A BBC TWO BETWEEN THE COVERS BOOK CLUB PICK (BOOKER PRIZE GEMS)
'Molly Keane is a mistress of wicked comedy' VOGUE
'She was . . . marvellous' GUARDIAN
'Dark, complex, engaging . . . a wonderful tour de force' MARIAN KEYES
I do know how to behave - believe me, because I know. I have always known . . .
Behind the gates of Temple Alice, the aristocratic Anglo-Irish St Charles family sinks into a state of decaying grace. To Aroon St Charles, large and unlovely daughter of the house, the fierce forces of sex, money, jealousy and love seem locked out by the ritual patterns of good behaviour. But crumbling codes of conduct cannot hope to save the members of the St Charles family from their own unruly and inadmissible desires. This elegant and allusive novel established Molly Keane as the natural successor to Jean Rhys.
'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' MAGGIE O'FARRELL
- ISBN10 1844083241
- ISBN13 9781844083244
- Publish Date 15 December 2005 (first published 3 September 1981)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 11 March 2022
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
- Imprint Virago Press Ltd
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 304
- Language English