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Reservoir 13

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Reservoir 13

By: Jon McGregor
Narrated by: Matt Bates
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About this listen

WINNER OF THE 2017 COSTA NOVEL AWARD

A GUARDIAN BOOK OF THE YEAR
AN FT BOOK OF THE YEAR
A TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR
A TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR

From the award-winning author of If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things. Reservoir 13 tells the story of many lives haunted by one family's loss.

Midwinter in the early years of this century. A teenage girl on holiday has gone missing in the hills at the heart of England. The villagers are called up to join the search, fanning out across the moors as the police set up roadblocks and a crowd of news reporters descends on their usually quiet home.

Meanwhile, there is work that must still be done: cows milked, fences repaired, stone cut, pints poured, beds made, sermons written, a pantomime rehearsed.

The search for the missing girl goes on, but so does everyday life. As it must.

An extraordinary novel of cumulative power and grace, Reservoir 13 explores the rhythms of the natural world and the repeated human gift for violence, unfolding over thirteen years as the aftershocks of a stranger’s tragedy refuse to subside.

©2017 Jon McGregor (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Crime Fiction Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Small Town & Rural Crime Heartfelt

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Critic reviews

"A rare and dazzling feat of art." (George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo)

"McGregor writes with such grace and precision, with love even, about who and where we are, that he leaves behind all other writers of his generation." (Sarah Hall, author of The Wolf Border)

"Reservoir 13 is quite extraordinary – the way it’s structured, the way it rolls, the skill with which Jon McGregor lets the characters breathe and age." (Roddy Doyle, author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha)
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This is rather a depressing account about how families and communities attempt to deal with the case of a missing person. In this instance it is about how society moves on with their lives leaving behind the families to deal with it. it is well written with beautiful descriptions but it tends to be quite a slow burner.

Poignant but slow

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Nothing really happens and that is the point; life goes on in it's funny old way. The turning of the seasons, local intrigue, kids becoming adult, relationships. All with a kind of distant backdrop of a changing world. Sad and reassuring, beautifully written.

Surprisingly good

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Must say that this was very interesting idea for a novel, something I have never seen before. In effect the gradual aging of a village and its inhabitants over 13 years. It’s realized very well, beautifully written.

It loosely follows the disappearance of a girl in the first year, but I would say this story strand is minor. This may put off some people. I found it almost like a series of short stories mixed up together throughout 13 chapters. I was particularly enamored of his turn of phrase which is quite excellent.

Novel Idea

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Took time to get used to its scatter style but then its magic got to me and I ended up moved and thoughtful.

Stay with it.

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A perfectly valid insight into village life, but it just never gets going. I found it difficult to distinguish between the myriad of (perfectly reasonably) uninteresting characters, and whilst the narrator is fine, he doesn't add anything to help differentiate them either. Not one I'm going to listen to again.

Like a very long episode of The Archers

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