The Red House: A Novel

by Mark Haddon Narrated by Maxwell Caulfield

Overview

An dazzlingly inventive novel about modern family, from the author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

The set-up of Mark Haddon's brilliant new novel is simple: Richard, a wealthy doctor, invites his estranged sister Angela and her family to join his for a week at a vacation home in the English countryside. Richard has just re-married and inherited a willful stepdaughter in the process; Angela has a feckless husband and three children who sometimes seem alien to her. The stage is set for seven days of resentment and guilt, a staple of family gatherings the world over.

But because of Haddon's extraordinary narrative technique, the stories of these eight people are anything but simple. Told through the alternating viewpoints of each character, The Red House becomes a symphony of long-held grudges, fading dreams and rising hopes, tightly-guarded secrets and illicit desires, all adding up to a portrait of contemporary family life that is bittersweet, comic, and deeply felt. As we come to know each character they become profoundly real to us. We understand them, even as we come to realize they will never fully understand each other, which is the tragicomedy of every family.

The Red House is a literary tour-de-force that illuminates the puzzle of family in a profoundly empathetic manner -- a novel sure to entrance the millions of readers of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Editorial Reviews

JUNE 2012 - AudioFile

Mark Haddon’s new book follows eight family members—none of whom like one another much—on a week-long vacation in the English countryside. Maxwell Caulfield takes on the challenge of narrating this novel, with its shifting points of view. Caulfield does not significantly differentiate the voices of the different characters, which makes for a challenging listening experience as it’s not always immediately clear from Haddon’s text which characters are part of any given conversation. Even though Caulfield’s narration is strong otherwise, Haddon’s characters are basically unlikable. In addition to being a story that many listeners will find off-putting, THE RED HOUSE simply does not translate well to audio. J.K.L. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2012 - AudioFile

Mark Haddon’s new book follows eight family members—none of whom like one another much—on a week-long vacation in the English countryside. Maxwell Caulfield takes on the challenge of narrating this novel, with its shifting points of view. Caulfield does not significantly differentiate the voices of the different characters, which makes for a challenging listening experience as it’s not always immediately clear from Haddon’s text which characters are part of any given conversation. Even though Caulfield’s narration is strong otherwise, Haddon’s characters are basically unlikable. In addition to being a story that many listeners will find off-putting, THE RED HOUSE simply does not translate well to audio. J.K.L. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171936341
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	06/12/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged

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