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    A Partisan's Daughter: A Novel
    Unavailable
    A Partisan's Daughter: A Novel
    Unavailable
    A Partisan's Daughter: A Novel
    Audiobook5 hours

    A Partisan's Daughter: A Novel

    Written by Louis de Bernieres

    Narrated by Sian Thomas and Jeff Rawle

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From the acclaimed author of Corelli's Mandolin and Birds Without Wings comes an intimate new novel, a love story at once raw and sweetly funny, wry and heartbreakingly sad.

    He's Chris: bored, lonely, trapped in a loveless, sexless marriage. In his forties, he's a stranger inside the youth culture of London in the late 1970s, a stranger to himself on the night he invites a hooker into his car.

    She's Roza: Yugoslavian, recently moved to London, the daughter of one of Tito's partisans. She's in her twenties but has already lived a life filled with danger, misadventure, romance, and tragedy. And although she's not a hooker, when she's propositioned by Chris, she gets into his car anyway.

    Over the next months Roza tells Chris the stories of her past. She's a fast-talking, wily Scheherazade, saving her own life by telling it to Chris. And he takes in her tales as if they were oxygen in an otherwise airless world. But is Roza telling the truth? Does Chris hear the stories through the filter of his own need? Does it even matter?

    This deeply moving novel of their unlikely love-narrated both in the moment and in recollection, each of their voices deftly realized-is also a brilliantly subtle commentary on storytelling: its seductions and powers, and its ultimately unavoidable dangers.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateOct 7, 2008
    ISBN9781415954447
    Unavailable
    A Partisan's Daughter: A Novel
    Author

    Louis de Bernieres

    Louis de Bernières, who lives in Norfolk, published his first novel in 1990 and was selected by Granta magazine as one of the twenty Best of Young British Novelists in 1993. Since then he has become well known internationally as a writer, with his novel Captain Corelli's Mandolin winning the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best Novel in 1994. As well as writing, de Bernières plays the flute, mandolin and guitar. He was born in London in 1954.

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    Reviews for A Partisan's Daughter

