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Sweet Tooth

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Sweet Tooth

By: Ian McEwan
Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
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About this listen

Shortlisted for: Audiobook of the Year – Specsavers National Book Awards 2012

Serena Frome, the beautiful daughter of an Anglican bishop, has a brief affair with an older man during her final year at Cambridge and finds herself being groomed for the intelligence services. The year is 1972. Britain, confronting economic disaster, is being torn apart by industrial unrest and terrorism and faces its fifth state of emergency. The Cold War has entered a moribund phase, but the fight goes on, especially in the cultural sphere.

Serena, a compulsive reader of novels, is sent on a ‘secret mission’ that brings her into the literary world of Tom Haley, a promising young writer. First she loves his stories; then she begins to love the man. Can she maintain the fiction of her undercover life? And who is inventing whom? To answer these questions, Serena must abandon the first rule of espionage – trust no one.

McEwan’s mastery dazzles us in this superbly deft and witty story of betrayal and intrigue, love, and the invented self.

©2012 Ian McEwan (P)2012 Random House Audiobooks Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction Witty

Critic reviews

"Ian McEwan’s SWEET TOOTH is a joy, beautifully written, moving between love and betrayal, reality and shadows with a wonderful ease, breathing vivid life into the characters." ( Kati Nicholl, Express.co.uk)
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I have read every Ian McEwan book and have only been disappointed once (Solar). This book is Ian McEwan on top form. Loved the storyline, the characters, the narration by Juliet Stevenson. Would recommend it.

A great listen

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Like 1Q84, this is a *clever* book that runs circles around its readers. And like with 1Q84, the writer pulls it off because he is so incredibly good at just that - writing. Ian McEwan really is one of my favourite authors and Saturday is among my all time favourite books (strangely, I notice that it gets rather poor reviews on Amazon - I really have no idea why!).



It's interesting with a book that takes place in the 70s - can't remember when I last read a book from that decade! Ice cold war, the Yom Kippur war, oil crisis, mine-workers' strikes, the Troubles at an all time high - there really does not seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel! And then the protagonist works for MI5 without the novel being any kind of spy novel. It's a novel about growing up, facing up to choices made very early in life, literature and politics in a very McEwanesk mix.



The narrator has just the right upperclass British intonation - she's very good.

Like Chinese boxes

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at the first glance it’s far from being bad, but I was expecting much more. was expecting a couple of stings or bites in retro style. the author’s talent is evident - as with Solar - where he also missed a grand opportunity and my full attention. when one’s writing becomes manneristic, a long winded stylistic exercise of self-serving loops of bravura, it’s time to take a leave of absence, in preparation for another “Atonement”. Juliet Stevenson saved the day. Not the first time!

TOOTHLESS...

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As beautifully written as his previous best.
It maybe the best performance I’ve ever heard too

Just perfect!

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This book is so thoroughly satisfying & the performance by Juliet Stevenson is quite brilliant.

Brilliant

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Would you consider the audio edition of Sweet Tooth to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print version of this but have read the print version of other books by Ian Mcewan

What did you like best about this story?

This book is set in the 1970's, a time when I was young and growing up so I can relate to the young women in the book and the way that the work place has changed for women. Also this period could be a difficult and brutal time to be living in the UK as there was so much unrest and discontent, this is well portrayed in the book

What about Juliet Stevenson’s performance did you like?

Juliet Stevenson reads with a clear voice and brings the characters to life and is really easy to listen to, meaning that you can concentrate on the story and not on her voice.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

London 1972

A great listen

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I enjoyed this.



The plot is entertaining if not particularly original and it is very well narrated. The sex scenes are not too excruciating although most of them (as far as I could see) lend little to the story.



If you want something to listen to on a journey that is well written and unchallenging this is for you.

Up Market Mills and Boon

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'Sweet Tooth' is a very easily read and followed book. The main content was very interestingly read and finished with a very unexpected twist at the end. Given that the book was written by a man from a woman's perspective, it held a degree of suspense though the scenarios were slightly unrealistic. I listened to/read this book as it was the 'set' book for the book club that I participate in bi- monthly with some neighbours and friends, around a social gathering. We all rated it highly and an average of ten votes worked out at slightly below 8/10 - hence the title of this review.

8/10

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My biggest criticism was that I didn’t find the male author’s portrayal of a young woman believable- ha!

The end, the best was at the end

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I don't normally write reviews but i really enjoyed this book. The main character was easily likable. It had a good pace, with gradual build towards a seemingly inevitable disaster that kept me hooked, making me carry on with the cleaning a bit longer to see what happens. A thought provoking plot. Well read too.

A great listen

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