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A House for Alice

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE INTIMATE AND COMPELLING NOVEL FROM THE PRIZEWINNING AUTHOR OF ORDINARY PEOPLE

After fifty years in the wilderness of London, Alice wants to live out her days in the land of her birth. Her children are divided on whether she stays or goes, and in the wake of their father's death, the imagined stability of the family begins to fray.

Meanwhile youngest daughter Melissa has never let go of a love she lost, and Michael in return, even within the sturdy walls of his marriage to the sparkling Nicole, is haunted by the failed perfection of the past. As Alice's final decision draws closer, all that is hidden between Melissa and her sisters, Michael and Nicole, rises to the surface . . .

Set against the shadows of a city and a country in turmoil, Diana Evans's ordinary people confront fundamental questions. How should we raise our children? How to do right by our parents? And how, in the midst of everything, can we satisfy ourselves?

©2023 Diana Evans (P)2023 Penguin Audio African American Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction World Literature

Critic reviews

"Diana Evans's fiction is emotionally intelligent, dark, funny, moving... A brilliant craftswoman." (Jackie Kay)

"Diana Evans writes exquisitely beautifully." (Bernardine Evaristo)

"A lyrical and glorious writer." (Naomi Alderman)
All stars
Most relevant
Pleasant story and a few LOL moments. Stories not as intriguing as those in the first book. Lots of flip flopping between the many characters. Fairly easy to put down without any real thought about what might happen next.

Nice story

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I've read 'Ordinary people' and loved it, and 'A house for Alice' has been even better..
Loved how the character complexity evolved, loved the story line, the thoughful and very detailed descriptions.
Loved the new characters too.. good balance!
Makes you feel like you really know them all..
excellent performance as well, perfect match...
highly recommended to read books by order, will give the book much more depth!

Really beautiful book

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Can a barbecue truly instantiate ‘the ever churning primal tasks of men’? A novel with a message; we are living in a cage: women are better than men, black better than white, any time better than now, elsewhere better than here … the sun warmer, the skies clearer, the home-folk kinder, wiser, and so on and on and on. It is all so prolix and so joyless. Yawn.

Oh, the ever churning primal tasks of men.

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