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The Chemistry of Tears

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About this listen

Following the success of Parrot and Olivier in America comes another wonderfully rich tale with historical themes from the twice Booker-winner. Catherine Gehrig, conservator at a London museum, learns of the unexpected death of her colleague and lover of thirteen years. Only the museum's director knew of the affair, and sends Catherine to work on a special project away from prying eyes. An automaton, a man and a woman who can never meet, a secret love story, and the fate of the world are all brought to life in this hauntingly moving novel from one of the finest writers of our time.

©2012 Peter Carey (P)2012 Recorded Books LLC Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Museum Robotics

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I'm a Carey fan and keen to listen to this to the end, but after several attempts I'm giving up.
The female narrator (there is also a male) - Australian Susan Lyons – seems to think that contemporary English women of a certain age all speak in a clipped and fragile Queen's English, like Celia Johnson in 'Brief Encounter'. The falsity of the delivery is unfortunate as it makes it hard to get involved in the story. If Lyons had read in her normal (presumably Australian) accent, it would have got less in the way. So, I guess I'll have to read this one off the page.

Narrator's strangulated faux accent kills it

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This book sounded intriguing and i was reasonably anxious to 'read' a Peter Carey book. However, I got very bored with it. I peservered, somewhat wanting to know what happened, but I just got more and more bored. I do suspect that if I was not the sort of person who loves deep insight into characters and what happens to them, and was the sort of person who is interested in technology then I may have been much more intrigued and found the book enjoyable. The narration was good, which is probably what kept me listening for so long! I may get the book out of the library so I can flip through the rest of it, just to find the outcome, but I really couldn't bear to listen any longer.

probably just me...............

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While the narrators don't help, they do have to give voice to characters who signally fail to convince in either of their given places and periods. When touching on grief - the strong opening chapter - there is a heartfelt and convincing energy to the prose, but the intriguing premise grows ever more dull. It was a trudge. Carey can be hit or miss but it is a long time since he missed by this much. Go elsewhere for tears.

Bored to Tears

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I really couldn't get on with this book which was a great pity since I love Oscar and Lucinda which was the first Peter Carey book I ever read. He is clearly a fine writer but it just didn't appeal to me

The Chemistry of Tears

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I love this story, and I love both the narrators. (Husband and wife no less!) I love Susan Lyons' voice, The story is clever, knowledgeable, layered as beautifully as real life, romantic, tragic and thought provoking. It stands out as the work of an outstanding author, To me, his best book.

Beautifully crafted

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