Alec cover art

Alec

A Novel

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Alec

By: William di Canzio
Narrated by: John Sackville
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About this listen

"Sackville imbues this character-driven historical drama with warmth, comfort, and a sense of optimism, especially during the story's darkest moments." —AudioFile Magazine

William di Canzio’s Alec, inspired by Maurice, E. M. Forster’s secret novel of a happy same-sex love affair, tells the story of Alec Scudder, the gamekeeper Maurice Hall falls in love with in Forster’s classic, published only after the author's death.

Di Canzio follows their story past the end of Maurice to the front lines of battle in World War I and beyond. Forster, who tried to write an epilogue about the future of his characters, was stymied by the radical change that the Great War brought to their world. With the hindsight of a century, di Canzio imagines a future for them and a past for Alec—a young villager possessed of remarkable passion and self-knowledge.

Alec continues Forster’s project of telling stories that are part of “a great unrecorded history.” Di Canzio’s debut novel is a love story of epic proportions, at once classic and boldly new.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

©2021 William di Canzio (P)2021 Macmillan Audio
Literature & Fiction

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All stars
Most relevant
It may sound like hyperbole, but I genuinely found this novel to be beautiful, romantic, profoundly sad and thrillingly hopeful. The gay experience has all but been erased from great literature. In those dark days we were sinners, monsters or something to laugh at. Like Maurice before it, Alec seeks to right these wrongs. And it does so with aplomb.

A perfect sequel to an enchanting masterpiece…

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I truly was moved to tears, as I was by Maurice. An emotional journey with characterisation which draws total investment.

A true masterpiece mirroring a true classic

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Sympathetic characters, faithful to Forster's Maurice, great homage. Engaging and believable narration brings it alive.

Sensitive continuation of EM Forster's novel

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I think EM Forster would have been delighted by this. It’s very sensitively done with strong characters developing in a rapidly changing world. Highly recommended.

Touching and truthful story excellently told

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A charming book that I enjoyed despite barely knowing the original Maurice. I would recommend.

Charming

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