Elmet

By: Fiona Mozley

Narrated by: Gareth Bennett Ryan

Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

In this atmospheric and profoundly moving debut, Cathy and Daniel live with their father, John, in the remote woods of Yorkshire, in a house the three of them built themselves. John is a gentle brute of a man, a former enforcer who fights for money when he has to, but who otherwise just wants to be left alone to raise his children. When a local landowner shows up on their doorstep, their precarious existence is threatened, and a series of actions is set in motion that can only end in violence. Steeped in the natural world of northern England, this is a lyrical commentary on the bonds of siblings and fatherhood, and on the meaning of community in the modern world. Elmet marks the launch of a major new voice in literary fiction.

©2017 Fiona Mozley (P)2017 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Not my favorite genre

Very well well written but not a pleasant story. Cruelty, hatred, difficulties I know exists but reading about is not enjoyed.

"Quiet explosion" indeed!

The cover blurb calls this "a quiet explosion of a book, exquisite and unforgettable," and that's exactly what this novel is. The writing is wonderful, the characters and story are very compelling, and the narration is as perfect as it gets. Highly recommended.

A Novel Seared into My Very Being

This is a story I’m not likely ever to forget. The story is poignant and made even more impactful by the narrator’s accent and voice. The writing is masterful and the prose beautiful.
There are a couple of plot inconsistencies or passages that strain one’s credulity. There is a minor inconsistency in the first-person narrator’s character development. But these flaws are not enough to keep this novel from a five-star rating.

Great story.

Wonderful story and great writing, hope this author has more stories in her folio. 😃

A family in tune with a deeper set of world laws

So often the speech of this book is poetic, that it feels natural. It is about one family with deep truths. At first we aren’t sure who tells the story and it is not less than half way through that the narrator’s name comes up. It is one beautiful book. It is great to read such a book. One feels honored to.

Young Author First Novel Masterpiece

This young author has tremendous talent. A second listen helps because chunks of text that properly belong at the end are inserted throughout the book, a nice artistic touch which gives insight into the character of Daniel. I listened three times, discovering more each time. Somehow, despite the seaminess, corruption and violence, I found love and value, intelligence, a great world of hope for growing kids. We have outlier communities in the U.S., possibly in the mountains of northern California, for example. In the last century we have had people who wanted to do everything from scratch, do it their way, and home school. Most of us are under the thumb of some brute. The book helped me through a month of abusive senior subsidized housing inspection involving what amounted to 7 days total of almost house arrest waiting for inspectors, making nice to the corporate hierarchy.
The narrator was quite perfect. For the women’s voices, he WAS a woman! My people are mostly from the British Isles, and I’ve had a lifetime of the good UK books, audio books, Masterpiece Theatre TV, etc. He certainly got the right nasty intonation for the Price boys. Skillful and subtle, a pleasure to listen to, he WAS Daniel.
The violence in the book is not gratuitous and is no worse than that in Steig Larsson’s Girl Who books. I loved the respect for wildlife, trees and plants. I loved all the description. I probably missed hints at the adult relationships before the kids were born. The ending was okay by me. I figure they’ll meet up on the other side, and the bad guys always pay in the end, even if we don’t get to see it. You have to love a brother who cuts colored paper for holiday decorations and bakes holiday cakes. You have to admire a woman who can roll her own cigarettes and strangle her would-be rapist. In this country we look at the cars and clothes and – increasingly – teeth and haircuts. We don’t expect our trailer trash to read books and know things. God, I love this book! Be happy and keep writing, dear Fiona!

Beautiful in every way

Exquisite prose, deeply affecting story, perfect narration. A story in and out of time, poetic flourishes, and thrilling sequences.

Sad

I found this book extremly descriptive The writer wrote it so that I could see every detail, every happening. It was disturbingly sad. No not whatsoever! None of the characters were what I would call "happy" I enjoyed the Narrator,, but a book like this depressed me.

Well dayummmm....

This book got better as it went on. I did like the ending. It held my attention and I liked the story line and characters. It was a good deal for the daily special price. I give it a 7 out of 10

Good illustration of Class strife

This is a good illustration of an the classic Scotts/Irish/UK underclass. Some might call the book an inditement of capitalism but i saw this as more of a clear illustration of the strife of lower working class whether it be in UK, Canada or US there are similar sociological factors at play and instated in this story. One might hear real life stories similar to this in A Hillbilly Elegy or hear how these same social factors come into play in the African American community in Black Rednecks and White Liberals.

The narration is excellent and the author's use of language to lustrate is very very good.