According to Queeney (Audible Audio Edition) Beryl Bainbridge Lindsay Duncan HarperCollins Publishers Limited Books
Download As PDF : According to Queeney (Audible Audio Edition) Beryl Bainbridge Lindsay Duncan HarperCollins Publishers Limited Books
A wonderful, immaculately researched novel that brings Dr Johnson, his friends, and his times to life. Beryl Bainbridge's novel is a masterly evocation of the last years of Dr Johnson, arguably Britain's greatest Man of Letters. The time is the 1770s and 1780s and Johnson, having completed his life's major work (he compiled the first ever Dictionary of the English language) is running an increasingly chaotic life. Torn between his strict morality and his undeclared passion for Mrs Thrale, the wife of an old friend, According to Queeney reveals one of Britain's most wonderful characters in all his wit and glory. Above all, though, this is a story of love and friendship and brilliantly narrated by Queeney, Mrs Thrale's daughter, looking back over her life.
According to Queeney (Audible Audio Edition) Beryl Bainbridge Lindsay Duncan HarperCollins Publishers Limited Books
I know this author is highly awarded and I felt very let down by this book. I am trying to finish it, trying, trying, trying.Product details
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According to Queeney (Audible Audio Edition) Beryl Bainbridge Lindsay Duncan HarperCollins Publishers Limited Books Reviews
If you were a close reader of Boswell's "Life of Johnson" & Hester Thrale Piozzi's "Anecdotes of the Late Samuel Johnson", or the later generations of Johnson biography, your imagination might have led you to conclude that the family life which Johnson experienced in the Thrale household was not, er, Leave It To Beaver. Husband Henry died too early, and was a philanderer. Hester gave birth to too many children who died young. (I don't know if child mortality was above average for their time, but it was sad enough as it was.) And the Thrale brewery was in financial difficulties, due to some mad ideas of Henry's. Into this household came a very depressed Samuel Johnson.
Ms Bainbridge has chosen this for the setting for her latest historical novel. One might question the choice so many people treasure Johnson the gregarious talker, that seeing him described in a time of decay, and with the arguments and rivalries of his London household... well, let's just say it may be a realistic picture, but it's not a pretty one for those plunking down $200 for Johnson Toby mugs at eBay.
But Bainbridge has done this very well. Johnson is certainly in the book, and plays a strong role, but the truly interesting story is the arguments between Hester and daughter Queeney, accompanied by the dying days of Henry. Bainbridge should be applauded for what she's done. Most people only know Hester through what Boswell has written (and at that, mostly a claim that she is inaccurate), and that's very unfair. Bainbridge has given Hester additional dimensions, and displayed the sadness of her life.
"Queeney", as she is, is an interesting character, but she is mostly a device, a way of framing Hester's story. It's really not about Queeney so much as her perceptions of all that happened, and her perceptions are balanced by an omniscent narrator.
I'm rather pleased with this - - Bainbridge has taken Hester's anecdotes and diaries, and given us a side of both Hester & Johnson we wouldn't have otherwise have imagined.
This is novel number 16 for Ms. Beryl Bainbridge. In addition to these she has written an additional 4 works. Of the first 15 novels, 5 have been nominated for the prestigious Booker Award, however it has never been granted to her work. If there is another writer who has had one third of their work nominated but not rewarded, I have not come across one. Many other awards have found their way to this tremendous storyteller; I hope the Booker Folks catch up.
"According To Queeney", demonstrates once again the ease with which Ms. Beryl Bainbridge can reach, both back into history and to some of the great players of their times, and not only grasp, but create wonderful new tales. The century of choice this time is the 18th, and she chooses the formidable Samuel Johnson as her focus. This person alone would be plenty for most writers, however she has added actor David Garrick, poet Oliver Goldsmith, novelist Fanny Burney, and artist Joshua Reynolds. Each of these people could fill their own book, and more than one has. The brilliance of this work is that the author manages to bring them all together, give them all they're due, and does so in a fairly brief 216 pages. She does not merely name drop or make a passing reference. She manages to make all of the various players memorable, however brief their words allotted may appear to be. The truth is they read with much greater length.
A young counterpoint to Johnson is the Queeney of the title. An extremely precocious child, she is a favorite of Johnson's as well as a talented young mind he seeks to cultivate. This same Queeney becomes a correspondent for a researcher investigating her memories of her young years, as they relate to her and her mother, the latter of the two who Johnson becomes emotionally attached to. The mother eventually becomes available for marriage, and the events surrounding this opportunity bring the threads of the story together, and then to a close.
This is one of the best books that Ms. Bainbridge has written. I hope the people who nominate and then award The Booker Prize, once again nominate this work, which they make a decision that differs from those in the past. If they do not, when her next work is released, she will then be the 6 times nominated author for the award.
A bit overdone - could have been a short story
Not one of the late author's better works. Try Dressmaker or Sweet William which are much better.
I know this author is highly awarded and I felt very let down by this book. I am trying to finish it, trying, trying, trying.
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