Good Behaviour

A BBC 2 Between the Covers Book Club Pick Booker Prize Gems

By: Molly Keane

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Paperback | 25 February 2025 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
304 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
19.6 x 12.8 x 3.0

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We kept our heads above the morass, stifled screaming despairs only by the exercise of Good Behaviour.

Behind the gates of Temple Alice, the aristocratic St Charles family is sinking into a state of decaying grace. Aroon, the unlovely daughter of the house, silently longs for affection - which she receives neither from her icy mother nor her hunting-obsessed father. The fierce forces of sex, money, jealousy and love seem stifled by the rules of good behaviour. But no crumbling codes of conduct can save the members of the St Charles family from their own dark secrets and repressed cruelties . . .

Introduced by Maggie O'Farrell

'Molly Keane is a mistress of wicked comedy' VOGUE

'Dark, complex, engaging . . . a wonderful tour de force' MARIAN KEYES

'I have read and re-read Molly Keane more, I think, than any other writer. Nobody else can touch her as a satirist, tragedian and dissector of human behaviour' MAGGIE O'FARRELL

'I really wish I had written this book...You read it with mounting horror and hilarity' HILARY MANTEL

Industry Reviews

She was . . . marvellous - Guardian

A fine novel, wickedly alive - Sunday Times

Molly Keane's Good Behaviour presents a character whose own strict Christian code wreaks havoc on all those around her. Though she herself tells the tale, we somehow see her morality's disastrous consequences. Hilarious and sinister - New York Times

I really wish I had written this book. It's a tragi-comedy set in Ireland after the First World War. A real work of craftsmanship, where the heroine is also the narrator, yet has no idea what is going on. You read it with mounting horror and hilarity as you begin to grasp her delusion

I have read and re-read Molly Keane more, I think, than any other writer. Nobody else can touch her as a satirist, tragedian, and dissector of human behaviour. I love all her books, but Good Behaviour and Loving and Giving are the ones I return to most

Keane's distinctive blend of elegant savagery and deep affection . . . its human relationships tortured like bonsai by good form, its open-hearted, sensual passion for horses, dogs and landscape - Evening Standard

Molly Keane is a mistress of wicked comedy - Vogue

Enchanting - Observer

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