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The Colony

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The Colony

By: Audrey Magee
Narrated by: Stephen Hogan
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About this listen

He handed the easel to the boatman, reaching down the pier wall towards the sea.

Mr Lloyd has decided to travel to the island by boat without engine - the authentic experience.

Unbeknownst to him, Mr Masson will also soon be arriving for the summer. Both will strive to encapsulate the truth of this place - one in his paintings, the other with his faithful rendition of its speech, the language he hopes to preserve.

But the people who live here on this rock - three miles wide and half-a-mile long - have their own views on what is being recorded, what is being taken and what is given in return. Over the summer each of the women and men in the household this French and Englishman join is forced to question what they value and what they desire. At the end of the summer, as the visitors head home, there will be a reckoning.

'The Colony is a vivid and memorable book about art, land and language, love and sex, youth and age. Big ideas tread lightly through Audrey Magee's strong prose.' Sarah Moss

The Colony is brimming with ideas about identity and soul; a canny, challenging, and never less than engrossing read.' Lisa McInerney

©2022 Audrey Magee (P)2022 Faber & Faber Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Sea Adventures Adventure Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Inspiring Thought-Provoking Tear-jerking Summer

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Critic reviews

"The Colony is a vivid and memorable book about art, land and language, love and sex, youth and age. Big ideas tread lightly through Audrey Magee’s strong prose." (Sarah Moss)

"The Colony is brimming with ideas about identity and soul; a canny, challenging, and never less than engrossing read." (Lisa McInerney)
All stars
Most relevant  
It's about relationships between people and relationships between countries.
A French language PhD student and an English artist spend the summer with local people on a remote Irish island. The locals are in need of the revenue, but the visitors are in danger of destroying the old way of life that they have come to observe.
I got the feeling this was a deeper story than I was appreciating. Worth sticking with it, things come together in the last hour or so.
Long listed for the Booker Prize 2022. I'm not sure it will get as far as actually winning the Booker Prize, but it really is an excellent read.

Surprisingly Good

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Cannot praise this book enough. From the exceptional story to the amazing narrator who made it jump off the page this is by far my number one book of the year. I found myself trying not to rush through it so I could savour it longer. Superb writing, although personally I found the ending too flat.

My favourite book of 2022

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This is a really outstanding listen, the narrator is also superb. It’s several stories interwoven together and is really a wonderful experience to listen to. It manages to blend some harsh and, at times shocking depictions of violence with the most wonderful painting of life on a small island.

Astonishing and transfixing

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A hauntingly intense listen. Magee vividly captures the island’s harsh beauty as well as the complexity of the inhabitants’ longings, fears and desires. Loved it.

Wonderfully lyrical and atmospheric

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What a listen. Truly wonderful. I highly recommend this book. It was my first book by, Audrey Magee, I’m now going to find another.

Amazing

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Loved it! The narrator was superb. So easy to listen to.
The imagery, for me, was exquisitely portrayed. I loved all of the characters in the colony. The events on the mainland were shocking and a stark reminder of the Troubles.
The Colony had its own inner conflicts, prejudices and the desire for each person's interpretation of a way of life. Many aspects have been covered, which enlighten and provoke further and deeper thought.

Thought provoking

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This is an excellent book and one of the best readings of an audio book I have ever listened to. But there is one critical flaw: the pronunciation of the Irish language in places is just flat wrong. Given that the language is a central theme of the book (and one of the things that I loved most about it) this is a critical flaw in an otherwise excellent production. (Though will not be noticed by those unfamiliar with the language and will not detract from their experience.)

Excellent but with one critical flaw

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I got lost on the cliffs and in the cottages described in this vivid and enthralling book. I so longed for the news to be good, the story, set during ‘the troubles’ in Ireland to be different but the facts kept getting in the way of hope. Worth a read, very poignant.

Beautifully written

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Haunting, brilliant, disturbing, lyrical - this jumps from
The page (or your ears) into your consciousness like a gale force wind. Engulfing your senses. A spectacular book. If your bored with reading - try this - it will remind you of the magic of storytelling.

A must listen

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Clever, intelligent, and beautifully crafted novel..
I listened over just two days, it was difficult not to continue with it whilst I worked!

Brilliant Book!

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