Product Description

The laugh-out-loud-funny, life-affirming new novel from the bestselling author of Rachel's Holiday.

Tara, Katherine and Fintan have been best friends since they were teenagers in County Clare, in the days of pink stretch jeans and Duran Duran. Now they are in their early thirties only Fintan has found true love. Tara is making do with the dreadful Thomas, while Katherine's life is so orderly, the only relationship she wants is with her remote control. But life sometimes has a way of making changes for you. And fate steps in to alter all their lives in wholly unexpected ways.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81289 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 608 pages

From Amazon.com
Desperately single thirtysomething men and women populate Keyes's breezy novel. Childhood friends Tara, Katherine, and Fintan muddle along, dealing with the indignities and inconveniences we all face--and then some. Tara's perfectly horrible, freeloading boyfriend Thomas watches her diet like a hawk and remarks cruelly on the size of her posterior, comparing her unfavorably to younger, thinner women. Katherine is a professional success, but her personal life is nonexistent. Every one of her prior relationships--six in all--has ended disastrously, with Katherine getting dumped. Each time, she retreats further and further into her shell, until her most intimate relationship is with her remote control. Fashion industry insider Fintan has found true love with his Italian boyfriend, Sandro, but a health crisis threatens their happiness. Tara, Katherine, and Fintan, as well as their quirky cast of friends (people with names like Lorcan and Mandii), live, love, and learn the hard way, the only way they can. Not quite as obsessive as Bridget Jones and that damn diary of hers, Keyes manages to convey a painfully accurate portrayal of what it means to be single today, tempered by a few of life's less humiliating and more important lessons, like the value of true friendship. Funny and irreverent, Keyes's Last Chance Saloon is a terrific vacation read. --Alison Trinkle

From Publishers Weekly
Imagine Bridget Jones in a Jacobean revenge drama, a sort of 'Tis a Pity She's Single that's the flavor of this entry in the urban unmarried female angst sweepstakes. This time, the protagonists are two London women who grew up together in the small, repressive Irish town of Knockavoy. Tara, a computer analyst, lives with Thomas, a bitter and miserly high school geography teacher. Afraid to live on her own, she is willing to overlook the fact that Thomas ignores her birthday, constantly monitors her eating habits and insults her friends under the guise of being "honest." Katherine Casey, an accountant for an advertising agency, wears boring suits, has a hyperorganized underwear drawer and brushes off all advances, including those of attractive advertising account executive Joe Roth. As they turn 31, each woman is full of suggestions for improving the other's life and full of excuses for doing nothing about her own. That begins to change when Fintan O'Grady, their gay pal and fellow Knockavoy refugee, falls ill with a mysterious disease. As their paths are crisscrossed by a self-centered Irish actor named Lorcan Larkin, Fintan emotionally blackmails Tara and Katherine into making long-needed changes. Keyes (Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married) effectively describes the young women's searches for autonomy and love, but her flippant, arch tone is less effective when recounting the more grim stories of Fintan and Lorcan. In addition, some of the repartee, perhaps fresh when the book was originally published in Great Britain in 2001, already seems shopworn. The Knockavoy refugees are a sympathetic trio, however, and their deftly plotted saga is likely to appeal to fellow singletons. (Aug.)Forecast: Readers will have to be nearly as desperate as the heroines of Keyes's relationship drama to find satisfaction here but there's no underestimating the appeal of even halfway decent girl-talk books.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Dublin resident Keyes, author of the popular Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married and other novels, treats her audience to another fun read. Years ago, three friends from a small Irish town started new lives in London. Now in their early thirties and feeling as if they are in the "Last Chance Saloon" of relationships, they are finally growing up. Accountant Katherine is still recovering from a long-ago broken heart and has completely sworn off men. Tara constantly struggles with her weight and lives with a man who treats her horribly. Their best male friend, Fintan, seems to be having the best luck: not only is he in a happy relationship with a man but he also has a great job as a fashion designer. When a serious illness afflicts Fintan, the three friends are forced to re-examine their lives thus far and make some big changes. Keyes draws readers in from the beginning, and a sassy closing twist clenches the story. Readers of her previous novels will agree that Keyes's prose is nicely progressing. Her best book yet, this is highly recommended for public libraries.
- Beth Gibbs, Davidson, NC
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.