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Foreign Affairs

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Foreign Affairs

By: Alison Lurie
Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
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Summary

Virginia Miner, a 50-something, unmarried tenured professor, is in London to work on her new book about children's folk rhymes. Despite carrying a U.S. passport, Vinnie feels essentially English and rather looks down on her fellow Americans. But in spite of that, she is drawn into a mortifying and oddly satisfying affair with an Oklahoman tourist who dresses more Bronco Billy than Beau Brummel.

Also in London is Vinnie's colleague, Fred Turner, a handsome, flat broke, newly separated, and thoroughly miserable young man trying to focus on his own research. Instead, he is distracted by a beautiful and unpredictable English actress and the world she belongs to. Both American, both abroad, and both achingly lonely, Vinnie and Fred play out their confused alienation and dizzying romantic liaisons in Alison Lurie's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Smartly written, poignant, and witty, Foreign Affairs remains an enduring comic masterpiece.

©2006 Alison Lurie (P)2011 Audible, Inc. Contemporary Contemporary Romance Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Romance Witty Comedy Funny England
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Critic reviews

  • Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 1984
"A splendid comedy, very bright, brilliantly written in a confident and original manner. The best book by one of our finest writers." (Elizabeth Hardwick)
"If you manage to read only a few good novels a year, make this one of them." ( USA Today)
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The book is brilliantly read (by an American) and she performs all the characters well.

Ignore the criticism of the narrator

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I read this book and all AL's books when I was teenager and in my 20s - some time ago! Sometimes old favourites don't stand the test of time but this one did. The narration is clipped and sharp, and this slightly put me off at the start as the voice wasn't how imagined the main character at all - but in fact it was perfect. The story is quite slight but the plot isn't the chief reason for reading books like these. The observational style and witty though often moving content is the point. I loved the tension between two national cultures, England and the USA, seen through the eyes of the Americans in London. A very enjoyable listen.

An old favourite

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Loved this book. The main difficult character becomes a better person under unexpected circumstances. Good ending.

Unexpected ending

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A gentle tale of love and loneliness set in eighties London. It has a timelessness that echos the eighteenth century romances that one of the protagonists researches. Interesting multifaceted characters and beautiful observation of the English character. Beneath it all a convincing romance tale enough to keep you turning the pages in the hope it will all work out well.

Enjoyable and gentle tale of a couple of special relationships

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My first Alison Lurie book and it was well worth discovering for its sly wit and interesting characterisations. Fred and Vinnie are academics working on obscure aspects of literature, now on study leave in London from the same American college. Of different generations and with very different personalities, their lives become intertwined in unexpected ways, discovering much about themselves and the world around them. The novel is an interesting take on cultural differences and how people of all kinds play games with themselves and others without realising it. Unfortunately, the audiobook is rather spoilt by the narration, which is wooden and often gets the nuances completely wrong. Particularly irritating are the mispronunciations of UK names and words. While it makes complete sense to have an American narrator for the book, it is based in London and she could have at least made the effort to get place names and other such words correct.

Interesting book, but poor narration

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