This contemporary British novel is the witty and warm tale written of two couples and the problems of their families. Both men, who were best friends in the '60's, are living with women twenty-five years younger. The production is excellent. The narrator is well-chosen for her quick British accent and her very contemporary voice. She changes her inflection for the different characters and never panders to the traditional, and not always successful, way of portraying men's voices deeply and women's voices shrilly. This is the second book of Trollope's that Bron has read, and it's a very successful interpretation--the results are easy to listen to and bring out the poignancy of the story. E.F. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
Audio Cassette
edition.
Product Description
Julia Hunter and Kate Bain have, it seems, each found true happiness with men old enough to be their fathers. The immaculate Julia organises her husband Hugh, a television personality, with the same efficiency with which she runs their lovely home and cherubic twins. Kate has lived with James Mallow, a retired teacher, for eight years, and although she refuses to marry him she is apparently devoted to him. Hugh and James, lifelong friends and now in their sixties, feel blessed indeed.
But the age difference cannot be ignored forever, and when the eccentric and fiercely independent elderly spinster Miss Beatrice Bachelor enters their lives--after James, absent-mindedly driving without his spectacles through the dark and rainy Oxford streets, knocks her off her bicycle--a chain of events is set off in which many suppressed discontents and frustrations emerge. Kate begins to seek out friends of her own age, while Julia finds her own career blossoming just as her husband's is beginning its natural decline. The tranquil lives of the men and the girls seem shattered as new relationships develop and old anxieties surface, and nothing will ever be quite the same again.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
