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Last Chance Saloon
Last Chance Saloon
Jan 16, 2026 9:47 AM

Author:Marian Keyes

Last Chance Saloon

*** CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS AUTHOR OF THE YEAR 2022***

Discover the gorgeously funny and heartwarming bestseller about final chances from the No 1. bestselling author of Grown Ups

'Moving, relatable and infinitely tender' INDEPENDENT

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

___________

'Love is blind, there was no doubt about it. In Tara's case it was also deaf, dumb, dyslexic, had a bad hip and the beginnings of Alzheimer's . . .'

Tara, Katherine and Fintan have been best friends since they were teenagers. Now in their early thirties, they've been living it up in London for ten years.

But what have they to show for a decade of hedonism?

Sure, Tara's got a boyfriend - but only because she's terrified of spending five minutes alone. Katherine, on the other hand, has a neatness fetish that won't let anyone too close to mess up her life.

And Fintan? Well, he has everything. Until he learns that without your health, you've got nothing . . .

All three are drinking in the last chance saloon and they're about to discover that if you don't change your life, life has a way of changing you . . .

'A comforting doorstopper of a read that's as addictive as solitaire' Daily Mail

___________

Praise for Marian Keyes

'An outstanding writer and chronicler of our times' Independent on Sunday

'Mercilessly funny' Times

'The voice of a generation' Daily Mirror

Reviews

Moving, relatable and infinitely tender, Keyes takes the most uncomfortable human experiences and treats them with real dignity. But of course, because it's Marian, it's still very, very funny

—— Independent

In Marian Keyes' BESTSELLING Last Chance Saloon, three great friends discover that despite their best-laid plans, life can unravel in the most unexpected ways.

'Love is blind, there was no doubt about it. In Tara's case it was also deaf, dumb, dyslexic, had a bad hip and the beginnings of Alzheimer's . . .'

—— from the publisher's description

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

—— Cosmopolitan

A comforting doorstopper of a read that's as addictive as solitaire

—— Daily Mail

I read the first page of this and was immediately hooked. It's rattlingly written, hugely immersive, funny too. Adored it.

—— Rick O'Shea , Rick O'Shea Book Club

McMenamin strikes a skilled balance between acerbic wit and the portrayal of absolute desolation. . . . In vivid colour, he brings to life one unforgettable, game-changing night out. . . . McMenamin delivers truths with the speed of flying bullets and the impact leaves you wounded. At the same time, the hilarity of the novel keeps you hurtling onward, racing to the end. This is an absolute page-turner and an impressive burst out of the traps for first-timer Ciaran McMenamin.

—— RTE.ie

A cracking read.

—— The Arts Show, BBC Radio Ulster

Fizzing with energy . . . as poignant as it's funny.

—— Sue Leonard , Irish Examiner

Scurrilous, saucy, turbo-powered, unputdownable.

—— Carlo Gébler

If you loved The Glorious Heresies and are looking for the next terrific Irish author, here be Ciaran McMenamin. . . . a cross between Trainspotting and Douglas Coupland, . . . sprinkled with a warm enveloping humour and compassion. It is that good.

—— Ken Bruen

A ribald, wise-cracking joyride through young lives lit up by clubs, drugs and ecstatic love. Skintown sings of escape, and the loyalty to music and rapture over the politics of hate.

—— Rob Doyle

An exuberant style which vividly captures the wildness of of the 90s rave culture.

—— Belfast Telegraph

A heartwarmingly beautiful story and an absolute joy of a novel. Five stars just doesn’t seem enough.

—— The Sun

A poignant story of a father and daughter relationship.

—— Prima, Books of the Year

A beautifully written and emotionally insightful coming-of-age tale

—— Daily Mail EVENT Magazine

Segal excels at character minutiae, switching protagonists from page to page but still doing each one justice… By the end of the book, I felt I would recognise these people waking down Haverstock Hill, albeit that I might not want to stop for a chat… As a comedy of manners though, The Awkward Age is entertaining and intelligently written

—— Jennifer Lipman , Jewish Chronicle

Francesca Segal gets the tricky mother/teenage daughter relationship just right in her sharply observant The Awkward Age.

—— Alice O'Keeffe , The Bookseller

Segal’s writing is a joy – funny, wise, and sharply observant... Terrific

—— The Bookseller

By turns tender, brutal, mordantly funny, and heartbreaking, The Awkward Age is preternaturally knowing about fractured families, and young, middle-aged, and elder love. Every sentence is gorgeously, masterfully written. I loved it as I’ve loved no other recent novel. Francesca Segal is a major novelist

—— Peter Nichols, author of The Rocks

A beguiling story about the oceans between family members, generations, and continents and the journeys we make to reach each other on the other side

—— Ramona Ausubel, author of Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty and No One is Here Except All of Us

There are moments in Francesca Segal’s novel when you are so caught up in the characters that you want to shout at them as though they are your own friends… Think rows, sulks, unexpected relationships and sweet romance all dissected with an elegantly forensic precision

—— Psychologies

Terrific, sharply observed… Segal gets the precarious mother-teenage daughter relationship spot on

—— Sue Price , Saga

Segal’s is a clever, cruel, redemptive, psychologically acute novel that made this reader glad to have been at school just too early for Facebook, selfies and an “online community” baying for news of your latest boyfriend

—— Laura Freeman , Standpoint

Thoughtful and beautifully observed

—— Fanny Blake , Woman & Home

A gripping foray into second families

—— Nina Pottell , Prima

Thanks to its occasional moments of emotional veracity, The Awkward Age will be praised as a worthy successor to Segal’s debut

—— Ada Coghen , Literary Review

Francesca Segal is an accomplished writer. She neatly describes the clash of cultures between the academically rigorous education enjoyed by Nathan and Gwen’s freer, no-holds-barred comprehensive school. There is an engaging and colourful cast of characters… Segal vividly conveys the difficulties faced by imperfectly blended families

—— Vanessa Berridge , Daily Express

This is a warm, funny book dealing with a most modern matter

—— Running In Heels

A brilliant, thoroughly modern family drama from the author of The Innocents

—— Hayley Maitland , Vogue

Punchy… Segal tackles her subject with humour and intelligence and a wealth of memorable characters

—— Giulia Miller , Jewish Quarterly

Exuberant and entertaining… The rest of the narrative then considers how the competing needs and duties of its four main characters can be met, handled and resolved. It does so with brio, insight and empathy, and with carefully modulated comic energy

—— Matthew Adams , Prospect

A compelling story on the complexities that come with a very modern family that we just couldn’t put down

—— Topshop

Love, loss, new beginnings and saying goodbye, it's all in here. A moving read

—— Frankie Graddon , Pool

A terrific novel.

—— John Boyne , Irish Independent

[Segal's] descriptions are spare and unerring; everyday family interactions are observed warmly and yet with precision

—— Alice O’Keeffe , Guardian
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