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Becoming Strangers (Paperback)

by Louise Dean (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
Price: £11.69 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Becoming Strangers + This Human Season + The Idea of Love
Price For All Three: £23.66

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  • This item: Becoming Strangers by Louise Dean

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Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Scribner (2 Feb 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0743239997
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743239998
  • Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 816,525 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

HELEN DUNMORE

'Maturity, poise, a certain distinctive humour. I enjoyed BECOMING STRANGERS greatly. It is a very accomplished piece of writing'


PUBLISHING NEWS

'A stunningly good novel'
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Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Becoming Strangers
73% buy the item featured on this page:
Becoming Strangers 3.7 out of 5 stars (10)
£11.69
The Idea of Love
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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, unexpected and compelling...I want more!, 1 Mar 2004
It's hard to ignore a book when the first lines read "Before he had cancer he'd been bored by life. Since he'd taken dying seriously, he'd been busy". It's an opening to rank with Tolstoy's "All happy families resemble one another.." and Jane Austen's "It's a truth generally acknowledged...."

I found this story utterly compelling and unexpected. Compelling because I couldn't put the thing down and unexpected because I didn't think I'd care so much about 2 outwardly mundane couples at the beginning of the end of their lives together. Even more unexpected because just as you think you know where you are, Dean drops a startling and, once you've recovered from the shock, extemely funny line. All of which forces you to reconsider your reactions to both the tale unfolding on the page and the story of your own life.

The synopsis does no favours to this brilliant novel: in following the story of the elderly George and Dorothy from Bexhill-on-Sea and middle-aged Annemieke and Jan from Belgium on their once in a life time holiday in the Carribbean, you will reflect on your own life and that of your parents and grandparents with a new and searching light.

Read it, and then tell your friends. Is there more from where this came from?

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18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Memories Locked In Each Other, 9 Sep 2004
By Eric Anderson (London, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Louise Dean's first novel focuses on the stories of two couples who travel to a holiday resort in the Caribbean as a treat from their children. None of the four individuals particularly want to go on this holiday, but they feel obligated to because both couples realise that it might be the last one that they have together. Both couples are struggling to deal with illness. A middle-aged Belgian couple named Annemieke and Jan go on this holiday with the knowledge that Jan is suffering from a terminal cancer. The older English couple named George and Dorothy realise that Dorothy is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease. Despite the depressing idea of couples going on a final holiday while facing their own mortality may seem terribly depressing, Dean is able to suffuse the narrative with comic touches that gives it a great deal of humanity and makes it a rewarding, moving read.

This thirty-four year old writer has unusual insight into the complex way a long term marriage can develop a significance beyond the mere routines which come with the bonding of two people. In some ways the individual identity of each person becomes lost because the memories from each of their lives are inextricably linked to this other person. What the characters in this novel are struggling to decide is if they will lose their own sense of themselves if they leave their partner. George tries to meticulously record his past by writing a memoir and Annemieke attempts to completely rediscover a self worth in anonymous sexual encounters. Dean's writing is incredibly enjoyable to read in its richly detailed short chapters and startlingly emotional scenes. At the same time it is able to explore some very complex ideas about the nature of relationships and personality in original, meaningful ways. This is a unique and beautiful first novel.

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26 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Unengaging, 11 April 2005
By A Customer
I have rarely read a book with a more promising opening line that was let down this fiercly by the remainder of the story. Not one of the characters was likeable and the dialogue between the couples often so bitter that I really struggle to understand why so many reviewers have described this tale as uplifting - if anything it left me depressed. If you believe that only the ugly side of human beings makes a novel true this might be a great book to read for you. It also offers a great deal to reading groups who are looking for a discussion starter. There are many story lines in this book, some of which might have been really interesting to follow through, but the author tries to tell too much at once. There are so many sub-stories and supportive characters she is trying to flesh out that I ended up not feeling that any of the characters had any depths at all.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Dorothy goes for a walk
Jan, a Belgian businessman who is dying of cancer, and his wife, Annemeike, are taking a Caribbean holiday, arranged by their two grown sons. Read more
Published 2 months ago by E. Shaw

2.0 out of 5 stars Why?
I am now unable to recall exactly why this title was on my to read list, but something about it must have originally attracted me. Read more
Published 3 months ago by LindyLouMac

3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting idea, well written and developed
I thought the central theme was quite interesting, exploring relationships that have developed over time but now have to deal with the pending passing away of one of the partners... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Tushar

2.0 out of 5 stars Depressing view of human nature
This book should have been so much better than it was. As an idea for a book it works. Two couples go away on what is likely to be their last holiday as a couple. Read more
Published on 10 April 2006 by emma-ann

5.0 out of 5 stars The Memories Locked In Each Other
Louise Dean's first novel focuses on the stories of two couples who travel to a holiday resort in the Caribbean as a treat from their children. Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2005 by Eric Anderson

5.0 out of 5 stars The Memories Locked In Each Other
Louise Dean's first novel focuses on the stories of two couples who travel to a holiday resort in the Caribbean as a treat from their children. Read more
Published on 30 Sep 2004 by Eric Anderson

5.0 out of 5 stars A sensitive, humourous, unexpected read
Becoming Strangers was a page-turner from the start. Having gripped the attention from the opening lines, it then surprised with a subtle mix of humour and understanding. Read more
Published on 9 Mar 2004

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