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The Tap Dancer

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The Tap Dancer

By: Andrew Barrow
Narrated by: John Sackville
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About this listen

‘My favourite novel and one I wish I’d written.’ ALAN BENNETT

Winner of the McKitterick Prize for best first novel by an author aged over 40, and the Hawthornden Prize for imaginative literature.

Everyone craves retirement from the Civil Service, don’t they? That time for an ageing patriarch to enjoy the fruits of a well-earned pension and the respect of his family; maybe even to indulge in a love of music halls and metropolitan life. If only people would listen and do as they were told…

His fourth son William, the long-suffering narrator, is the constant butt of his father’s jokes and victim of his brothers’ indifference. But as death, divorce and other darker dramas follow, father and son slowly establish a strange harmony.

©2023 Andrew Barrow (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Classics Coming of Age Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Comedy Funny

Critic reviews

‘A comic masterpiece... Andrew Barrow’s insight into the minutiae of English family life is absolutely brilliant...his ear for dialogue is matchless...this is a great literary creation.’ Spectator

‘A magnificent creation... Could rank alongside Mr Pooter and Nancy Mitford’s Uncle Matthew.’ Independent

‘All the characters, even the minor ones, are perfectly realised, thanks largely to Barrow’s remarkable skill at pinpointing the social and psychological undercurrents of casual conversation.’ Times Literary Supplement
All stars
Most relevant
I heard a discussion on this book on the radio, so I was aware that it involved a dysfunctional family, but I found it witty and enjoyable. There are tragic and sad events, but on the whole it’s the stuff of daily life in a very secure, and privileged family. The narration is terse and concise and the portraits of Father, Mother, Aunt Peg and so on are warm and compassionate.

The everyday in a upper middle class family

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I heard this reviewed on a good read. they compared the father to Uncle Matthew in Athens pursuit of love and said it was laugh out loud. I am afraid I just found it an exceedingly sad tale of dysfunctional family. If it had been a free read, i would be less disappointed but would still have given it a 2star review.

very disappointing

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