Under the Influence

A Novel

De: Joyce Maynard

Narrado por: Joyce Maynard

Duración: 9 h y 13 m

Resumen del Editor

The New York Times best-selling author of Labor Day and After Her returns with a poignant story about the true meaning - and the true price - of friendship.

Drinking cost Helen her marriage and custody of her seven-year-old son, Ollie. Once an aspiring art photographer, she now makes ends meet by taking portraits of schoolchildren and working for a caterer. Recovering from her addiction, she spends lonely evenings checking out profiles on an online dating site. Weekend visits with her son are awkward. He's drifting away from her fast.

When she meets Ava and Swift Havilland, the vulnerable Helen is instantly enchanted. Wealthy, connected philanthropists, they have their own charity devoted to rescuing dogs. Their home is filled with fabulous friends, edgy art, and dazzling parties.

Then Helen meets Elliott, a kind, quiet accountant who offers loyalty and love with none of her newfound friends' fireworks. To Swift and Ava, he's boring. But even worse than that, he's unimpressed by them.

As Helen increasingly falls under the Havillands' influence - running errands, doing random chores, questioning her relationship with Elliott - Ava and Swift hold out the most seductive gift: their influence and help to regain custody of her son. But the debt Helen owes them is about to come due.

Ollie witnesses an accident involving Swift, his grown son, and the daughter of the Havillands' housekeeper. With her young son's future in the balance, Helen must choose between the truth and the friends who have given her everything.

©2016 Joyce Maynard (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Engrossing contemporary tale

I enjoyed every page of this contemporary story about friendship and romance, and I always found it hard to stop listening. The storyline was intriguing, and the characters were well-developed. If you're looking for an intelligent tale about relationships today, this is it! Would love to have lunch with this author.

Wonderful author

I discovered this author by having interest in the premise of the main character, a recovering alcoholic. The characters struggles were relatable but I feel readers who are not in recovery will enjoy the book as much as I did. I'm ordering another Joyce( Maynard book today!

Predictable, yet entertaining. Good narration.

The story, while predictable, is entertaining. The entire story is told like a memory flashback, so it took a few short chapters to get used to the narration with almost no dialogue. However, I stuck to it and wound up intently drawn into the tale. Tightly woven plot and well developed characters make this an impressive book to have been a debut work. I would read (listen to) other books by the author.

sad story

good narator took a long time last 10 chapters to reach justice for the bad character's actions.

Overall pretty good

Slow start, but got interesting in the middle. Good narrating, and not completely predictable. Worth the purchase.

Beautiful book

If you like literary writing style and are interested in a non-action packed in-depth exploration of one woman’s life, this book is so good. I recommend Joyce Maynard. She is an excellent writer.

A fable beautifully narrated by author.

Very easy read. Characters go through some hard changes but lessons of right and wrong clearly defined.

Well constructed story

I did enjoy this book. I t made sense how an emotional person can be manipulated into a situation that they never would have thought possible.

Terrific book!

Beautifully told by the author. How rare a gem in which flawed people redeem themselves profoundly thru honesty, humility, perseverance… where the yearning for truth & simplicity wins!

Excellent production of this book!

Regarding the story: I have just discovered Joyce Maynard, and am so glad I did! This was a great story that showed how people can grow through the tragedies that happen to them. I will always hope that things turned out between Elliot and Helen.