From the acclaimed author of Corelli’s Mandolin and Birds Without Wings comes an intimate new novel, a love story at once raw and sweetly funny, wry and heartbreakingly sad. He’s Chris: bored, lonely, trapped in a loveless, sexless marriage. In his forties, he’s a stranger inside the youth culture of London in the late 1970s, a stranger to himself on the night he invites a hooker into his car. She’s Roza: Yugoslavian, recently moved to London, the daughter of one of Tito’s partisans. She’s in her twenties but has already lived a life filled with danger, misadventure, romance, and tragedy. And although she’s not a hooker, when she’s propositioned by Chris, she gets into his car anyway. Over the next months Roza tells Chris the stories of her past. She’s a fast-talking, wily Scheherazade, saving her own life by telling it to Chris. And he takes in her tales as if they were oxygen in an otherwise airless world. But is Roza telling the truth? Does Chris hear the stories through the filter of his own need? Does it even matter? This deeply moving novel of their unlikely love–narrated both in the moment and in recollection, each of their voices deftly realized–is also a brilliantly subtle commentary on storytelling: its seductions and powers, and its ultimately unavoidable dangers.
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"A book club book - did not really like this at all, but it was short so I finished it (read it in one day)"
— Janice (4 out of 5 stars)
" Scherezhade retold in a wonderful way- some favorite quotes " I thought by runnlng away I could leave myself behind" p163 " I once heard a joke about Irish Alzeheimers disease where you forget everything but a grudge "p 65 " But now I know that everyone is escaping from themselves" p191 and it does live up to the reviews. "
— Susan, 2/16/2014" Well well... Can't believe it took me so long to read this book. It's not even thick. Maybe I'm just too lazy now that I'm on summer break. But this book really didn't excite me or inspire me, I really didn't look forward to reading it even when I took it from the library. Still, Roza is a wicked, provoking girl. I kinda liked her. "
— Tami, 2/7/2014" Haven't quite decided yet on the review. The story runs smoothly, it is well written, the ending is sad... So I suppose what more could you wish for. "
— Suncan, 1/16/2014" Set in Britain in the 20th century. "
— Maeyu, 1/15/2014" I did enjoy this, but it was a bit of a slog, and by no means his best work I think. "
— Beth, 1/8/2014" This is a short read about a middle-aged man who meets up with woman from the former Yugoslavia and tells him of her stories of her life and how their relationship evolves over time. It was an interesting read with some interesting characters. "
— VWrulesChick, 1/5/2014" Interesting story about two very different people who meet and become friends in London. She has led a very hard life and he likes to listen to her stories. I found it depressing and I didn't really learn anything, but it's a quick-read so I finished it. "
— Jeanne, 11/4/2013" An exercise in narrative style as much as an aching love story. Another very satisfying outing with Louis. "
— Terry, 9/21/2013" Awful fucking book, tortuously bad read and to think this was short liseted for the Costa award, fucking awful and I like some of his other stuff. "
— Alex, 2/15/2013" Older man, younger woman. Rebel on one side, staid person on other. But - staid - with an imagination!! "
— Tony, 10/13/2012" I didn't actually finish this but it was a great disappointment. His central american trilogy is brilliant. "
— Matt, 9/3/2012" Very good story. Older repressed man starts friendship with younger woman who invents much of her life story to keep him interested. This is a fun book and a quick read. "
— Richard, 7/18/2012" i didn't really like this in the end - well, i didn't like it in the middle either because things weren't really happening. definitely don't think it's one of his better books. i just didn't like the fact that you had no idea whether what she was telling was true.... "
— Stephanie, 7/10/2012" In comparison to other books I have read by this author, I was fairly disappointed with this one. "
— Kt, 6/13/2012" only read part "
— Mom/aka:Annette, 3/10/2012" A case study of stupidity in action. Full of bad decisions and stories of bad decisions, illustrating how - despite our ability to make bad decisions - our inability to learn from them is steadfast. "
— Jim, 2/26/2012" Interesting, disjointed and hard to find the line between truth and fiction. A sad, lovely story. "
— CS, 1/6/2012" Not sure what to make of this; don't like or dislike it. It's not my favorite of his work, but it was interesting. "
— SanjeeB, 12/13/2011" An exercise in narrative style as much as an aching love story. Another very satisfying outing with Louis. "
— Terry, 4/22/2011Louis de Bernieres was awarded the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book Eurasia Region in 1991 and 1992, and for Best Book in 1995. He was selected by Granta as one of the twenty Best of Young British Novelists in 1993, and lives in Norfolk, East Anglia.
Sian Thomas, actress and Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator, was nominated for a 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her role in Up for Grabs. She appeared as Amelia Bones in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Sian Thomas, actress and Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator, was nominated for a 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her role in Up for Grabs. She appeared as Amelia Bones in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.