When you pick up a Marian Keyes book, there are two things that you tend to expect. The first is that one or more of the main characters will be Irish (or the plot may even be set predominately in Ireland), and the second is that there is going to be a hugely life changing event for some of the characters. Having said that, I have only read two others by this author; Sushi for Beginners and The Other Side of the Story, so it may be that I am making rather big assumptions.

Last Chance Saloon involves three friends in their thirties, all of whom grew up in rural Ireland and are now living in London. They are all successful, yet they are not all happy. Tara is a computer programmer who lives with an emotionally stunted, controlling Yorkshire-man, Thomas; Katherine is an accountant in an advertising agency who does not seem to know how to be intimate with anyone; and Fintan works in fashion, and seems to be the only one who is happy. He has a job he loves and lives with his boyfriend Sandro. Along the way we also meet Liv (their gorgeous but usually depressed Swedish former housemate who is on a search for spiritual fulfilment), their families and some of their workmates.

The book opens as they are meeting up for a boozy lunch to celebrate Tara's 31st birthday, and then proceeds to follow their lives for an eventful year. Not long after the lunch Fintan finds out that he has cancer, and the world of the three friends is turned up side down. There are brief episodes dealing with the assumptions that a lot of people made that Fintan actually had AIDS, but we are soon treated to details of what it is like for him to proceed with the treatment for cancer, including having bone marrow tests and chemotherapy. One day, when he is near his sickest point, he demands that the girls do things for themselves that he thinks will make them happy. For Tara, this means leaving her emotionally abusive boyfriend Thomas; for Katherine (who is called Ice Queen by her colleagues at work) this means letting down some barriers and allowing herself to get close to someone, to let a man into her life! However, each could not think of anything worse to be asked to do. Tara is terrified of being left alone, and Katherine is terrified of not being left alone. Luckily Katherine already has a man in mind, sexy Joe Roth from work, and before too long they are dating. Everything seems to be going well, and yet she still holds herself back, a legacy of bad experiences in the past.

Also threading through the story are the exploits of Lorcan Larkin, womaniser and fading actor. He was once famous in Ireland and set off to conquer the world, but ended up being a has-been in both the US and the UK - or more precisely, a never was! Lorcan's tale almost intersects with the three friends at various points in the story. At first I did not quite understand Lorcan's role in the story as it seemed to me to be a distraction from the other plotlines, but all was revealed by the end of the book and Lorcan’s role became much clearer. To me however Lorcan seemed like a caricature, never quite becoming real in the same way that the others did.

One of the things that I like about Marian Keyes’ books is that whilst they are laugh-out-loud funny, they do deal with serious issues, and deal with them well. Furthermore, she is not afraid to not have a happy ending for all of her characters. There are clichés like boozy Christmas lunches where someone disgraces themselves, but Keyes writes well enough to still make these occasions entertaining. We are firmly in ‘chick lit’ territory, so you know that there will be talk of indelible lipsticks, beauty products and the like, but in Keyes’ hands this becomes part of the charm. There are many British references that not everyone may understand, but these should not be enough to impede enjoyment of the book.

The only down side for me (and this is a very personal downside!) is that Tara in particular talked about how she was in the Last Chance Saloon, and therefore had to make her relationship with Thomas work because there may not be another one! As someone who is already past her age, that does not bode well, but even Tara eventually realises that this is not necessarily so.

I am fast becoming a fan of Marian Keyes work, and will definitely be reading more from her in the future.

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