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Late in the Day

The classic Sunday Times bestselling novel from the author of The Party

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Late in the Day

By: Tessa Hadley
Narrated by: Abigail Thaw
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Brought to you by Penguin.

The lives of two close-knit couples are irrevocably changed by an untimely death in this Sunday Times bestselling novel.

Alex and Christine and Zach and Lydia have been inseparable since their twenties. From student house-shares and grubby pubs to proper homes and grown-up careers, the two couples' lives have been interlinked for decades. Then one evening, Alex and Christine receive a call from a distraught Lydia. Zach is dead.

Inconsolable, Lydia moves in with Alex and Christine. But instead of their loss bringing them closer, the three of them find that love and sorrow give way to anger and bitterness as old entanglements and resentments rise from the past.

'Unflinching, intelligent and fascinating' Marian Keyes

'A fine-grained novel of friendship, loss and jealousy' Sunday Times, *100 Great 21-Century Novels*

(c) 2019, Tessa Hadley (P) 2019 Penguin Audio

 Family Life Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Suspense Thriller & Suspense
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Critic reviews

Tessa Hadley is one of our finest writers. The sensitivity of her psychological insight and understanding is unmatched by anyone writing today... [in Late in the Day], Hadley comes into her own. It’s glorious stuff: moving, beautiful and so enjoyable. All hail Queen Tessa! (Robbie Millen and James Marriott)
Hadley’s wonderful tale [Late in the Day –] measured, ironic, disarmingly perceptive – picks up on all the contradictions of human existence. With Hadley, you know there’s an adult in the room.
The quintessential domestic novel in the most elevated sense… excellently insightful on family dynamics and the intricacies of close friendship.
With each new book by Tessa Hadley, I grow more convinced that she’s one of the greatest stylists alive… her quietly elegant style and muted wit are triumphs… the everyday tragedies and betrayals of domestic life [are] rendered by Hadley’s prose into something extraordinary… The tone of Late in the Day is perhaps Hadley’s most delicate accomplishment.
You know you are in safe hands with Tessa Hadley who, on a sheer sentence-by-sentence level, delivers more enjoyment than almost any other living writer... you'll be hanging on to every word. (Claire Allfree)
There may be no historical newness to women’s disenchantment with male authority, but it feels new to write about it with this much raw honesty… It’s to her great credit that Hadley manages to be old-fashioned and modernist and brilliantly postmodern all at once… Unlocking age-old mysteries in ways both revelatory and inevitable. We’ve seen this before, and we’ve never seen this before, and it’s spectacular.
My favourite novel of 2019 by a long way was Tessa Hadley's Late in the Day… Hadley is a beautifully descriptive writer and a penetrating observer of human nature. (James Marriott)
Like all Hadley’s novels, Late in the Day enthrals.
Tessa Hadley picks apart the stitches of marriage, friendship and self with an almost forensic curiosity [in Late in the Day], cementing her place as one of Britain's finest writers of contemporary fiction.
Hadley examines profound areas of life – friendship, marriage, parenthood, grief, love – with a delightful precision, hitting different nails on the head over and over again… Her novel is full of these piercing little moments of revelation… [because of] the crispness of Hadley’s narrative, and the wisdom of her observations: you trust her… [Late in the Day has] a touch of genius.
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I liked listening to this - it's impressive how Tessa Hadley kept my interest as she delved more and more deeply into this married quartet of best friends. Only a prolonged trip to Venice bored me - it felt like Hadley indulging herself in a recent visit to Venice.
It all starts with a phone call from Christine's best friend since school, Lydia, one evening. Lydia's husband Zachary is dead: Zachary the vibrant, energetic, bright one has had a heart attack and is unbelievably dead. Of course Lydia in her distress must move in with Christine and Alex.Can that work?
The rest of the novel weaves backwards and forwards in time, fleshing out the very close relationship between the four of them. Hadley does it all at such a leisurely pace with such delicacy, such insights into intimacy and marriage, the passing of time, the dependency of children and wives, bereavement, loss, letting go......that the quartet become totally real. When it all suddenly stops, it's quite a wrench.
Beautifully read - totally in tune with the content. A lovely voice from Abigail Thaw.

Time changes everything

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Excellent writing - requires concentration on walks - you can’t just drift off into your own thoughts . Through her writing you get an insight into the characters and their interwoven complexities and overall makes a very enjoyable listen

Beautiful writing and interesting story

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It my first tessa Hadley book, and I enjoyed the intrigue between friends through time.

Good read

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Now want to buy the print copy to read again. Must say Abigail’s narration was nothing short of iconic - in the Juliette Stevenson league. Certainly not for the beach readers but a breath of Fresh air for the more literary reader. Doubt if I’ll read a better book this year .

Brilliant - performance and writing

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A character study of the complexities of relationships and how people often get what they want in subtle hardly discernible ways.

Beautifully written

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