In a Good Light
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In a Good Light
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Narrated by:
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Imogen Church
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By:
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Clare Chambers
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
From the highly-acclaimed author of Small Pleasures - longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2021.
Without even noticing, Esther Fairchild has become locked into routine.
Living with her adored brother, Christian, she divides her time between illustrating children's books, nightly shifts as a waitress, weekly visits to her father and fortnightly meetings with her married lover.
Then one day she encounters a face in the crowd which jolts her out of her mundane existence and makes her question both her life and the past that has helped to shape it. Memories she had long chosen to forget begin to resurface. Memories of an eccentric childhood in a large and shabby house, where the children were left to fend for themselves within the loose boundaries of their parents' unorthodox values. A chaotic existence peopled by a rich collection of feckless 'guests'.
And into this shambolic world came Donovan - regularly deposited by his unreliable mother - and Penny, Christian's girlfriend and Esther's idol. Until tragedy struck and shattered their joint existence. But now, it seems, their lives are about to become intertwined once more....
©2004 Clare Chambers (P)2021 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about In a Good Light
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 03-11-21
Great
I loved the story (a coming of age tale) but was less keen on the narrator who sounded slightly hesitant all the way through.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 02-01-22
The trees, not the forest
Like its narrator and central character Esther, a young woman who illustrates books for children with beautiful, minutely detailed drawings, this is a book at its best when its focus is tightly held on life’s small moments. Such moments are so often charming, winningly observed and full of life.
However, the book’s forest of a plot, which functions to shoehorn its trees of momentary felicity into line with contrived coincidences, seems both overlong and diminishing.
The warm, amused reading is just what is needed to tip the balance and, above reservations notwithstanding, makes listening to the audio version a pleasure.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dorothy Cook
- 18-10-21
One to stick with - it's worth it
Wasn't convinced halfway through. Like others I questioned the length/relevance of the childhood 'flashback'. And then THUD, it hits you like a ton of bricks. As ever from Clare Chambers, masterful portraits, a deep dive into others' lives and touching subtleties woven through.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dee
- 09-04-22
so very good
at first i wasn't getting into ... narration seemed over the top BUT , having always liked Imogen Church as a narrator, i persevered and wow! it all came together, this was funny, nostalgic, sensitive and yes basically a love story but the characters, well the narration as i said previously, fell into place with the humour and the terrific voices given to the friends we meet, was just so right. So don't give up like i nearly did, this is one of my favourites to date and I've listened to a lot and seldom review. really sad i finished 😢
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 30-04-22
Lovely story
I really enjoyed this book, a lovely story that tied up all the loose ends at the end. I did not like the narrator however, if felt she over did the dramatisation a lot of the time. Do recommend the book tho
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- sara burman
- 22-11-22
Brilliant
The characters.
The narrative.
The language.
The insight.
The story.
The performance.
All brilliant!
More…..
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 09-11-22
Each book gets better
I listened to every Claire Chambers book back to back.
Each one I thought, I won't enjoy as much as the last. I was wrong. She writes so well about the complexities of life, the twists and turns. Each character is brought to life through the narration. Though not always perfectly performed, I thoroughly enjoyed them. I struggle with PTSD and fibromyalgia. These books eased me into a feeling of calm 😌
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MS CLARE M PENNY
- 27-01-22
Terrific Book!
Truly enjoyed the story however the narrator, who was excellent at characterisation, was not particularly skilled at reading ‘the in between’ passages. All in all a good read.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- MRS
- 17-06-22
awful
i listened up to chaper 16 and just couldn't persevere with it any longer.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Louise ROONEY
- 25-03-24
Drawn out
it seemed to lose itself in lots of unnecessary minutiae and the middle section was so drawn out. Not completely unpleasant but not her best. The narrator has a strange way of completing sentences so that it all sounds the same, a sort of intonation of expectation of some big revelation that never arrives.
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