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A Family Romance

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A Family Romance

By: Anita Brookner
Narrated by: Fiona Shaw
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About this listen

As the solitary child of mild and gentle parents, Jane is fascinated and astounded by her exotically European aunt, Dolly.

Dolly’s ways are certainly not her parents’ ways, yet she is an object of interest and dread to her beleaguered relatives. It is clear that they have nothing in common: Jane feels no affection for Dolly, and Dolly clearly dislikes children.

Yet the two are fated to go through life in uneasy harness, until such time as their alliance is accepted by both as not only inevitable, but as something of great value.

Read by Fiona Shaw.

©1993 Anita Brookner (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

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I found this book very enjoyable because I felt so damned annoyed with Dolly and her nasty selfishness, whilst happily listening to Jane (the main character and narrator) moving from shy child to self-confident young woman, despite many setbacks, and finally coming to terms with Dolly as the book came to an end.
I don't believe the author ever married and I feel sure that she doesn't particularly like men, as none of her male characters seem to come out of her story's well.
This is the first narration by Fiona Shaw that I have listened to and I found her very clear and lovely to listen to, and to be honest, it can totally ruin a good story for me if the narration is poor. Highly recommended.

Very enjoyable

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Fiona Shaw is a good actress and s good reader, she really makes this.

Both Classic & Standard Brookner.

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I love this book. Along with Fraud it is my favourite Anita Brookner novel. I'd delayed listening to it because in the extract the narrator did not sound very good, but in fact she was excellent too.

My joint favourite

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Brilliant and subtle narrator, who brings Anita Brookner’s cast of characters alive. An intimate, sweeping portrait of an upper middle class London family with mittel-European roots, the protagonist the sensible and watchful young Jane and her antagonist, the colourful and perennial Aunt Dolly.

Poignant portrait of quiet lives

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This is Anita Brookner at her best. Parts of the last chapter stray into wokeness which is irritating as it bears no relationship to the rest but the final few minutes bring it back to the spirit and tone of the rest. It is as though someone other than Brookner have inserted their views a bit like the nonsense of the Dahl rewrite

A wonderful story brilliantly read by Fiona Shaw a perfect choice to read it

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