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Vladimir cover art

Vladimir

By: Julia May Jonas
Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
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Summary

A provocative, razor-sharp, and timely novel about a beloved English professor facing a slew of accusations against her husband from his former students–a situation that becomes more complicated when she herself develops an obsession of her own . . .

When I was a child, I loved old men, and I could tell that they also loved me.

And so we meet our deliciously incisive narrator: a popular English professor whose husband, a charismatic professor at the same small liberal arts college, is under investigation for his inappropriate relationships with his former students. The couple have long had a mutual understanding when it comes to their extramarital pursuits, but with these new allegations, life has become far less comfortable for them both.

And when our unnamed narrator becomes increasingly infatuated with Vladimir, a celebrated, married young novelist who’s just arrived on campus, their tinder-box world comes dangerously close to exploding.

Julia May Jonas takes us into charged territory, where the restrictions of morality bump up against the impulses of the human heart. Darkly funny and moving, Vladimir maps the personal and political minefield of our current moment, exposing the messy contradictions of power and desire.

©2022 Julia May Jonas (P)2022 Macmillan Publishers International Limited

Critic reviews

"If Netflix’s The Chair, Lisa Taddeo’s best seller Three Women, and the most compelling passages of Ottessa Moshfegh’s Death in Her Hands had a love child (just go with me here), it would be this fiction debut. With a title character who’s a sought-after young novelist new to a college faculty, Vladimir leaves the reader with more questions than answers—about sex, and sexual politics—in the most delicious way." (Entertainment Weekly)

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What listeners say about Vladimir

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating narrator.

I love a narrator that I can't quite trust. Make that narrator fascinating, intriguing and at times laugh out loud funny and you are well on the way to having something that people want to read or listen to.

I don't get the fuss about the ending, this wasn't a joke needing a punchline or a whodunnit needing a killer. It is a version of a life that is still ongoing at the end of the book.

Brilliantly read.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Appalling after such high expectations

The storyline sounded great but it is definitely the most disappointing novel I have downloaded this year. Such an inane and pointless story. Do not bother wasting a credit.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Story, Great Narrator

First chapter of two didn't grab me but I'm glad I stuck with it as it really gets going. Narrator is great.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Thought-provoking

The novel covered many important issues, not least the changing attitudes towards academic freedom. I felt, however, that the final section of the book was too contrived and unconvincing.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Controversial yet engrossing

I was intrigued by the protagonist’s thought-provoking perspective, even if I disagreed with her. Men like her professor husband, John, who take advantage of women and engage in casual relationships nonstop, should make it clear to the women from the get-go that they are only interested in casual relationships. They should also communicate the openness of their marriages, as it seems the students he slept with were unaware that John’s wife supported his extramarital affairs. Hopefully, then, some women and students might steer clear.

I wouldn't say I liked the cover of the suggestive book’s cover (presumably Vladimir’s chest).

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

unexpected and lazily pleasant

This is one of those books I believe to be very well done. Even though I cannot don't like some narrative choices towards the end, I think it is very well pieced together.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Thought provoking

The performance was perfect and the book itself was thought provoking and enjoyable. The story made me think about feminism, generational differences, power dynamics, and attraction. It was very well written and the characters were well developed (even if they were not always likeable). I didn’t care much for ending however but overall I would recommend this book.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Patchy campus novel

I'm a big fan of the campus novel, and this had some pertinent and amusing observations. But they tended to be submerged by the often unconvincing ruminations of the main character and her obsession with Vladimir. Not so much an unreliable narrator as a self-indulgent one whose story does not quite convince.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Beautiful writing, unsympathetic characters

As the heading suggests, this is an at times wonderfully written piece that for me was spoilt a little by none of the characters being particularly likeable which also robbed the denouement of its power.

Very good choice of narrator though which ensured an enjoyable listen.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • G.
  • 26-07-22

Well written but basically woke drivel,

This is nothing like as good as I had hoped, wordy, obsessive, self indulgent !

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