The Dark Circle cover art

The Dark Circle

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Dark Circle

By: Linda Grant
Narrated by: Daniel Coonan
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

World War II is over, and a new decade is beginning, but for an East End teenage brother and sister living on the edge of the law, life has been suspended. Sent away to a tuberculosis sanatorium to learn the way of a patient, they find themselves in the company of army and air force officers, a car salesman, a mysterious German woman and an American merchant seaman. They discover that a cure is tantalisingly just out of reach, and only by inciting wholesale rebellion can freedom be snatched.

©2016 Linda Grant (P)2016 W.F. Howes Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

Listeners also enjoyed...

 The Burning Men cover art

Critic reviews

"Her novel is at once a beautifully detailed character study, a poignant family history and a richly evocative portrait of the late 1970s." ( Independent, on The Clothes on Their Backs)
"A stylish, ambitious novel." ( Glamour, on Upstairs at the Party)
Most relevant  

Any additional comments?

The subject matter- life in a post-war TB sanatorium - may not sound like thrilling material for a historical novel; but in the hands of prize-winning novelist,Linda Grant, the mundane becomes intriguing and rewarding listening.

The lives of several TB patients become intertwined as they 'learn to be patients' and to wait for a new miracle cure for TB, desperately hoping that they will be chosen for the experimental treatment. The lives of these people are all tragic in different ways and as the story progresses they face up to their illness in a variety of ways. There are happy and sad endings, personal triumphs and failures and the formation of relationships between class and cultural divides.

Set against the early days of television and the NHS this is a story of morality, illness, broken promises, love and the lifelong effects of guilt.

The narration was pretty average, hence the 4* rating, and the publisher's blurb went a bit over the top on this one - the all out rebellion of patients was more like a polite protest in my view.

But overall I really enjoyed the story and I learned a lot about the lives and fates of TB sufferers in the 1950s.

Moving, Heartbreaking, Quality Writing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’ve read most of Linda Grant’s books and enjoyed them all but this audiobook is completely marred by the very poor narration. The pronunciation is the worst I’ve ever heard and I was laughing out loud at some of it: antimacassars and Gaggia for example. This reader should not be allowed near any further books, sorry to say!

Poor Narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

If you could sum up The Dark Circle in three words, what would they be?

informing, mulit-layered, deft

What did you like best about this story?

The way the characters develop and change through the story. The breakdown of class and stigma for the residents of the sanatorium.
The writing - it is accessible but literary and touching.

What about Daniel Coonan’s performance did you like?

I found Daniel Coonan's narration excellent. He pitched the characters very well and I would look out for his 'performances' again.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No - too long but also too full of information and like a rich dessert - it needs savouring!

Any additional comments?

This is worth a read/listen - unusual subject matter, well-written and well-read. It is not a pacy thriller but is more meaty and satisfying than a 'beach read' type book.

tuberculosis treatment in a sanatorium

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed this audio book, the narrator is very clear and had the right sort of voice for Kenny and Miriam.
My Mother and Father each had a sister with TB, one recovered and one died. So I was interested to hear about the running of a Sanitorium.
The main characters were very well brought to life.

Very enjoyable

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
First I've heard or read from this author. I'll definitely try more. Fascinating characters and feel of the time.

Fascinating

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Did anyone listen to this before it was published? The reader’s mispronunciation of so many words, and oddly inappropriate stresses is unbelievable. Enthusiasm is not enough. Reading audiobooks (especially for those of us unable to read the book for ourselves) is a difficult art. The producer should at least have ensured a consistent (if wrong!) pronunciation of tuberculosis. Not to mention Edgbaston. Very disappointed.

Wonderful book marred by the reading

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Many common words mispronounced and the wrong emphasis on words. The voice was right but why wasn't the recording checked or edited?

Wonderful story spoiled by very poor reading.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I liked the beginning, the Jewishness and learning about tuberculosis in the post war years. But somehow I just lost interest... didn't see the point of the cruise part....and then felt irritated with it all

I got bored

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Wooden characters, unconvincing plot, and lifeless narration. I really wanted to like this book, and continued, hoping it would pick up ... should have given up long before the end.

Wooden

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.