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August Blue

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August Blue

By: Deborah Levy
Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The mesmerising novel from the twice Booker-shortlisted author of Hot Milk and Swimming Home.

'If she was my double and I was hers, was it true that she was knowing, I was unknowing, she was sane, I was crazy, she was wise, I was foolish? That summer, the air was electric between us as we transmitted our feelings to each other across three countries.'

Elsa M. Anderson is a classical piano virtuoso. In a flea market in Athens, she watches an enigmatic woman buy two mechanical dancing horses. Is it possible that the woman who is so enchanted with the horses is her living double? Is she also looking for reasons to live?

Chasing their doubles across Europe, the two women grapple with their preconceived conceptions of the world and each other, culminating in a final encounter in a fateful summer rainstorm.

A vivid portrait of a long-held identity coming apart, August Blue expands our understanding of the ways in which we seek to find ourselves in others and create ourselves anew.

©2023 Deborah Levy (P)2023 Penguin Audio Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological Fiction

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Critic reviews

A master of the contemporary psychological novel (Darian Leader)
All stars
Most relevant  
Superb writing, excellent narration, a memorable novel doesn't have to be long. Everything is vivid without a single word too many. Loved Hot Milk, and Swimming Home, and this one is right along side them.

Top Notch

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Another interesting novel by Deborah Levy …. well produced by Audible with a convincing reader.
I though the end of the book spoke volumes about freedom and beginnings.

Superb ….

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If you love Levy's work you will love this book. Fabulously engaging. Don't miss it.

August Blue by Deborah Levy

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I always enjoy Levy's work and this was no different. Her words and observations always manage to be evocative and luxurious. Her characters are whimsical, but believable enough to engage with.

Beautiful, but pretentious.

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Painfully pretentious, precious and without intellectual, emotional or musical depth. Never read her before, never will again.

Painful

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Read Max Frisch ‘Stiller’ for a good exploration of identity. This was shallow and a but disappointing but I liked the narrator more than others seem to have done.

Forgettable

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