I finished reading This Charming Man by Marian Keys yesterday. I like to mix up my chick lit with other more ‘serious’ or ‘respected’ authors and books and while this book does fall under the chick lit banner it dealt with more serious issues such as domestic abuse and alcoholism.
While I could relate somewhat to the alcoholic storyline somewhat I have had no experience whatsoever with domestic abuse. I felt that the issues were dealt with in a respectable manner while Marian also kept her trademark wit about the storylines.
She interweaves the lives of 4 women who all have a connection to Paddy de Courcy. He is a politican who has charmed all of them in some way, but there are many secrets that are revealed throughout the book about all of the characters.
It is quite a thick book which I didn’t have a problem with (except on the days when I take a train to work and I gained a bit of weight in my bag) and perhaps certain bits could have been cut but it did show each characters journey and gave them more depth.
I would recommend this book if you like this type of Irish chick lit, Keys is better than most in this category and as she is a self confessed alcoholic you feel she knows what she’s talking about.
