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The Accidental  By  cover art

The Accidental

By: Ali Smith
Narrated by: Heather O'Neill, Stina Nielsen, Jeff Woodman, Simon Prebble, Ruth Moore
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Publisher's summary

Barefoot, thirtysomething Amber shows up at the door of a Norfolk cottage that the Smarts are renting for the summer. Amber doesn't know them, but she talks her way in, telling lies, and stays for dinner. Eve, an author, thinks Amber is a student her husband is sleeping with. Michael, an English professor, knows only that her car broke down. Daughter Astrid, age 12, thinks she's her mother's friend. Son Magnus, 17, thinks she's an angel.

Gradually, Amber insinuates herself into the family. Dazzled by her seeming exoticism, the Smarts begin to examine the accidents of their lives under the searing lens of Amber's perceptions. When Eve finally banishes her from the cottage, Amber disappears from their sight, but not, as they find when they return home to London, from their profoundly altered lives.

Fearlessly intelligent, disarmingly playful, The Accidental is a Joycean tour-de-force of literary improvisation that explores the nature of truth, the role of chance, and the transformative power of storytelling.

©2005 Ali Smith (P)2005 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

  • 2005 Man Booker Finalist, Fiction

"Spectacular....Allusive, ambitious and formally acrobatic....Original, restless, formally and morally challenging." (The Times Literary Supplement)
"An outstanding novel....Exuberantly inventive....Beautifully formed and astringently intelligent." (The Sunday Times [London])
"Her simple, disquieting story lifts into brilliance." (Publishers Weekly)
"Acrobatic prose that seem in a perpetual state of acceleration....Mesmerizing." (Booklist)

What listeners say about The Accidental

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Easily forgettable

Very few books I've completed have very little redeeming value, this is one.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Not the best Story

I had problems really appreciating the purpose of the story. Took me back to high school days when we studied free-thought prose 'a rose, is a rose, is a rose,etc.' Didn't really get my attention or understanding even after it was all over.

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