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Take Nothing with You

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Take Nothing with You

By: Patrick Gale
Narrated by: Patrick Gale
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About this listen

From the bestselling author of A PLACE CALLED WINTER comes a new novel of boyhood, coming of age, and the confusions of desire and reality. For all readers of Ian McEwan's ATONEMENT or L P Hartley's THE GO-BETWEEN.

1970s Weston-Super-Mare and ten-year-old oddball Eustace, an only child, has life transformed by his mother's quixotic decision to sign him up for cello lessons. Music-making brings release for a boy who is discovering he is an emotional volcano. He laps up lessons from his young teacher, not noticing how her brand of glamour is casting a damaging spell over his frustrated and controlling mother.

When he is enrolled in holiday courses in the Scottish borders, lessons in love, rejection and humility are added to daily practice.

Drawing in part on his own boyhood, Patrick Gale's new novel explores a collision between childish hero worship and extremely messy adult love lives.

©2018 Patrick Gale (P)2018 Headline Publishing Group Ltd Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Highlander

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Critic reviews

Absolutely one of his complete best. So many funny and tender and terrific scenes. He hovers between social comedy and apocalyptic tragedy without the move appearing artificial or contrived. Just a wonderful, wonderful read (Stephen Fry)
Safe in the arms of Patrick Gale's BEAUTIFUL writing again - I could weep with joy. (Joanna Cannon)
All stars
Most relevant  
This book begins and ends with Eustace who, with or without his cello, somehow survived the ups and downs of life in calm and measured manner. A book which should be read twice. With Bach's cello concerto.

Music to your ears

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I like Patrick Gale’s writing a lot. When he’s on form he’s riveting. This, to me, is a curate’s egg of a story however. After a tremendous start involving an HIV positive man navigating online dating it quickly devolves into a meandering riff on cello lessons/childhood recollections before bizarrely heading up a cul de sac of nonsense about conversion therapy. In isolation any one of these topics could have made a great book, but they simply don’t hang together as a cohesive novel. And I wish he’d get a decent narrator to read his books. His voice is flat and his array of accents belie a dreadful sense of snobbery. Every working class woman sounds like some sort sex crazed Eastenders reject!

Great start, then meandering middle and muddled end.

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Nowhere near the usual standard and why do authors feel the need to narrate their own books? Leave it to the professionals!

Disappointing

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A long time fan, so thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audio book read by the author.

Take nothing with you

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Brilliant story. Enjoyed the narration, too. I loved the characters. Totally dismayed that it has finished

Thoroughly enjoyed every moment!

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I am a fan of Patrick Gales writing and was not disappointed in this book. I actually set out to make time to listen to Eustace' life and was sorry to have the story end.

A riveting journey.

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I really enjoy Patrick Gales voice and the book felt real, growing up gay, very sexy too, and the characters and their questing to find meaning and closeness. He has a tenderness that can tell the various characters story without judgement when to say they are good or bad would be too simple — and shows not only compassion for the human condition but believable motivation. Great writing, can’t wait to download the next one.

Oh my, this tapped nostalgic emotions.

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The best book I’ve read or listened to in ages. Patrick’s voice is sublime. I will miss Eustace, I wanted the story to go on and on. Thank you Patrick.

I didn’t want it to end.

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For me, as a non-musician, there was far too much technical detail. Also, I wasn’t expecting the main plot to be a sort of rite of passage of a young teenage boy.
I did not enjoy the author’s performance and thought it would have been better left to a professional actor.

Falls short of usual Gale standard

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I enjoyed this tale of coming of age and the twirl between the older and younger self.
Full of learning about music and full of emotion that will ache and keep you riveted and some sex for added pleasure.
Get it, you won’t regret.

An enjoyable and thoughtful story

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