, inconsiderate and arrogant, the fact that he is a dour Yorkshire man is probably just a coincidence. (Sorry, if you are from that great county, but many have expressions as long as the road from Hull to Scarborough… just my personal experience.)

The linchpin of the story is someone being diagnosed with a life threatening illness, and using it as an excuse to force their friends to make changes in their lives so that they can be happy before the aforementioned sick person pops off this mortal coil. Cue lots of people saying that they really are very happy just the way that they are, thank you very much.

I found this in my local newsagents, on a rack with Catherine Cookson and Alastair MacLean, and apart from the rather fetching green cover, it just stood out. I finished it in very quick time, and laughed and cheered and commiserated all the way through. If you are or once were around that three-oh area in your life then this will strike chords. If you have not reached it yet then you should read this because you don't have to go straight to Barbara Cartland bodice rippers, there is plenty of good fiction to read before you get there, and Marion Keyes is at the top of the list.
Chrissi (1st February 2002)