Fiction-Net > Book Reviews > Last Chance Saloon

Book Review Title Author Publisher Last Chance Saloon Marian Keyes Penguin Fiction-Net Rating Buy It - Buy This Book Cover Story 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. We Say The majority of people are quite happy to drift along in life, carrying on in the same comfortable way but what happens when something entirely out of your control changes and you suddenly feel like you are in the Last Chance Saloon? Do you grab that chance and make a brave change or do you let it pass you by on the basis that it's just a lot easier to accept what you have got? These are the choices faced by Katherine, Tara and Fintan. I have to say, in the case of Tara and Katherine it is nice to see their lives shaken up in this way. Before that happens, although they are likeable and realistic in many ways, they are also extremely frustrating characters. Neither seems to know what is good for her and as well as infuriating each other quite often, they also infuriated me (and remember; this is a very long book so it takes a while for anything to look like it might change). However, I am sure that this is a ploy from Marian Keyes to make sure that we root for the characters to do something about their lives and become closer to them in the process. It does work and because they are so miserable without even realising it, you desperately want them to discover what real happiness is. As I have said, this is a very thick book, which is not challenging but is thoroughly entertaining. There is real warmth and humour here and little in the way of cynicism. By the end you will be racing through to find out how it will turn out as lives and loves hang in the balance. It's real girlie stuff and best read in a sumptuous bubble bath with a cup of tea and no interruptions. But be warned - you may be in there some time. Review by: Rachel Taylor Buy It - Buy This Book