Rustication

A Novel

By: Charles Palliser

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

A vertiginous gothic masterpiece from the best-selling author of The Quincunx. Charles Palliser's work has been hailed as "so compulsively absorbing that reality disappears" (New York Times). Since his extraordinary debut, The Quincunx, his works have sold over one million copies worldwide. With his new novel, Rustication, he returns to the town of Thurchester, which he evoked so hauntingly in The Unburied.

It is winter 1863, and Richard Shenstone, aged 17, has been sent down - "rusticated" - from Cambridge under a cloud of suspicion. Addicted to opium and tormented by sexual desire, he finds temporary refuge in a dilapidated old mansion on the southern English coast inhabited by his newly impoverished mother and his sister, Effie. Soon, graphic and threatening letters begin to circulate among his neighbors, and Richard finds himself the leading suspect in a series of crimes and misdemeanors ranging from vivisection to murder.

Atmospheric, lurid, and brilliantly executed, Rustication confirms Palliser's reputation as "our leading contemporary Victorian novelist" (Guardian).

©2013 Charles Palliser (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

We're All Mad Here...

Where does Rustication rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've been an audible member for a loooong time, so it would be hard for me to rank this novel. I can say that the book was well worth the credit.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Richard, the narrator. Charles Palliser did such a great job creating him. Richard is a self-absorbed, "girl crazy" seventeen year old who thinks of himself as the hero of the story. He has no idea how naive he is to both the reader and others around him. It was a lot of fun getting inside Richard's twisted, naive, and narcissistic mind.

What about John Lee’s performance did you like?

I've enjoyed other books narrated by John Lee, but I was initially surprised when I realized he was going to be "playing" a seventeen year old. Lee is a great actor, but he doesn't sound seventeen. That said, he did a fabulous job. His performance was lovely.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. Although I was able to guess who the killer was about half way through the novel, I still wanted to listen because it was so much fun. What I enjoyed about the book was Lee's performance and all of the twisted characters.

Unusual and suspenseful

Difficult to catagorize, a very suspenseful story with an unsympathetic first person narrator.
Definitely kept my interest.

wonderfully woven tale with top notch performance

Charles palliser does an excellent job writing this story, intelligently incorporating numerous characters and leaving the reader rooting for the main character, Richard. I look forward to more books by palliser being made available by audible.

Dark story with twists and turns

Would you listen to Rustication again? Why?

loved the story, did not like the narrator.

What did you like best about this story?

Was a very dark story ,no sugar coating. But a good story with twists

A mind bender

Any additional comments?

Definitely different but surprisingly engrossing. I thought the narration was good and since I like John Lee as a narrator- I am use to his pace and inflections. I thought he was perfect for this dark character and yes.... It is a Twisted story!

Great Mystery Story-right to the end!

It's one of those plots with lots of twists and turns. You will have to be a detective to figure out the ending.

Leaden and dull

The book consists of a litany of characters with no individuality or depth, crossing paths in a needlessly complicated plot about which I really couldn't bring myself to care. The main character is unlikeable.
The priggish reader certainly does not help.

Make at least ONE of your characters likeable!

Dreary, dreary. But --- Bleak House was dreary, after all, and complex and Victorian, and we loved it, right? What's the difference? Bleak House had many admirable and wholly likeable characters. Rustication has only despicable or obnoxious persons, including the protag, an immoral, predatory, addicted and generally worthless young man. Remind me why I would want to identify with such a character??? Oh, because all these faults make him INTERESTING? No, they don't. They make him a failure and of no interest.
One sees that so often these days: Women writers, for instance, make their women characters irritable drunks, nervous and easily frightened so they'll be "interesting," as in the recent "The Dead Key" and "The Girl on the Train." Writers forget that if we cannot identify --- and who can identify with all that --- many will close the book in disgust. I lasted about halfway through.