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Hangover Square cover art

Hangover Square

By: Patrick Hamilton
Narrated by: Piers Hampton
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Summary

London, 1939, and in the grimy publands of Earl's Court, George Harvey Bone is pursuing a helpless infatuation.

Netta is cool, contemptuous and hopelessly desirable to George. George is adrift in a drunken hell except in his dead moments, when something goes click in his head and he realises, without a doubt, that he must kill her.

In the darkly comic Hangover Square, Patrick Hamilton brilliantly evokes a seedy, fog-bound world of saloon bars, lodging houses and boozing philosophers, immortalising the slang and conversational tone of a whole generation and capturing the premonitions of doom that pervaded London life in the months before the war.

©2016 Patrick Hamilton (P)2016 Little Brown Book Group

Critic reviews

"I recommend Hamilton at every opportunity, because he was such a wonderful writer and yet is rather under-read today. All his novels are terrific." (Sarah Waters)

"If you were looking to fly from Dickens to Martin Amis with just one overnight stop, then Hamilton is your man." (Nick Hornby)

What listeners say about Hangover Square

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Fine novel

This is a fine, sad novel, beautifully read - nuanced and attentive to Hamilton's prose: bitter, bleak and involving

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4 people found this helpful

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a masterpiece

l read this book a long time ago when I was in my teens and forgot how much of a awesome this piece of writing this is Patrick Hamilton's have been forgotten in the modern age but truly worth seeking him out he takes you on a true emotional journey with some ordinary characters that you can relate to and the ending wow! Thanks Audible and Piers Hampton for his superb reading of this book I truly felt I did not want this story to end thanks again 5 Stars.
Andrew

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Wonderful

A brilliant novel with a thriller element that kept me gripped. Beautifully narrated. I loved every second.

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2 people found this helpful

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A haunting read

Oh, I loved this book. The reading was superb and well paced, with a terrific atmosphere - I finished it months ago but it it still plays on my mind. I keep hoping I’ll forget some of it so I can hear it all again... lucky people reading it for the first time.

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Best book I've listened to for years exquisite x

This was truly an brilliant book. Not only did it bring to life London in 1939 but the plot was so unusual. I absolutely LOVED it.

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Bleakly brilliant

Hamilton writes evocatively of despair, drinking, general London seediness on the cusp of WW2. Netta is one of fiction’s great monsters. George is a lost soul, sliding into mental illness as the country drifts as inexorably into war. The narrator Piers Hampton, is superb.

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A dark and relentless listen but rewarding...

In sections of the book the author creates a totally believable fugue state within the narrator which he builds with repetition. I found it a little like parts of American Pyscho - both in the way that I was drawn into the character's mindset but also, at times, feeling frustrated by the level of repetition.

The reader was engaging and dramatic without being too much.

I chose the book because a band called Boy Azooga used the same title for one of their songs...I'm recommend both!

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Netta's friends

Don't know how I came across this book, but as others say this is a very moving and original novel, beautifully read and written. Reminded me a bit of Orwell's novels, that subtlety and immediacy you get which makes you feel you are living the drama yourself. Many thanks to whoever had the idea of publishing this novel as an audiobook and for choosing Piers Hampton who is an inspired choice as reader. Look forward to listening to more readings of Hamilton's books.

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Sublime and Melancholy

A flawless performance of a beautiful book. So evocative and sad. One of my favourite audible experiences

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Fascinating study on relationships pre-war

Beautifully read, the story has a mesmerising rhythm that draws you along to the climax. The details of Pre-WWII London are fascinating 75 years on

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