Heroine and deluded narrator Aroon St Charles understands nothing, yet reveals everything, in this wickedly dark comedy from Molly Keane.

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.

Shortlisted
The Booker Prize 1981
Published by
André Deutsch
Publication date

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Molly Keane

Molly Keane

About the Author

Molly Keane was an Irish novelist and playwright. Her most famous work is Good Behaviour, which was shortlisted for the 1981 Booker Prize.
More about Molly Keane

Listen to an extract from Good Behaviour

Aoife McMahon brings Molly Keane’s Good Behaviour to life in the audiobook.

Hachette Audio UK · Good Behaviour by Molly Keane, read by Aoife McMahon (Audiobook extract)
The cover of the audiobook for Molly Keane's Good Behaviour on a dark gold background.

Good Behaviour was Keane at her keenest