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The Melody

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The Melody

By: Jim Crace
Narrated by: Tim Bentinck
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About this listen

FROM THE MAN BOOKER SHORTLISTED AUTHOR OF HARVEST

'The Melody takes its place among his finest [novels] . . . an ecological fable for modern times' Guardian
'Seductively atmospheric . . . deeply moving' Daily Mail
'Brilliant' Observer

Alfred Busi, famed in his town for his music and songs, is mourning the recent death of his wife and quietly living out his days in the large villa he has always called home. Then one night Busi is attacked by a creature he disturbs as it raids the contents of his larder. Busi is convinced that what assaulted him was no animal, but a child, ‘innocent and wild’, and his words fan the flames of old rumour – of an ancient race of people living in the bosk surrounding the town – and new controversy: the town’s paupers, the feral wastrels at its edges, must be dealt with. Once and for all.

Lyrical and warm, intimate and epic, The Melody by Jim Crace tracks the few days that will see Busi and the town he loves altered irrevocably. This is a story about grief and ageing, about reputation and the loss of it, about love and music and the peculiar way myth seeps into real life. And it is a political novel too – a rallying cry to protect those we persecute.

©Jim Crace 2017 (P)2017 Macmillan Digital Audio Family Life Fiction Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural
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Very very dull

I love the work of Jim Crace and listened carefully to this book - beautifully read - for SEVEN HOURS before finally giving up on it. In that time, beyond two glimpses of a feral child, absolutely nothing of interest has happened. The same scenes of life in the main character's house are sketched again and again. I expected subtlety and wasnt looking for a thriller but after seven hours I abandoned any hope that the last seventy minutes would make it worthwhile. Sadly disappointing.

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