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Foreign Affairs

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Foreign Affairs

By: Alison Lurie
Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
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About this listen

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

Unexpected ending

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Such a wonderful book - Lurie’s best I think. It’s funny, heart warming, lushly descriptive in places and has two cautionary tales at its centre - both hilarious and also full of sadness and pain. Highly recommended.

A great comic novel with a sad heart

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Foreign Affairs is a masterpiece- witty, clever, and so full of brilliantly extended metaphor- and could have been read better - in combination it is overall the best audiobook I have listened to

The best campus/academia novel ever

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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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Excellent listen, I loved the characters, so well constructed & believable, I very much enjoyed the story set in 80’s London, dated but enjoyably nostalgic, very funny all the way through & very well performed by the narrator.

Funny, nostalgic & very well written

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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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Would you consider the audio edition of Foreign Affairs to be better than the print version?

Yes, I think this audio book is better than the print version. The delivery is excellent & it's laugh-out-loud funny. It's an incredibly perceptive tale of Anglo-American perceptions, relationships, misunderstanding, acutely observed & somewhat lovingly ridiculed. I can't recommend it highly enough. A wonderful discovery.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Chuck Mumsen was my favourite character. Larger than life, big-hearted, sexy & very funny. The telling of him is funny & in the end .... (no, no spoiler!! ... ) He's just great, I liked him. Really shows up the condescension & pretensions of us (Little) Englanders ...

Which character – as performed by Jennifer Van Dyck – was your favourite?

She performs all characters incredibly well. I think her performance of Vinnie is just brilliant. (Professor Miner.) The performances really come alive. I enjoyed them so much! Very well done & - thank God! NOT TOO FAST! So glad she took her time, & even allowed the proper pauses. She doesn't rush it like so many actors. Chuck's daughter was also brilliantly done. & the swearing schoolgirl!! ....

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Love in a wet climate ?? ...

Any additional comments?

I can't recommend this highly enough. Absolutely loved it! Great author, & this book won the Pulitzer Prize! ....

LAUGH OUT LOUD FUNNY

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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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What disappointed you about Foreign Affairs?

the way it was read -- very distracting. The intonation almost never matched the expression described in the text -- e.g. what was supposed to be said "in a flat voice" was read breathily; all the "Hmm", "Mmm", "Umm"s etc, sounded exactly the same; accents were questionable; etc. Every time I began to believe in the narrative I was distracted by the non-credibility of the delivery.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Foreign Affairs?

When Chuck decided not to be disappointed about his ancestors.

Would you be willing to try another one of Jennifer Van Dyck’s performances?

No.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The stories about people learning and changing.

Any additional comments?

It was uncomfortable and tiring to be in the presence of mean little Vinnie Miner for so long.

redemption of a mean little person?

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