Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
Music for Torching
- Narrated by: Penelope Rawlins
- Length: 12 hrs and 33 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
99p for the first 3 months
Buy Now for £16.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
Paul and Elaine have two boys and a beautiful home, yet they find themselves thoroughly, inexplicably stuck. Obsessed with 'making things good again', they spin the quiet terrors of family life into a fantastical frenzy that careens well and truly out of control.
From a hilarious encounter in the pantry with a Stepford Wife neighbour, to a hostage situation at the school, Homes lays bare the foundations of marriage and family life.
Critic reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about Music for Torching
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alison
- 28-02-17
The Ending - Lazy and Bizarre
A M Holmes wrote May We be Forgiven which is one of my favourite books. I also liked This Book Will Save Your Life. And for much of Music for Torching, I enjoyed the trade-mark bone-dry, black and bleak humour.
It is an increasingly bizarre and fantastic, nightmarish story. The writing is pitilessly forensic in its dissection of a marriage, of the 'dream' of American middle-class suburban life - and even family life. It does have moments of 'humour' which I enjoyed. But you also feel that you are watching a car-crash in which the driver and all the passengers actively want the crash to play out.
The characters are vivid and even though I didn't believe in many of them - and detested the main characters - some of the small-part acts are just brilliant - the slightly-drunk neighbour, the bi-sexual housewife - and the children.
But the ending (which I will not reveal) was in my view lazy and just lobbed in for the sake of shock value. It is disconnected from the the rest of the book entirely and I hated it - not just because it was so awful, but because I went on this journey with Holmes, paid for the credit, and then got a 'cut and paste' horror end that in no way reflects the rest of the book - and that's saying something given how weird the rest of the book is. But at least it was consistent - the end was cheap.
The narration was very good, and that is why I have given this download 3 stars overall, instead of the 2 that the story merits.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful