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A Sweet Obscurity
- Narrated by: Patrick Gale
- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
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A Sweet Obscurity
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Summary
Bittersweet and startling, A Sweet Obscurity is a novel of childhood, love and the consequences of how lives are lived.
Since her mother's death, nine-year-old Dido has been living with her eccentric aunt, acting as peacekeeper between Eliza, her estranged husband, Giles, and his girlfriend. They are each cruelly burdened in different ways. Chance draws them down to Cornwall, where a country idyll offers to lighten their urban cares. Eliza falls in love with local farmer Pearce, an event that causes the four adults to reassess their lives, with some painful and unforeseen consequences for adults and child alike.
Critic reviews
"Intriguing and impressive. A memorable study of a child forced cruelly, even tragically, to grow up too soon." (Sunday Times)
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What listeners say about A Sweet Obscurity
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Honest reader
- 05-04-24
Multi-charactered stories interest but don’t ignite.
I am a huge fan of Patrick Gale, and one can never deny the quality if his writing or indeed his storytelling.
For me though, this novel was a little less engaging than I usually find with him.
Too many characters thrown at me all at once in early chapters, so it was a long time before I could connect with any emotionally.
In one strand of the book Gale tackles a challenging topic intelligently and sensitively.but i found myself stepping back from the story a little due to the subject matter. My favourite books are those in which i am always with the characters not observing them from a safe distance.
The convoluted narrative didn’t gel for me, in that it felt (for a while) a bit like a high quality soap that i had dipped into for a while. Multiple things happening for multiple characters who had connections etc, but without ever revealing a singular idea or theme or even a particular point of view of any kind. The richness of Gales language and the details along the way in any story of his are here and make this a worthwhile read, but for me its one of his lesser novels (which of course still puts it head and shoulders above 99% of all modern novels)!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Granny Vi
- 16-02-23
A really satisfying and involving listen
Packed with different characters, all convincing, and varied settings, urban, academic and far west Cornwall, this is one of Gale’s longer novels beautifully read by himself. I enjoyed it very much.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- peggysue
- 09-02-21
Slow
Went on a little, glad I didn't have to read it or I would have given up. Not very exciting.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mac
- 28-09-20
An enthralling story beautifully read
I’ve listened to several of Patrick Gale’s novels. They never disappoint, and a couple of times I’ve gone straight back to the beginning and listened again.
This is another enthralling story that held me until the last page.
It is beautifully read and performed by Patrick Gale.
Thank you
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Emma
- 14-05-20
Delightful
I have read several of Patrick Gale's novels and I particularly enjoyed this one. It is captivating throughout and is beautifully read by the author.
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2 people found this helpful