• A Theater for Dreamers

  • By: Polly Samson
  • Narrated by: Polly Samson
  • Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (17 ratings)

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A Theater for Dreamers  By  cover art

A Theater for Dreamers

By: Polly Samson
Narrated by: Polly Samson
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Publisher's summary

“Sublime and immersive . . . If you wish you could disappear to a Greek island right now, I highly recommend.”—Jojo Moyes, #1 bestselling author of Me Before You

“This gorgeous, glimmering summer read is itself perfect summer: irresistible and deep, Samson's lyric sentences pulling you into unforgettable sunlight and shadow.”—Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of White Houses

It’s 1960, and the world teeters on the edge of cultural, political, sexual, and artistic revolution. On the Greek island of Hydra, a proto-commune of poets, painters, and musicians revel in dreams at the feet of their unofficial leaders, the writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston, troubled queen and king of bohemia. At the center of this circle of misfit artists are the captivating and inscrutable Axel Jensen, his magnetic wife Marianne Ihlen, and a young Canadian ingenue poet named Leonard Cohen.

When eighteen-year-old Erica stumbles into their world, she’s fresh off the boat from London with nothing but a bundle of blank notebooks and a burning desire to leave home in the wake of her mother’s death. Among these artists, she will find an unraveling utopia where everything is tested—the nature of art, relationships, and her own innocence.

Intoxicating and immersive, A Theater for Dreamers is a spellbinding tour-de-force about the beauty between naïveté and cruelty, chaos and utopia, artist and muse—and about the wars waged between men and women on the battlegrounds of genius. Roiling with the heat of a Grecian summer, A Theater for Dreamers is, according to the Guardian, “a blissful piece of escapism” and “a surefire summer hit.”

©2021 Polly Samson (P)2022 Algonquin Books

Critic reviews

THE UK BESTSELLER

THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER 2 BESTSELLER

A Best of the Year Selection: The Times The Sunday Times * Daily Mail * Spectator * Daily Telegraph

“Reading the evocative novel, you'll ache for your own bygone summers, and worlds that can only be recovered through stories (or, in this case, songs).”—Oprah Daily, “​34 of the Best Beach Reads to Help You Escape”

“Perceptive . . . The [Leonard Cohen] apocrypha will certainly interest his fans, but Samson’s greatest accomplishment is the multifaceted portrait of [Australian writer Charmian Clift]. The attention Samson pays to since-overlooked Charmian in this nuanced portrait may put the Australian writer back on the map.”—Publishers Weekly

“An alluring historical novel [and] a delectable work of escapism . . . Seductive time travel, with an edge.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

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On an island is where this book blissfully kept me

The descriptions were unparalleled to anything I've read about a place, people or time. I was blissfully immersed in the world Polly's words created. Loved it!

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