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A Family Romance
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A Closed Eye
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- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24
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Born to elegant but frivolous parents, Harriet grows up ignored and unguided, and retains a curious innocence that neither her marriage to Freddie Lytton, nor her friendship with the beautiful Tessa can dispel. Freddie is far older than she is - a companion rather than a lover - and slightly disapproving of Tessa and her irresponsible, attractive husband, Jack. Yet all four are bound together: by their backgrounds, their children, by Harriet’s unspoken feelings for Jack and by the tragedy that lies in wait for all of them.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Late Great Ms. Brookner
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Leaving Home
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 8
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8
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When cautious Emma Roberts goes to France to carry out research into 17th century garden design, she finds a reliable diversion from her studies in her unlikely new friend Francoise Desnoyers, in whose beautiful house she is welcomed as a guest. She is not too dazzled to ignore the tensions that exist between Francoise and her formidable mother, or between Mme. Desnoyers and her other guests. London recedes into the background as life in France becomes more significant in every respect.
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Undue Influence
- By: Anita Brookner
- Narrated by: Diana Quick
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 14
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 14
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Story4 out of 5 stars 13
Undue Influence is the 19th novel by Anita Brookner, the Booker Prize-winning author of Hotel du Lac. Enigmatic Claire is 30 and lives alone. When she meets Martin Gibson, a faded scholar, she becomes inordinately interested. She is even more interested when she meets his wife, a far more spectacular personality. But the unexpected news of this woman's death releases emotions that were not entirely foreseen.
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4 out of 5 stars
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An Affair that
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Latecomers
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- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 18
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 17
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Story4 out of 5 stars 16
A novel about human relationships, focusing, unusually for Brookner, on two male characters. Hartmann and Fibich met at school and 40 years later they can no more think of living apart than of divorcing their wives. This book deals with their gradual coming to terms with the emotional gaps in their lives.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Subtle Study of Characters
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Self-Tanner for the Soul
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- By: Cat Marnell
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- Length: 6 hrs
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 171
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 150
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The spring of 2017 should have been the greatest time of Cat Marnell’s life. She was 34 and living the New York glamour life downtown, with a thriving career and a best-selling memoir. Instead, it was one of the worst. She’d gone through a protracted and traumatic breakup, nearly run out of money, and, during a month-long binge, "done something horrible" to herself that she couldn’t undo. Her troubles mounting, Marnell makes a radically simple choice: She decides to leave her problems behind.
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5 out of 5 stars
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honest, real and entertaining
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Strangers
- By: Anita Brookner
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- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 11
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8
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Paul Sturgis is a retired bank manager who lives alone in a dark little flat. He walks alone and dines alone, seeking out and taking pleasure in small exchanges with strangers: the cheerful Australian girl who cuts his hair, the lady at the dry cleaners. His only relative - and only acquaintance - is a widowed cousin by marriage, herself a virtual stranger, to whom he pays ritualistic visits on a Sunday afternoon.
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A Closed Eye
- By: Anita Brookner
- Narrated by: Prunella Scales
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24
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Story4 out of 5 stars 24
Born to elegant but frivolous parents, Harriet grows up ignored and unguided, and retains a curious innocence that neither her marriage to Freddie Lytton, nor her friendship with the beautiful Tessa can dispel. Freddie is far older than she is - a companion rather than a lover - and slightly disapproving of Tessa and her irresponsible, attractive husband, Jack. Yet all four are bound together: by their backgrounds, their children, by Harriet’s unspoken feelings for Jack and by the tragedy that lies in wait for all of them.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Late Great Ms. Brookner
- By Steve M on 05-15-16
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Leaving Home
- By: Anita Brookner
- Narrated by: Joanna David
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 8
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8
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Story4 out of 5 stars 8
When cautious Emma Roberts goes to France to carry out research into 17th century garden design, she finds a reliable diversion from her studies in her unlikely new friend Francoise Desnoyers, in whose beautiful house she is welcomed as a guest. She is not too dazzled to ignore the tensions that exist between Francoise and her formidable mother, or between Mme. Desnoyers and her other guests. London recedes into the background as life in France becomes more significant in every respect.
-
Undue Influence
- By: Anita Brookner
- Narrated by: Diana Quick
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 14
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 14
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Story4 out of 5 stars 13
Undue Influence is the 19th novel by Anita Brookner, the Booker Prize-winning author of Hotel du Lac. Enigmatic Claire is 30 and lives alone. When she meets Martin Gibson, a faded scholar, she becomes inordinately interested. She is even more interested when she meets his wife, a far more spectacular personality. But the unexpected news of this woman's death releases emotions that were not entirely foreseen.
