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The Drowning People [Abridged] [Audiobook] (Audio Cassette)

by Richard Mason (Author), Tony Britton (Reader)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Audio Cassette: 2 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Audiobooks; Abridged edition edition (3 Feb 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141801255
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141801254
  • Product Dimensions: 14 x 10.7 x 1.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,653,911 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

"My wife of more than forty-five years shot herself yesterday afternoon. At least that is what the police assume, and I am playing the part of grieving widower with enthusiasm and success...It was I who killed her." Thus begins The Drowning People, the media-hyped first novel by 20-year-old Oxford undergraduate Richard Mason. Your typical murder mystery it is not, for we are given the identity of the killer--the "who?"--immediately. The puzzle to be solved in this introspective novel is "why?"--why did 70-year-old James Farrell murder his wife Sarah? The answer, as it develops from his own confession, delves nearly 50 years into the past and roams from Prague to London, from France to a remote castle in Cornwall. At its core is an intoxicating love affair set amidst the stifling world of English aristocracy: James at 22, a talented musician and hopeless romantic and Ella Harewood, his wife's cousin, an American heiress to an English title, trapped by her heritage and destiny. A beautifully written exploration of self-absorbed first love and its tragic consequences, Richard Mason's The Drowning People soars beyond the highest of expectations placed upon it. --Shannon Bingham --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Product Description

A debut novel which features James Farell, who murders Sarah, his wife of 30 years, at Seton Castle, her ancestral home. The castle should have passed to her cousin, the mysterious Ella, whom James fell in love with four decades ago. Yet amidst the arrogance of youth, how could they have realised their relationship would become so destructive?

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Customer Reviews

70 Reviews
5 star:
 (38)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (6)
2 star:
 (8)
1 star:
 (14)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (70 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A book that will stay in mind for years to come., 15 May 2007
By SJSmith (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The Drowning People (Paperback)
This was an amazing book to read. I often during reading reflect on the choice of front cover and on this occasion it added to the overall experience. I found the book very moving and one of the few over the years that I would contemplate reading again at some point. I was touched by how sad some of the characters' stories were and how they seemed to have a relevance to moments of my own life and others I know. Not to the extent where I know people who have been in this exact situation but that the emotions experienced echoed other incidents.

At times the prose became a challenge to follow and I lost the thread of the plot - but this did not happen often. I instantly warmed to the characters and found myself forgetting about Sarah, his wife mentioned in the prologue. It was a plot full of twists and turns, designed to fool the reader like a good thriller should. The characters are easy to relate to. I can't say I warmed to all of them but each was unique and brought something special to this tale.

During the novel there were moments where I wanted something pacey to happen (this was the times where I lost my thread) and Richard Mason would simply 'drop' something into the plot that made me sit up and think had I missed something? I hadn't but it was great for refocusing me on what was happening.

Towards the end it became clear who was responsible for what had happened but I still needed to know 'how'. I was captivated right to the very last full stop and I genuinely did not want my reading to end. I found it very difficult to put down and in fact read long into the night to finish it.

A beautiful piece of writing with a poignant title reflecting on each of the characters. A moving front cover that even raises a sad smile as I type this.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars When's His Next Book Out?, 4 Oct 2003
By Ingrid Anderson (London, England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Drowning People (Paperback)
I have just been given The Drowning People by a university friend and, though I don't usually write online reviews, feel compelled to do so in this case.

Mason turns the genre of the murder story upside down by telling us 'who did it' on the first page. The plot, as it unfolds, is the story of 'why' - and it makes compelling reading. I loved the prose, too: finely nuanced, with a real ear for characterisation and moments of memorable insight.

I've been hunting for a new book by this author. Does anyone know when one might appear?

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars All women should read the first half of this book., 22 Jan 2002
By A Customer
This book is a good read in its own right, but why do I say that all women should read it? Well, speaking for myself as a passionate and sensitive yet distinctly red blooded male, the first half of The Drowning People is the single best description EVER of what its like to suffer the neuroses brought on by being heart rendingly in love with a member of the fairer sex.

All too often men are labled as being unthinking, uncaring and ambivalent about relationships in todays "laddish" society. Richard Mason however, has managed to accurately portray quite a few of the emotions and drives that are really at work when a guy falls hopelessly in love, and demonstrates well what slaves we become.

Women - please read this book and take pity on the rest of us.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars "The Drowning People", and "US" - Richard Mason: unbelievable amazing writer

I've now read a few of Richard Masons books: he's an incredible writer. The Drowning People, and his other book, "US" are unbelievably seat gripping reads: I highly... Read more
Published 1 month ago by HR Ryan

1.0 out of 5 stars I am so bored I want to cry
I'm half way through this book and the only reason I was still reading was out of a very mild curiosity about what was going to happen. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Marian Hartright

4.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 stars
I read this book as the monthly choice for an on line book group. On the whole I enjoyed it but I found it a bit slow to get into and was irritated by the frequent references to... Read more
Published on 19 May 2007 by MaryAnne

2.0 out of 5 stars heavy handed, self-indulgent introspection
I was distracted, and irritated, throughout this book by the constant self-pitying, self-indulgent, introspection of the main character, James. Read more
Published on 17 May 2007 by H. Ashford

5.0 out of 5 stars Who is this guy?
I heard that Richard Mason was something like 18 when he wrote this novel, and I wish I hadn't known that while I was reading it. Read more
Published on 10 Oct 2003 by Gordon Sydney

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't judge a book by its cover
I was initially put off this book by its cover. I know that's a sad thing to admit, I know you shouldn't be, but I was. Read more
Published on 7 Oct 2003 by clydewilliams1

5.0 out of 5 stars When's His Next Book Out
I was given The Drowning People by a university friend and read it in two days. Though I don't usually write online reviews, I feel compelled to do so in this case. Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2003 by Ingrid Anderson

2.0 out of 5 stars Tired and emotional
An oddly imagined world of not very appealing or believable characters doing not very believable things. I got very fed up with this over-wrought OTT story. Read more
Published on 7 Mar 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing!
i have been hunting high and low for something else by this author. it was such a simple, yet intensely moving story that im about to read it again even though its less than 12... Read more
Published on 11 April 2002

1.0 out of 5 stars Disapointing. Very disapointing
This year's...(insert name here) don't often work, and I certainly didn't see this as a Secret History. Read more
Published on 26 Jul 2001

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