The Long Room cover art

The Long Room

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The Long Room

By: Francesca Kay
Narrated by: Finlay Robertson
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About this listen

What happens to a man who has his ear pressed to the lives of others but not much life of his own?

When Stephen Donaldson joins The Institute, he anticipates excitement, romance and new status. This becomes a reality when he is assigned a new case: Phoenix, in which he becomes mesmerized by the voice of the target's wife.

Dangerously in love and very lonely, Stephen sets himself up for a vertiginous fall that will forever change his life.

©2016 Francesca Kay (P)2016 W.F. Howes Ltd Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction

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Critic reviews

" The Long Room seems like the sort of novel that might have won the Booker around 1981. It says much about the author's...sensitivity to...human behaviour that it wouldn't look out of place in 2016." ( Independent)
"Kay's atmospheric novel is partly a portrait of damage, and her unworldly protagonist a painfully vulnerable figure - which, as he becomes increasingly reckless, makes for some sweaty-palmed reading.... This skillfully calibrated thriller will keep you guessing." ( Daily Mail)
All stars
Most relevant  
look no further.. the loneliness the dingy rooms... the awfulness of Thatcher Britain are all here.. the lioner caught between social classes... it's elegiac and moving.

Smiley fans

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If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

Someone who enjoys cliches.

Has The Long Room put you off other books in this genre?

Not in this genre, but by this author.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Narration was fine.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Boredom

Any additional comments?

I found this book irritatingly overwritten - the constant trite quotations from Christmas carols and poetry (even though I understand they were part of the character of Stephen) made me annoyed and bored. The story was underwhelming as well - no exciting denouement or confrontation between Stephen and the object of his obsession, Helen. Too long and disappointing.

Overwritten and pretentious

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An uninteresting yarn about a socially inept and gullible young man.
A real disappointment in truth

All got a bit pointless at the end

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