Three Men and a Maybe

Aug 24, 2025 2:31 AM

Author:Debbie Carbin

Beth Sheridan likes her life the way it is. OK, so her job's a little dull and her social life leaves a lot to be desired. But none of that really matters because Beth is in love with Richard. And one day they will be together. Yes, there are a few teeny obstacles, like the fact that Richard has been Beth's boss for eight years and that he is currently living in Portugal with another woman. But these are just minor details because Beth just knows that one day, the scales will fall from Richard's eyes and he will realise that it is Beth that he has always wanted.

Beth's feisty flatmate Vini doesn't harbour any such illusions and decides that Beth needs to give up on Richard and find love elsewhere. Reluctantly Beth agrees to Vini's (at times extreme) plan of action. Following a puppeteers convention, a speed dating event, a chance encounter in a shopping mall and some pretty flirtatious email banter, Beth is suddenly dealing with three new men. There's the lovely down-to-earth Brad, who she just can't quite pin down, and the charming, millionaire Rupert. She's never actually met Rupert but judging from his emails, he seems to just get her. What's more, there's also sleazy Sean from the office who's suddenly seeming not-so-sleazy ...

And just when things couldn't get more complicated, the gorgeous Richard waltzes back into her life. What's a girl to do?

Reviews

Mankell is a vivid and compelling storyteller

—— Independent

As with the the best of crime fiction, Mankell deals not only in character, plot and action, mystery and revelation, concealment and discovery, but also creates a world with its own mental and emotional atmosphere

—— Irish Times

Mankell has always been an ambitious writer... This novel transcends the limits of his earlier work

—— Sunday Times

Authoritative plotting and well-defined characterisation... An examination of the boundless human capacity for making the wrong decisions and a recognition of the challenges posed by ageing

—— Barry Forshaw , Daily Express

Mankell's words fall like snowflakes, building up to make even the most ugly thing something of beauty... The strength of women, the bestiality some men are capable men, and the impermanence of life are some of the themes that Mankell once again spins into a quiet masterpiece

—— Kieran Meeke , Metro

As stark as anything he has written...an unflinching emotional honesty

—— Joan Smith , Sunday Times

Mankell is lyrical about the frozen landscape he knows so well

—— Carla McKay , Daily Mail

A fine meditation on love and loss

—— Sally Cousins , Sunday Telegraph

Mankell carefully maps the changing seasons in beautifully stark prose

—— James Urquhart , Financial Times

The cool, enigmatic tone is reminiscent of Paul Auster

—— Brandon Borshaw , Independent on Sunday

Vivid prose...translated beautifully

—— Ian Thompson , Evening Standard

Present a spare tale of metaphors and symbols to argue that, in the middle of life, we are in death but occasionally, and happily, the opposite too

—— Tim Pashley , Times Literary Supplement

Yoko Ogawa is able to give expression to the most subtle workings of human psychology in prose that is gentle yet penetrating.

—— Kenzaburo Oe, Nobel Prize Winning author of A Personal Matter

Each well narrated and haunting novella, about love, obsession and dark humour, has an unpredictable twist of viciousness coupled with compassion

—— The Hindu

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