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Trio

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Trio

By: William Boyd
Narrated by: Hannah Arterton
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Brought to you by Penguin.

A producer. A novelist. An actress.

It is summer in 1968, the year of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. There are riots in Paris and the Vietnam War is out of control. While the world is reeling our three characters are involved in making a Swingin' Sixties movie in sunny Brighton.

All are leading secret lives. Elfrida is drowning her writer's block in vodka; Talbot, coping with the daily dysfuntion of making a film, is hiding something in a secret apartment; and the glamorous Anny is wondering why the CIA is suddenly so interested in her.

But the show must go on and, as it does, the trio's private worlds begin to take over their public ones. Pressures build inexorably - someone's going to crack. Or maybe they all will.

From one of Britain's best loved writers comes an exhilarating, tender novel that asks the vital questions: what makes life worth living? And what do you do if you find it isn't?
_______________________________________________

PRAISE FOR WILLIAM BOYD

'The ultimate in immersive fiction . . . magnificent' Sunday Times

'A finely judged performance: a deft and resonant alchemy of fact and fiction, of literary myth and imagination' Guardian on Love is Blind

'William Boyd has probably written more classic books than any of his contemporaries' Daily Telegraph

'Simply the best realistic storyteller of his generation' Sebastian Faulks

© William Boyd 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

 20th Century Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction
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Critic reviews

A middle-aged film producer, a novelist with writer's block and a glamorous young actress come together to make a Swinging Sixties movie in this jaunty page-turner. But everyone is living a double life. Even names can't be taken on trust. Full of neat phrases and quirkily funny scenes, it's an elating read
What could be more reassuring in troubling times than a new William Boyd novel? Trio is immensely readable, its descriptions full of light and colour, its humour spot on, its mood a perfect mix of frolicsome and melancholy

An absorbing novel about lives spiralling out of control and the drastic measures required to right them
The characters are wonderfully written and I loved escaping to the gossipy world of the film set
Boyd keeps the plot racing along, yet for all the twists, the real delight is in William Boyd's wry portrait of a bygone age . . . Boyd's usual sure touch is evident throughout this tender, gently comic work
One of our best contemporary storytellers. . . Trio embraces comedy, tragedy and redemption. It succeeds impressively because of its dramatic, often sensational, revelations
I am a huge fan of William Boyd and the tender way he writes about the flaws and frailties of his characters. Trio is his best novel in years
Reading William Boyd's Trio is like shrugging on a worn leather jacket on the first brisk morning of autumn: cosy but cool . . . He has enormous fun with the worlds - and egos - of page and screen
Enormous fun . . . Boyd's characters are vibrant, his prose elegant, comedy excellent: the result is a book that's compassionate and compelling
Boyd's writing is as fluent as ever but it's the ideas pulsing beneath the surface that distinguish Trio
All stars
Most relevant
This is not one of Boyd's better books, although modestly entertaining nonetheless.
But is there absolutely no quality control at Audible? No editor or producer of the Audible edition?
Boyd likes to make frequent use of foreign language phrases, street names and music titles. Sadly the effect is ruined by a narrator who hasn't bothered to find out how to pronounce words which are for some reason unfamiliar to her. Instead she takes a wild stab at every foreign language word and gets it horribly, ear bleedingly wrong every single time.
Music performances aren't broadcast with mistakes or wrong notes. Books get proofread. So why publish an Audible product so carelessly littered with schoolgirl howlers?

Spoiled by careless performance

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With all the reviews on this book I was expecting something more.
it is an interesting period in history and, for me I was dissapointed.
Well narrated and I hope others listeners enjoy the book.

I was expecring a little more?

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I have read/listened to many books by William Boyd and agree with many reviewers that he is an excellent author. But Trio left me cold. For one thing I believe Boyd makes a mistake in having 3 separate stories going at the same time, so that it is hard to remember which of the 3 characters this next chapter is all about. Secondly not one of the 3 fits the idea of “a sympathetic character with whom you identify”. None are especially pleasant and frankly I couldn’t care less what fate befell them. The story is well read and the 1968 atmosphere seemed realistic, but that apart this is not a story which will linger in the mind - William
Boyd can do a lot better.

Riview of Trio by John Moore

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it's a William Boyd. Why would the publisher think that someone who pronounces Tours with an S (and 30 other similar instances) is the right person to read? It's like finger nails down a blackboard when the story uses French. Rerecord it quick with someone with appropriate skills. One of the usual pleasures of a Boyd is the switching between French and other cultures.

Reader does not speak French

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found it hard to get into but persevered and glad I did. Thoroughly enjoyed.

very engaging

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