The Little Red Chairs cover art

The Little Red Chairs

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The Little Red Chairs

By: Edna O'Brien
Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
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About this listen

When a wanted war criminal masquerading as a healer settles in a small west coast Irish village, the community are in thrall. One woman, Fidelma McBride, falls under his spell, and in this searing novel Edna O'Brien charts the consequence of that fatal attraction.

This is a story about love, the artifice of evil and the terrible necessity of accountability in our shattered, damaged world.

©2015 Edna O’Brien (P)2016 W F Howes Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction

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Critic reviews

"The great Edna O'Brien has written her masterpiece." (Philip Roth)
" The Little Red Chairs is a daring invention set at the bloody crossroads where worlds collide: savage, tender and true." (John Banville)
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Started off well but lost me soon with its change of focus. I understand the point of this but I couldn't settle and longed to skip forward
Great performance by the narrator though

Not for me

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This is a very moving story of trauma, love, loss and deception, told from the perspective of a woman who, unwittingly, falls in love with the 'Beast of Sarajevo'. There are other voices which speak of their trauma and its lasting damage. Is the 'Beast' a man of great charm, a healer with warmth and compassion, or is he the hate filled monster, responsible for the brutal deaths of many people in Sarajevo? Wonderfully read by Juliet Stevenson.

Sarajevo

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The attempts at accents were really hard to bear and bordered on racial parodies. The pronunciation of Irish words were also off. I suspect it’s better in it’s written rather than audio version.

Terrible accents

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Interesting story, gripping in parts but annoyingly laboured in others. Learned a fair bit about a time in European history that had passed me by, to my shame. Was a very difficult listen in parts because of the atrocities which we all know are still happening throughout the world today. Most humbling. But on a happier note - what a fantastic narrator! I knew Juliet Stevenson is a good actress but - WOW. I still can't believe I wasn't listening to a play with a cast of many. Truly wonderful.

Fabulous narration!

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The narration for me as an Irish person was dreadful. The accents were clichéd and patronising. The Irish police were portrayed as 'village idiots', and surnames mispronounced, which could have very easily been rectified. Every Eastern European sounded like 'Vlad the Impaler'. Very disappointing.

I love Edna's writing

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