In a Good Light

By: Clare Chambers

Narrated by: Imogen Church

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the highly-acclaimed author of Small Pleasures - longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2021.

Without even noticing, Esther Fairchild has become locked into routine.

Living with her adored brother, Christian, she divides her time between illustrating children's books, nightly shifts as a waitress, weekly visits to her father and fortnightly meetings with her married lover.

Then one day she encounters a face in the crowd which jolts her out of her mundane existence and makes her question both her life and the past that has helped to shape it. Memories she had long chosen to forget begin to resurface. Memories of an eccentric childhood in a large and shabby house, where the children were left to fend for themselves within the loose boundaries of their parents' unorthodox values. A chaotic existence peopled by a rich collection of feckless 'guests'.

And into this shambolic world came Donovan - regularly deposited by his unreliable mother - and Penny, Christian's girlfriend and Esther's idol. Until tragedy struck and shattered their joint existence. But now, it seems, their lives are about to become intertwined once more....

©2004 Clare Chambers (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Narration offputting

I’m a fan of Clare Chambers’ work, which is why I’ve given this two stars; the previous audiobook of hers that I listened to was excellent, and I’ve read another of her novels . I’m only a few chapters in but am giving up on this recording as I’m finding the style of narration irritating. There’s reading aloud with expression, and then there’s reading with exaggerated expression. I feel as though I’m listening to an enthusiastic primary school teacher reading to a class of six-year-olds.