Good Behaviour cover art

Good Behaviour

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

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Good Behaviour

By: Molly Keane
Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

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©1981 The Estate of Molly Keane (P)2021 Hachette Audio UK
Classics Fiction Literary Fiction
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Time After Time cover art
In a German Pension cover art
Charlotte cover art
The Coward cover art
The Vet's Daughter cover art
Seven Little Australians cover art
My Husband Simon cover art
The Great Fortune cover art
Moon Palace cover art
Cold Comfort Farm cover art
The Fair Miss Fortune cover art
The Rising Tide cover art
South Riding cover art
The Flowers of the Field - Part One cover art
The Good Servant cover art

What listeners say about Good Behaviour

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    28
  • 4 Stars
    12
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    33
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    27
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great narrator

One of my favourite books, so acidic and psychologically satisfying. The character of Aroon is so well written.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Boring and uninspiring

Books lend sympathy to the protagonist,, but really she is an unlovable character. Well delivered but was thankful to get to the end.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining and very enjoyable!

I've never read any Molly Keane before, so I didn't know what to expect. This is a book of its time, with some outdated views, but it's beautifully written and hugely entertaining. I found it very enjoyable, especially the twist at the end. I'd strongly recommend it to those interested in the ways of a previous era and the lives of gentry who have the expectations of their class, but not the money to support them!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not my thing

Too much about horses and dogs; too much about who said what but the underlying idea was good and that's why I stuck with it. However, I can't understand why this novel was picked for the Booker-prize list and will definitely not be investing my time in this author again. It's not often that I take against anything quite so categorically.

Aoife McMahon was excellent but I missed her Irish accent.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Compelling tale of family apart

Excellent narration of what is an alternatively very funny and very sad tale of an impoverished upper class Irish family.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Frustrating and Slow

It was chosen as a book club book. And it was just disappointing. I struggled through and at the end didn't really know what had happened. It failed to grab me on any level.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!