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  • The Standing Chandelier: A Novella

  • By: Lionel Shriver
  • Narrated by: Lionel Shriver
  • Length: 3 hrs and 31 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (47 ratings)
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The Standing Chandelier: A Novella cover art

The Standing Chandelier: A Novella

By: Lionel Shriver
Narrated by: Lionel Shriver
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Summary

From the award-winning novelist and short story writer Lionel Shriver comes a literary gem, a story about love and the power of a gift.

When Weston Babansky receives an extravagant engagement present from his best friend (and old flame), Jillian Frisk, he doesn't quite know what to make of it - or how to get it past his fiancée. Especially as it's a massive, handmade, intensely personal sculpture that they'd have to live with forever.

As the argument rages about whether Jillian's gift was an act of pure platonic generosity or something more insidious, battle lines are drawn....

Can men and women ever be friends? Just friends?

Described by the Sunday Times as 'a brilliant writer' with 'a strong, clear and strangely seductive voice', Lionel Shriver has written a glittering examination of friendship, ownership and the conditions of love.

©2017 Lionel Shriver (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Short Stories Family Life Literary Fiction Women's Fiction Contemporary
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Critic reviews

"As ever, Shriver cuts close to the bone...Distinctly chilling." (Independent)
"Shriver is fast becoming the go-to novelist for some of the big issues...breezy, mordantly comic...if the test of a futuristic novel is its eerie proximity to the present, this passes with flying colours." (Daily Mail)
"Impressively sweeping...Shriver's intelligence, mordant humour and vicious leaps of imagination all combine to make this a novel that is as unsettling as it is entertaining in its portrait of the cataclysmic unravelling of the American dream." (Financial Times)

What listeners say about The Standing Chandelier: A Novella

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Profile Image for shirley

Brilliant

Such a short book but packed full. Had a similar thing happen to me. No wisdom teeth involved. I'd forgotten all about it till I read this book, but boy am I mad now!

Wonderful writing. Brilliantly observed. For me it was a masterpiece. What an amazing litterary voice this woman has.

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Profile Image for Jennifer McAnuff

fantastic as usual from Lionel Shriver

loved it, highly recommended. Lionel Shriver is so good at really getting into the detail of human interactions and agendas.

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Profile Image for Wras

The complexities of sex and friendship dissected


An excellent novella that covers more territory than most 500 page books, and makes you take sides like you do when a couple splits.

I loved the writing; the characters felt real, and the plot was well constructed without being obvious. I was surprised how involved I was, I laughed and felt sad for them; what more could you ask from a book.

A real find that left me thinking.

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5 people found this helpful