A Nearly Normal Family
A Novel
فرمت کتاب
audiobook
تاریخ انتشار
2019
نویسنده
Richard Armitageناشر
Macmillan Audioشابک
9781250221230
- اطلاعات
- نقد و بررسی
- دیدگاه کاربران
نقد و بررسی
April 8, 2019
Swedish author Edvardsson make his U.S. debut with an ambitious novel that focuses on the question: What would one do to save one’s child from the consequences of a horrible crime? Rebellious 18-year-old Stella Sandell has a violent temper and a penchant for getting into trouble, reflecting a need to defy her overprotective father, Adam, a Church of Sweden pastor in the town of Lund. When Stella is arrested for the murder of her lover, 33-year-old Christopher Olsen, a criminal law professor’s son with a checkered past, Adam and his lawyer wife, Ulrika, go to great lengths to help their troubled daughter. Edvardsson uses first-person narratives from Adam, Stella, and Ulrika to tell the story of the family, the crime, and the trial. This structure adds complexity and ambiguity, but the three different versions of the events result in too much repetition, dampening the suspense and weakening the denouement. This novel works better as a domestic drama than as a mystery. Agent: Astri Ahlander, Ahlander Agency (Sweden).
It is only fitting that a story about a family told in three parts should involve more than one narrator. Emily Watson, Georgia McGuire, and Richard Armitage complement each other's depictions of a dysfunctional household that is hiding secrets. Adam, a pastor, and Ulrika, a criminal defense lawyer, are stunned to hear that their teen daughter, Stella, has been arrested and accused of murdering a prestigious businessman. Armitage opens the story with a strong interpretation of Adam's views on his family and his faith, emphasizing the strict hold he has on his daughter. Watson and McGuire pair well together, voicing a mother and daughter who are parallel in tone yet befitting and distinctive. These narrators embody a family that is not so normal after all. D.Z. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
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