The Darling

By: Russell Banks

Narrated by: Mary Beth Hurt

Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

The Darling is Hannah Musgrave's story, told emotionally and convincingly years later by Hannah herself. A political radical and member of the Weather Underground, Hannah has fled America to West Africa, where she and her Liberian husband become friends and colleagues of Charles Taylor, the notorious warlord and now ex-president of Liberia. When Taylor leaves for the United States in an effort to escape embezzlement charges, he's immediately placed in prison. Hannah's encounter with Taylor in America ultimately triggers a series of events whose momentum catches Hannah's family in its grip and forces her to make a heartrending choice.

Set in Liberia and the United States from 1975 through 1991, The Darling is a political/historical thriller, reminiscent of Graham Greene and Joseph Conrad, that explodes the genre, raising serious philosophical questions about terrorism, political violence, and the clash of races and cultures.

©2004 Russell Banks (P)2004 BBC Audiobooks America, Inc. & HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Winner, Fiction (Unabridged), 2005

"A rich and complex look at the searing connections between the personal and the political, this is one of Banks's most powerful novels yet." (Publishers Weekly)
"Banks brings the full weight of his storytelling genius and psychological perceptiveness to a novel as compulsively readable as it is eviscerating in its dramatization of cultural divides, political mayhem, psychotic violence, and profound alienation." (Booklist)

Haunting, but in a good way--

Although a large part of this story takes place in a country very far removed from my reality, I still found myself walking around the house locking doors while listening. What an outstanding job of melding the idealism of the 60s in the U.S. with the ideals of rebellion in Liberia and the ideals of an American woman. There is so much to this story: feminism, radicalism, African politics, animal, and human, rights all beautifully narrated. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Thank you audible.com for the recommendation.

Intriguing from start to finish.

I purchased this book for one reason and 1 reason only. The narrator. I love her voice and have listened to another book that she Narrated. She has a beautiful voice and really brought the story to life like none other. Though she was the reason why I chose the book, as I got into it, I was glad I chose it. I have a friend from this part of Africa and he was able to corroborate a lot of what she was saying. It was a horrible time and it brought back some uncomfortable feelings for my friend. Her story was well told, and well narrated. I am glad she shared it with us. I highly recommend this book.

Interesting story

Very interesting story, I liked the narrator except for how she did several of the male voices. The end was kind of a downer, but I enjoyed the book overall.

The Darling Too Gruesome

I suppose the narration and the writing are good, but I wasn't far into the story before I found it too graphic, too gruesome. For the same reason I don't watch CSI--too many bodies, too much blood.

Smart, rich, and beautifully read

This is one of the finest audio titles that I have had the pleasure to hear in more than a decade of listening. I had not been familiar with Russell Banks beyond having heard the name, but I had Liberian friends who lived through the disastrous past two decades. The Darling's premise is not very promising: the first person telling by radicalized daughter of privilege (sorry for all the "pr's"...) of the horror of the Liberian collapse. As it turns out, Russell Banks paints a complex portrait of a woman with all her contradictory impulses who penetrates into the "heart of darkness." I found it delicate, moving, even funny. The reading is superb, not intrusive but colorful and varied. I can't recommend this highly enough.

really, very good

Russell Banks is an excellent writer and this book is an excellent listen. It is very well read and the sound/engineering is very good. Banks' characters are drawn with unromatic honesty, sometimes a bit harshly, but that is true to the perceptions of the narrator. This would probably be a good book club selection, lot of fodder for chatter. No one in this book makes a truly human connection with anyone else and in some way that undercuts the horror of the completely benighted mayhem that overtakes them. But the context is good and the pacing in subtle but very effective, you will be moved when he wants you to feel something. Whereas it is a totally engrossing book, I am still stuck on the fact that Hannah never did really want to find her sons.

Compelling and disturbing

An excellent listen. Banks writes beautifully, though his plot circles over ground he has already covered a few times. It was fascinating listening to a book discussing the life and travails of a character I thoroughly disliked. Hannah/Dawn is cold, cold, cold, really disconnected from other human beings and even from the animals she claims to adore. Yet the book grabs hold and does not let go. Listening brought back memories of our recent American past, especially the Vietnam era, and also enlightened me greatly about Liberian history. Beware -- the book is also graphic and it is very hard to shake the dreadful bloody images it conjures up.

Evocative and enlightening

I can always count on Russell Banks to carry me completely into an experience I never would have expected to want in the first place! His imagination for characters and the twists and turns of their lives is unique and compelling. This book is a perfect example - who knew that Liberian history could come in such a package? The character of Hannah Musgrave is unlike anyone I've ever 'met' in literature, and this account of her attempt to come to terms with her dramatic, traumatic past had me enthralled. Banks also has great talent for evoking mood with his words, such that the feelings he creates can stay with you long after the story has ended.

My only complaint in this case is with the narration. The dry, jaded voice Ms. Hurt has created for Hannah, laced on occasion with appropriate shame, self-loathing and regret, is on the one hand the perfect vehicle for such a story. On the other hand, it often became very weighty and difficult to listen to, and sometimes I longed to hear flashes of the impulsive energy that Hannah must have once had to get into this situation in the first place...

Nevertheless, it was a wonderful listening experience that I highly recommend!

Astonishing

This is a moving story wonderfully written. And, for audible members, take note: the reader is tops. Mary Beth Hurt's style and tone is perfect portraying the protagonist, a hard-core, unsentimental realist. Lots of novels tend not to stay with me for long, but I'll remember Hannah Musgrave.

What a Surprise!

As I looked through the Audible collection, something about this book caught my attention and made me buy it. I knew nothing of the author or the story but I am so glad that I gave it a chance.

As a "radical" child of the sixties, I could relate to the life-progression of the main character. Her experiences were moving and very well presented. The narrator was excellent, too, and I would highly reccommend the book .