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Tigers in Red Weather

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Tigers in Red Weather

By: Liza Klaussmann
Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
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About this listen

Nick and her cousin, Helena, have grown up sharing sultry summers at Tiger House, the glorious old family estate on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. As World War II ends they are on the cusp of adulthood, the world seeming to offer itself up to them. Helena is leaving for Hollywood and a new marriage, while Nick is to be reunited with her young husband Hughes, due to return from London and the war. Everything is about to change. Neither quite finds the life she had imagined, and as the years pass, the trips to Tiger House take on a new complexity.

Then, on the brink of the 1960s, Nick’s daughter Daisy and Helena’s son Ed make a sinister discovery. It plunges the island’s bright heat into private shadow and sends a depth-charge to the heart of the family. Summer seemed to arrive at that moment, with its mysterious mixture of salt, cold flesh and fuel.

Magnificently told from five perspectives, Tigers in Red Weather is an unforgettable debut: a simmering novel of passion, betrayal and secret violence beneath a polished and fragile facade.

©2012 Liza Klaussmann (P)2012 Hachette Audio US Contemporary Fiction Genre Fiction Fiction Marriage

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Critic reviews

“This glamorous and involving debut novel is about the secrets of a wealthy - and very dysfunctional - American East Coast family. Over a series of summers, moving from the glittering promise of the post-war years to the end of '60s idealism, five members of the same family tell their stories. Under a seemingly perfect surface, secrets fester, relationships crack and loyalties are betrayed.” ( Grazia)
“Postwar America, beautiful and damaged people, secrets and lies and passions and martinis and the smell of something rotting beneath the fragrance of summer. . an immensely gripping and well-told tale of two generations . . . It is part of the considerable pleasure of this novel that much of it reminds you of other stories, in prose and film. You are on familiar but never stale territory, and you read on with the growing conviction that a nasty surprise lies around the corner.” ( Guardian)
“So pour yourself a whisky sour, put Count Basie on the gramaphone and surrender to a deliciously disturbing tale that shines a light on the seamy side of human nature.” ( Sunday Express)
“A scintillating look at a gilded but dysfunctional family grappling with lies, secrets and conspiracies . . . The voices of the five main characters ramp up the tension with languorously graceful prose, perfectly mirroring the book's long, dangerous summers.” ( Marie Claire)
“What an unexpectedly brilliant read this is. It starts off all Stepford Wives and Valley of the Dolls and ends up somewhere in the territory of Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides or Donna Tartt's The Secret History. This novel is a slow-burner which you can only really appreciate once you can take in the whole book. It is told in five parts from the standpoints of the main characters Nick, Daisy, Helena, Hughes and Ed. The whole thing has the cinematic feel of a kaleidoscope, conjuring up the idea that perspective is always changing. . . . This is an ambitious undertaking for a first novel but Klaussmann really pulls it off, turning an elegant period piece into a creepy psychological thriller. The characters are cruelly drawn and should be unsympathetic but there is something compelling about the setting and the cinematic feel of the book: you are drawn to these strange types without understanding why. There's just the right mix of glamour and tension. The result is like the dish of tomatoes in aspic which Nick slaves over for hours and then drops. Everything is perfectly suspended for a moment. Until the mess of life intervenes. A wonderfully clever, chilling summer read.” ( Independent on Sunday)

”This is heady, page-turning, intelligent stuff” (The Sunday Times)

”A deft novel, it conjures up the magic and the melancholy of post-war America. If Richard Yates had penned a beach-bag read, this might have been it.” (Independent)

All stars
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got this book because on daily deal kept going back to it when i had nothing else to read took about 10 sittings to get through characters annoying wudnt recommend

so so

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Which character – as performed by Katherine Kellgren – was your favourite?

None of the characters was particularly likeable in themselves. Katherine Kellgren performed them all admirably.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No, you need to read the book as a whole. I started to read this with a heavy heart because I'd read a number of recent negative reader reviews. Some said that nothing much happens and they were waiting - and waiting - for the story to take off.I'm glad I persevered. Yes, I can see how the world-weary dialogue of these wealthy American socialites can be off-putting. But if you can persevere there is rather a lot going on. The novel is character-driven. We read the events from the perspectives of five characters, and the plot develops slowly along the way. It's the characters' reactions that are more interesting rather than the action itself.

Any additional comments?

As for the accusation of nothing much happening in the book, it's not really fair. We have adulterous affairs, mental illness, murder, attempted murder, unrequited love, betrayal, and quite a lot of suspense.

Be careful when reading the reviews

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Not up my street, felt like giving up a few times but kept on expecting it to get better, it didn't!

A Struggle to finish!

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This book transports you with rich descriptions, feeling like you're truly there. Also, has interesting characters...

beautifully written

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I had high hopes for this book after hearing an interview with Liza Klaussman on Woman's Hour and reading excellent reviews in the broadsheets. I guess I was a little disappointed but would still highly recommend it. There are many comparisons you can put forward for this; Gatsby is the most obvious and although this book is set primarily in the 1940s and 1950s it definitely conjures up that same moneyed lifestyle, the languid summer atmosphere. The atmosphere and the narration are mesmerising and definitely the best part of this audiobook. There is a dark tension running through it that is compelling and certainly kept me listening. However, I cared very little for any of the characters and felt that the ending did not quite live up to the initial promise of the book. Definitely worth a listen though and a book to think about long after you've finished listening.

A great summer listen

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An irritating list of what she wore, and what she wore and what was in the house and Ed said, said Ed, Ed said dialogue . I read on, on the promise that the plot developed quickly after drifting around the sub Gatsby sub Yates shallows - apart from a War-time London interlude that entertained, it didn’t.

The Wallace Stevens references seem spurious given the lack of overall depth to the waters between Wood’s Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Chappaquiddick according to the Klaussmann scale. Cape Cod is a wonderful location for a holiday. Unfortunately, the aspirational sea and sand still infused with the Kennedy-myth too often choke off real purpose in the narrative and motivation in the characters. What is left is one dimensional players in a two dimensional play, played against a backdrop of what the author wants this to be. Yellow bathing suits cut high on the thigh, Hollywood players, teenage tennis striking image after image, perspiring against first love combatants. Strong visuals, but the meanings fall between green and gold before end the nightmare that takes place on this Elm Street is put back on the coffee table.

Boys’ noise, Hughes shoes, Ed said....

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Wish I had paid more attention to reviews of this book on other sites (try Amazon, several bad reviews). This wasn't a very good book and I wish I hadn't wasted a credit on this. It came through on the recommended reads but I would not recommend. Nothing really happens in the story, the characters are poorly developed and the narrator is a little grating. leave well alone!

Leave well alone!

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I am still reading this (half way through part 2) and am still waiting for it to get going and get better but it is'nt happening. I will struggle to finish it, it's not engaging and doesnt seem to have any storyline....not like me to pick a dud.

A real struggle to finish

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I bought this as it was recommended by Audible How stupid was I??? Will be very careful of purchasing anything else recommended by Audible again!!
Very disjointed no real story no empathy with characters I finished it just!! Please do not waste your book credit or money on this

Very disappointing

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Bought this on a whim - as the synopsis boded well for a good summer read.
Really disappointed - struggled to finish it - just did not engage with the characters or the plot line. Did not work for me at all but it's good to try new books, I guess.

Disappointed

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