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4 out of 5 stars
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An Affair that
- By Steve M on 08-18-16
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Latecomers
- By: Anita Brookner
- Narrated by: Andrew Sachs
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 18
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 16
A novel about human relationships, focusing, unusually for Brookner, on two male characters. Hartmann and Fibich met at school and 40 years later they can no more think of living apart than of divorcing their wives. This book deals with their gradual coming to terms with the emotional gaps in their lives.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Subtle Study of Characters
- By Steve M on 01-15-17
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Self-Tanner for the Soul
- How I Ran Away to Europe and Found My Inner Glow (When Life Got Dark)
- By: Cat Marnell
- Narrated by: Cat Marnell
- Length: 6 hrs
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 171
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 150
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 149
The spring of 2017 should have been the greatest time of Cat Marnell’s life. She was 34 and living the New York glamour life downtown, with a thriving career and a best-selling memoir. Instead, it was one of the worst. She’d gone through a protracted and traumatic breakup, nearly run out of money, and, during a month-long binge, "done something horrible" to herself that she couldn’t undo. Her troubles mounting, Marnell makes a radically simple choice: She decides to leave her problems behind.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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honest, real and entertaining
- By Bel Fiore Brands on 11-01-19
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Strangers
- By: Anita Brookner
- Narrated by: Stephen Thorne
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 11
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8
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Story4 out of 5 stars 8
Paul Sturgis is a retired bank manager who lives alone in a dark little flat. He walks alone and dines alone, seeking out and taking pleasure in small exchanges with strangers: the cheerful Australian girl who cuts his hair, the lady at the dry cleaners. His only relative - and only acquaintance - is a widowed cousin by marriage, herself a virtual stranger, to whom he pays ritualistic visits on a Sunday afternoon.
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Fraud
- By: Anita Brookner
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- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
When Anna Durrant is reported missing her friends seem unconcerned at her disappearance. After all, her life has been one of concealment. For years Anna submitted to the protective dependence of her mother, and even after Amy Durrant’s death she simply conformed to the expectations of others. Increasingly, Anna feels herself trapped by these expectations.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Jamesian, Whartonesque, Eliotlike 📚📖
- By Gretchen SLP on 12-10-16
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Rules of Engagement
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- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 14
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8
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Story4 out of 5 stars 9
Elizabeth and Betsy are old school friends. Born in 1948 and unready for the sixties, they had high hopes of the lives they would lead, even though their circumstances were so different. When they meet again in their thirties, Elizabeth, married to the safe, older Digby, is relieving the boredom of a cosy but childless marriage with an affair. Betsy seems to have found real romance in Paris. Are their lives taking off, or are they just making more of the wrong choices without even realising it?
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Falling Slowly
- By: Anita Brookner
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- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 12
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 10
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Story4 out of 5 stars 10
Beatrice considers herself to be delicate and sensitive, idle and confused. Forced into early retirement, she has an unashamed and romantic desire to be rescued by the ideal man. But Beatrice's only family is her orderly sister, Miriam.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A True Artist
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The Bay of Angels
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- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7
Moving between Nice and London, The Bay of Angels makes the point that not everyone needs conventional relationships to be happy. It relates the story of Zoe, whose life changes when her widowed mother marries a wealthy older man and moves to Nice.
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3 out of 5 stars
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A "celebration" of passivity and death
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In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, and taking care of the summer homes of wealthy Warsaw residents. Her reputation as a crank and a recluse is amplified by her not-so-secret preference for the company of animals over humans. Then, a neighbor, Big Foot, turns up dead. Soon, other bodies are discovered, in increasingly strange circumstances. As suspicions mount, Janina inserts herself into the investigation, certain that she knows whodunit. If only anyone would pay her mind....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Narrator - Authentic as it can get!
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A Friend from England
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When Rachel becomes involved in the lives of the Livingstones it is with an acute appreciation of their home - beautifully furnished and richly decorated. They have won an undisclosed amount of money on the football pools. But rather than enjoy their new-found wealth, seem sadly resigned to it. They do, however, appear to take pleasure in the association between Rachel and their daughter Heather, seeing Rachel as a good influence. However, no one can foresee their own destiny.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A friend indeed
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Charles Arrowby, leading light of England's theatrical set, retires from glittering London to an isolated home by the sea. He plans to write a memoir about his great love affair with Clement Makin, his mentor, both professionally and personally, and amuse himself with Lizzie, an actress he has strung along for many years.
