refreshingly original London book, aptly read

Diana Evans offers a refreshingly original perspective on contemporary London. Superficially, when looking only at the plot, the novel might appear as yet another story about couples drifting apart under the strains of metropolitan young-family life. However, Diana Evans' richly nuanced and imaginative rendering provides a multidimensional perspective on its characters, who are being embedded within and sculpted out of the background of London and its environments. There is also plenty of space devoted to reflective monologues by the main characters, searching to reconcile their evolving identities with their earlier predecessors. The unusually poignant dialogues need also a mention as yet another highlight of this novel - one can imagine those being condensed into a great stage play or a film. It is also at the dialogues, where the narrator, Jennifer Saayeng makes best use of her great dramatising skills - only at times at the monologues she would fall into a slightly less varied voice, occasionally failing to follow the more subtle mood swings in the narrative. Overall, I'd most warmly recommend this audiobook to any keen listener of contemporary fiction and especially those interested in societal London.

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10 people found this helpful

modern and current

engrossing at the beginning. the book takes you on a nostalgic journey of London and the peeps of Obama"s inauguration. the takes of two couples set against a cosmopolitan backdrop. how are towards the end it's a little slow and ends abruptly.

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3 people found this helpful

Dreadful narration

I really don’t really know how good, or bad, the story is, or how captivating (or otherwise) the writing, as the and dreary and monotonous voice make it impossible to listen and maintain interest in what she is saying. Sorry, but this one is doing in the bin.

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Thanks Mark Adderley

Great recommendation from Mark. sums up life, marriages, children and attempting havin it all.
excellent

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Definitely Ordinary

An insight into the lives of two ordinary couples going through the ordinary trials that couples and how they choose to deal with it.
Well written, ending left you hanging/wondering.
Better accents needed for the audio version though. Overall good book.

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Great novel and performance

Love this novel and it is read really well - great delineation between characters. looking forward to A House for Alice, the sequel

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Rare and beautiful story set in South London

I really enjoyed Diana’s story of Melissa, Michael and their friends trying to find home and love in themselves and each other. It’s set in early 2000s South London, and explores the intersections of race, class, gender, as they grapple with new parenthood, relationships and how to be happy and free. Beautifully narrated.

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Not bad, but not great.

This story never really took off for me, partly because of the narration which I found dull, and partly because the story was little better than ,well, ordinary.
If you are going to write a novel about marriages in crisis, not exactly a subject that is under-represented in modern fiction, then you really have to find something dramatically different to hang your plot from. I just didn't feel that there was anything that grabbed my attention in this novel. It wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. Too much selfish behaviour, too much navel-gazing, too much stereotyping.

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3 people found this helpful

engaging and enjoyable

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and looked forward to hearing more of it each time I was driving or cooking. The characters were fully developed and believable but there was a mystical aspect to the narrative. Although based very much in everyday life, the otherworldly theme left room for a sense of being carried along to an unknown conclusion. Particularly enjoyable, though painfully astute, were the moment by moment accounts of intimacy and failures of intimacy that happened at key moments in the relationships. Accutely familiar, they felt like descriptions of moments I'd known. Lastly, as a white person from very much a white background, I appreciated the 'ordinary'-ness of the lives, loves, feelings, preoccupations and confusions of the black and mixed heritage characters. I am choosing to read fiction by writers who are black, indigenous, and people of colour in order to learn allyship. This book has been important. Thank you.

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The characters were fully formed and plain to see. a very accessible book.

Not the narration accents were always reflective of the characters but a fab, enjoyable listen.

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