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My Phantoms

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My Phantoms

By: Gwendoline Riley
Narrated by: Helen McAlpine
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Summary

Helen Grant is a mystery to her daughter. An extrovert with few friends who has sought intimacy in the wrong places; a twice-divorced mother-of-two now living alone surrounded by her memories, Helen (known to her acquaintances as 'Hen') has always haunted Bridget.

Now, Bridget is an academic in her forties. She sees Helen once a year, and considers the problem to be contained. As she looks back on their tumultuous relationship - the performances and small deceptions - she tries to reckon with the cruelties inflicted on both sides. But when Helen makes it clear that she wants more, it seems an old struggle will have to be replayed.

From the prize-winning author of First Love, My Phantoms is a bold, heart-stopping portrayal of a failed familial bond, which brings humour, subtlety and new life to the difficult terrain of mothers and daughters.

©2021 Gwendoline Riley (P)2021 Gwendoline Riley Contemporary Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Haunted Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt
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searingly honest writing with a narrator of incredible skill, I was transported into the story in a way so few seem to manage on here.

best reading I've heard yet

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misunderstanding and sometimes outright dislike. I'm not sure whether I'm glad I listened or whether I'd rather not have heard any of the bitterness. Maybe it's too clever for me but I can't say I enjoyed it

what a bitter story

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This is a short book and at first seems quite straightforward but is actually really sophisticated. The story is narrated by a woman mainly about her dysfunctional realtionship with her mother but it's really clever as it exposes a lot about the narrator herself which isn't expressed explicitly. Brilliant writing. The narration was spot on too. I very rarely listen to books more than once but I will definitely listen to this again.

Brilliant in its apparent simplicity

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Best avoid if feeling depressed.
This is not a feel good book.
It is a brilliant description of 'challenging' personalities, family relationships and how fairy tale endings are fairy tales.

The desire to see one's mother happy, or at least content, resonates.

There is love here, I think, for no matter how brittle the relationships between the mother and her daughters they did not quite break.

The father not so much...

Brilliant but

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While the story tells of a daughter’s familial struggles, predominantly with her mother, I could not help but feel derision for the cat-loving, vegan with a supercilious view on the world. Well read by the narrator but not a book I could enjoy as much as I wanted.

I Wanted To Like This But…

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