Past Caring

By: Robert Goddard

Narrated by: Paul Shelley

Length: 19 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Why should distinguished Edwardian Cabinet minister Edwin Straford resign at the height of his career? Why does the woman he loves so suddenly reject him? Why, 70 years later, should people go to such lengths to prevent the truth coming out?

©2008 Robert Goddard (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Written in clear, resonant prose, Goddard's first novel, nominated for the Booker prize, is a poised telling of a complex tale....In one sense a historical thriller, and in another a romantic novel of a love affair gone disastrously wrong, this is, in any case, a wonderful read." ( Publishers Weekly)
"Psychological drama and intricate plot will entice readers." ( Library Journal)

The Story Lingers

Good Book.
After I had finished listening I found that I was puzzling over a decision made by one of the characters. At odd times. In the house, driving, doing normal things..the questions would pop up. It does not seem to fit the character. Then that leads on to thinking about the decisions real people make sometimes, human frailty or inconsistency.
Goddard doesn't even ask the reader to suspend disbelief. The choice, the decision is made. Then at the end of the story another dilemma. Even though the book is finished, the story goes on and "No", we the reader do not feel compelled to learn what happens next.
I think that is clever. It is at the last Goddard allows us / urges us, to use our imagination.
And just maybe we are quite content to be ignorant. In that there is a kind of dialogue between the author, the story and the reader.
Paul Shelly reads "Past Caring " well.

A classic gem

Beautifully written story with characters that really come alive. The flawed nature of many of these characters gives them and the book an authenticity way beyond normal fiction. The author has an ability to lead you to guess (correctly!) at certain outcomes before they occur in the story which I found very unusual but satisfying when the tale reached that point. To find out if your guess was right makes the book unputdownable.

Thoroughly enjoyable

This is the third Goddard book I've listened to and I found it to be quite engrossing. The plot has plenty of good twists, some which can be foreseen. However, even when a revelation was expected, I still was eager to see how Goddard would present it. The narrator was excellent. I particularly enjoyed his Churchill. It has been lots of fun and I'm sorry to find I'm in the last hour of listening.

Needed a good editor

This book started reasonably well but quickly became completely bogged down. It was a good premise - old mystery, modern connections - which appears to be the only type of story Robert Goddard writes, but it was clear to me from the first few chapters exactly what the "mystery" was and it seemed to take forever to have this confirmed. It was a struggle to finish and the only reason I did was because I listen when travelling and it didn't require any thought processes.