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Pure pleasure
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The place: central Florida. The situation: a sensational murder trial, set in a courthouse more Soviet than Le Corbusier; a rich, white teenage girl - a twin - on trial for murdering her toddler brother. Two of the jurors: Hannah, a married 52-year-old former Rolling Stone and Interview Magazine photographer of rock stars and socialites, and Graham, a 41-year-old anatomy professor. Both are sequestered along with the other jurors at the Econo Lodge off I-75. Hannah and Graham fall into a furtive affair, keeping their oath as jurors never to discuss the trial.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Thought-Provoking, Humorous and Heart-Breaking
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 2,557
Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Emmy winner Emma Thompson lends her immense talent and experienced voice to Henry James' Gothic ghost tale, The Turn of the Screw. When a governess is hired to care for two children at a British country estate, she begins to sense an otherworldly presence around the grounds. Are they really ghosts she's seeing? Or is something far more sinister at work?
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great, but Mightn't be the Best on Audible
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The Mill on the Floss
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 204
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Maggie Tulliver has two lovers: Philip Wakem, son of her father’s enemy, and Stephen Guest, already promised to her cousin. But the love she wants most in the world is that of her brother Tom. Maggie’s struggle against her passionate and sensual nature leads her to a deeper understanding and to eventual tragedy
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great compassion
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When Condé Nast offered Ruth Reichl the top position at America’s oldest epicurean magazine, she declined. She was a writer, not a manager, and had no inclination to be anyone’s boss. Yet Reichl had been reading Gourmet since she was eight; it had inspired her career. How could she say no? This is the story of a former Berkeley hippie entering the corporate world and worrying about losing her soul. It is the story of the moment restaurants became an important part of popular culture, a time when the rise of the farm-to-table movement changed, forever, the way we eat.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book, shame there wasn't a recipe PDF
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,172
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Mildred Lathbury is a clergyman's daughter and a mild-mannered spinster in 1950s England. She is one of those excellent women - the smart, supportive, repressed women whom men take for granted. As Mildred gets embroiled in the lives of her new neighbors - anthropologist Helena Napier; Helen's handsome, dashing husband, Rocky; and Julian Malory, the vicar next door - the novel presents a series of snapshots of human life as actually, and pluckily, lived.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Still Waters Run Deep
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Publisher's Summary
As the solitary child of mild and gentle parents, Jane is fascinated and astounded by her exotically European aunt, Dolly.
Dolly’s ways are certainly not her parents’ ways, yet she is an object of interest and dread to her beleaguered relatives. It is clear that they have nothing in common: Jane feels no affection for Dolly, and Dolly clearly dislikes children.
Yet the two are fated to go through life in uneasy harness, until such time as their alliance is accepted by both as not only inevitable, but as something of great value.
Read by Fiona Shaw.
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Liese
- 08-19-14
Hello, Dolly.
Jane Manning is a characteristic Brookner protagonist: rather shy, intelligent, sensitive, and by design and circumstance, rather alone in the world. Her aunt, Dolly, is a great contrast to her: maddeningly self-absorbed, designing, intriguing, and glamorous. Her many faults do not keep her niece from caring very much what happens to her.
In a culture of oversharing, where the facile observation is mistaken for wit, I find myself looking to writers like Brookner more often. Her depth of psychological wisdom and beautiful voice shine all the brighter by contrast.
Of course, she is not for everyone. But she may be for you.
If you are someone who values her privacy and independence, if you require "a ruminative space," as Brookner puts it, you may find solace here. Perhaps you learned your hardest lessons early in life and designed your life accordingly, determined to live on your own terms as many Brookner heroines do. If so, you will know what it is to be alone within the crowd, the observer at the party, knowing what it is to remain "the other" even if you are on stage. She speaks to those of us who know these truths, and we listen to her voice in awe.
10 of 11 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Steve M
- 05-18-15
One of Brookner's Best
A beautifully written story of loss and loneliness that is at times funny and as always with Brookner, tremendously
Insightful and witty. Fiona Shaw brings it to life with her vivid, restrained narration.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- momwifesq
- 07-09-16
Very true to novel
I have read all of the Brookner canon. The narrator of this novel is wonderfully British and authentic. A poignant escape.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- DMC
- Lakeport, CA
- 02-07-15
A very fine writer
Beautifully read, this is a story of what it is to learn to love those who are before us. Anita Brookner travels meticulously with her characters through time, revealing changes through time, uncovering qualities expected and unexpected.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful