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Human Croquet

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Human Croquet

By: Kate Atkinson
Narrated by: Susan Jameson
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Summary

Once it had been the great forest of Lythe - a vast and impenetrable thicket of green.And here, in the beginning, lived the Fairfaxes, grandly, at Fairfax Manor, visited once by the great Gloriana herself.

But over the centuries the forest had been destroyed, replaced by Streets of Trees.The Fairfaxes have dwindled too; now they live in 'Arden' at the end of Hawthorne Close and are hardly a family at all.

But Isobel Fairfax, who drops into pockets of time and out again, knows about the past. She is sixteen and waiting for the return of her mother - the thin, dangerous Eliza with her scent of nicotine, Arpège and sex, whose disappearance is part of the mystery that still remains at the heart of the forest.

 Coming of Age Contemporary Fiction Fantasy Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Military Funny Mind-bending
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Critic reviews

Vivid, richly imaginative, hilarious and frightening by turns
Huge, exhilarating, loving and detailed eruption of a novel...an utterly intoxicating display of novelistic elan...big and joyous, literary and accessible...storytelling at its buoyant best
Wonderfully eloquent and forceful Kate Atkinson goes at the same pace in her second novel as she did in her first...welcome back, wild north-easter...brilliant and engrossing
Vivid and intriguing...fizzles and crackles along...a tour de force
Part ghost story, part murder mystery, this is an exquisitely written, literary novel that reads as compellingly as any thriller
A stunner of a second novel...a gutsy book, wrenched from the heart and written with tremendous force, immersing you in its strange, eccentric world
The quirky imagination, subversive humour and instinct for domestic chaos that Atkinson displayed in her first novel...are rampantly evident again
All stars
Most relevant
loved this exquisitely written tale of loves, lives, truths and secrets all spun in a web of parallel reality. The narrator was just fantastic with a stunning array of accents. Kate Atkinson's story telling is unique, inventive and dazzlingly intelligent.

mystical, mundane and wholly marvellous!

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Kate Atkinson is such a wonderful writer and Susan Jameson brought her words to life so vividly. Definitely a darker story than I expected but nevertheless a truly enchanting read.

(TW: sexual abuse, domestic violence)

Fantastic

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Really enjoyed the story line. Typical Kate Atkinson style, often going off on a tangent, but the story draws you in, gathering momentum at the end. Great characters and loved the narrator - she really brings the book to life. Definitely recommend

Very Enjoyable

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Kate Atkinson is a beautiful writer. Some sentences deserved listening to twice and thrice for the sheer elegance of their construction and the evocative nature of their description. The story moves backwards and forwards and from reality to fantasy. In less able hands it could be clunky or confusing but here it twists and turns and intertwines wonderfully. I cared about the characters and loved the little forays into history, evolution and science. And what a narrator Susan Jameson is. A wonderful performance (a ‘reading’ wouldn’t do it justice) and she nails every regional accent which is a rare treat. One of my favourite books and listens of this year, I highly recommend it.

Sublime writing and narration

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WARNING:
If you take it to the beach you’ll probably forget you are on holiday

Probably a better read than a listen but very good in either form

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