We That Are Left

Name: We That Are Left
Brand: Tantor Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Clare Clark
ISBN: 9781494588021

Author: Clare Clark

Narrator: Shaun Grindell

Unabridged: 16 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/20/2015

Categories: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Synopsis

It is 1910. Jessica and Phyllis Melville have grown up at Ellinghurst, their family estate. A headstrong beauty, Jessica longs for London—the glitter and glamor of debutante life— while bookish Phyllis dreams in vain of attending the university. Neither girl questions that it is Theo, their adored brother, whom their mother loves best. Theo eclipses everyone around him, including the diffident Oskar Grunewald, who is a frequent visitor to Ellinghurst. Fascinated by the house but alternately tormented and ignored by the Melville children, Oskar seeks refuge in Ellinghurst's enormous library.

Over the next decade, as the Great War devastates and reshapes their world, the sisters come of age in a country unrecognizable from the idylls of their youth. As they struggle to forge new paths in a world that no longer plays by the old rules, Oskar's life becomes entwined with theirs once again, in ways that will change all of their futures forever.

About Clare Clark

Clare Clark is the award-winning author of several highly acclaimed historical novels, including The Great Stink; The Nature of Monsters; Savage Lands, which was longlisted for the Orange Prize; and Beautiful Lies. A graduate of Trinity College, Cambridge, she is a regular contributor to the Guardian's literary pages, reviewing both fiction and nonfiction, and writes for several other broadsheet newspapers, both in the U.K. and the U.S. Clare works as a tutor in the Creative Writing MA program at City University. She lives in London with her husband and two children.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Regina

I initially was a bit lost when commencing We That Are Lost, as the prologue contained a lot of people and names therefore making it hard to get a grip off. However as the book progresses all of those people and names fall into place. The novel predominately revolves around the Melville sisters and f......more

Goodreads review by Laurie

Really wonderful prose; the book is 100 pages too long. Unfortunate ending. We are given hints at the truth that is never revealed about Phyllis. Oscar’s time at Oxford is wasted pages, as is the ongoing saga of Jessica and Gerald. The writing is the strongest part of this book.......more

Goodreads review by switterbug (Betsey)

Houses can make fine story centerpieces, as seen in The Hundred-Year House, by Rebecca Makkai. In Makkai's novel, the house casts an evocative history and long shadow over the narrative, and is woven deeply into the story. In Clare Clark's ambitious but largely anodyne novel, the house is Ellinghurs......more

Goodreads review by Susan

This was highly recommended to me, but didn't turn out to be satisfying. An interesting period, WW I. A crumbling English estate. A brilliant man at Cambridge, a bright woman with a passion for archaeology. A silly younger sister with her head full of dancing and parties. Well written. And yet, it d......more