    3/5

    169 ratings16 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Perhaps not quite up to some of his work but definitely still enjoyable.
    • 3/5
      I wonder if we are supposed to think that the stories she tells are ok, somehow, because we know that she lies in part. A strange and troubling love story.
    • 3/5
      An interesting summary of post-war Yugoslav history, delivered via a plot which makes the mistake of assuming that the reader finds the characters interesting. Unfortunately, the gradual revelations offered by the plot are either predictable or opaque, making it very hard to care. Well put together, but lacking a certain something.
    • 5/5
      Set in England in the 1970's with alternating chapters and viewpoints we are drawn into the life of middle-aged Chris - bored, lonely and never eager to go home to the "Great White Loaf" and Roza a young Yugoslav immigrant whose father was one of Tito's partisans. Roza is a masterful storyteller who has seized more than her share of moments in life and struggles with love. Sometimes told in the present sometimes in recollection with historical and political touch points a celebration of ordinary people and the sadness that comes from one wrong choice. I loved this book, read it in one sitting and will be checking out his other books soon!
    • 4/5
      This isn’t so much a story as the recalling of someone telling a story – all very arm’s length. For this reason I found it hard to get into, and I was constantly reminded that as much as anything else it was a way of proving that Louis de Bernieres’ encyclopaedic knowledge of international history and culture now extends to the Balkans.Once I reached the middle third things speeded up, and I found it more enjoyable. Books by this author are always full of intelligence with frequent humorous sideswipes (I particularly liked the Yugoslavian horse named “Russia” ‘because it was very big, a complete liability and always going where it wasn’t wanted’). He is also bold in his choice of subject matters and the plot of this visits some very dark places.Not my favourite by him, but still good and relatively accessible compared to his other work.
    • 3/5
      Hugely disappointing! Not sure Louis de Bernieres spent an awful lot of time on this one......
    • 3/5
      This is the story of Chris and Roza set in the late 1970s. Chris is a 40-something sales rep, stuck in a humdrum life and a loveless marriage. One evening he decides to pick up a prostitute, something he has never done before. That same evening Roza decides to dress up as a prostitute and streetwalk, something she has never done before. She gets into his car and he drives her home and that's as far as they go. Chris can't keep away from Roza though and pays many visits to her home. Here Roza tells him her life stories about growing up in fractious Yugoslavia, her relationships with other men, particularly her father, and how she ends up in London. Whilst this is happening Chris develops an unbearable lust for her and she becomes fond of him.The novel is set in London with many references to Cold War Yugoslavia. I didn't learn that much about the country reading this book apart from getting a sense of the simmering tensions between different ethnic groups, the precursor to the more recent war. Much of the book actually deals with Roza's sexual awakening and is somewhat coarse and shocking. A few hints are dropped that Roza's stories might be a fabrication but they are compelling to the reader as much as they are to Chris. The book ends with us being none the wiser as to the motives of Roza in her developing relationship with Chris and whether or not she has been telling the truth.Chris is a very weak character. He contributes little to the story and has lived a dull, predictable life. His greatest weakness is that he seems to take no responsibilty for himself. He seems to have no respect for his wife as an individual, referring to her as the 'Great White Loaf'. His wife has obviously given up trying but it takes two to make a marriage work. Chris feels taken for granted but it doesn't occur to him that his wife might feel the same. Presumably somebody is cleaning their home, shopping for food, ironing his shirts and cooking his meals, not to mention raising a teenage daughter - never the easiest job - and yet he describes her as lazy. At the end of the book Chris shows his true colours - he blames the alcohol for his unforgiveable behaviour towards Roza but I think that it's typical of him.In the end this book doesn't seem to achieve an awful lot. I've heard that the character of the Bob Dylan Upstairs is based on de Bernieres himself. Perhaps this is the book he has always wanted to write. Unfortunately it is not the book I have always wanted to read.
    • 3/5
      An irritating little book. It never becomes clear why Roza behaves the way she does. Why does the author go to great length to tell us that the story is set in 1978 - 1979, while this never becomes functional. Oddly enough, Roza refers to the Yugoslavian war (1991 - 1995) at the beginning of Chapter 15. This is strange, because Chris seems the main omniscient narrator. At the end of the book, Chris tells us that he "is now very old", suggesting that Chris relates the story some time after 1995. While chapters are narrated from different perspectives, Roza's and Chris' respectively, there is no other chapter that refers to Roza's existence after 1995.Tension between ethnic groups in Yugoslavia is a motiv in the book, but it never becomes clear to what purpose.The ending is melodramatic, and one wonders how Chris could go on believing that Roza is a prostitute, after their apparent acquaintance developing over a peroid of about 6 - 8 months. As Roza's stories seem to have no purpose, the story becomes tedious and one tends to lose interest.The first book I read of Louis De Bernieres was "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", which has tremendous scope and I enjoyed immensely. I then turned to his earlier novels, which I did not like at all. In magic realism nothing is real, and therefore all is meaningless, in my opinion. "Red Dog" was clearly a failure, and this book, is not much of a success either. It seems Mr. De Bernieres is trying to find a new tune, but cannot equal his earlier success.
    • 4/5
      A partisan's daughter is a rather sad love story. Chris is a 40-something Londoner who feels that life has passed him by. His marriage has become loveless and sexless. He has lost his ideals, his hope for an adventurous life. Then, one day, he runs into Roza, a young Yugoslav immigrant, who poses as a prostitute. But who is Roza really? She is a great storyteller and in the course of the next few months she tells Chris her life story. But is this her real life story, or does she make it up, inventing shocking scenes just to see how Chris will react? The book has two narrators, Chris and Roza. From the Roza chapters we find that she is making up stories, however, we never come to know if it's all made up or just partially. Actually it was quite unclear to me why De Bernieres used Roza as a second (direct) narrator. It seems weird that Roza is telling her side of the story, looking backwards, but suddenly disappears as a narrator towards the end of the book. All in all, I didn't like this book as much as Captain Corelli and the Latin American trilogy. The double narrators bothered me, and the dramatic story of Roza is undermined by the suggestion that it isn't true anyway. (Well, in the end this is fiction of course, so why be bothered?) However, De Bernieres is a very good storyteller, who captures you by his style and his sense of humour, by his quick short scenes. So it was a pleasant read after all.
    • 3/5
      Much darker and less full of hope than his previous novels. Both main characters are so self destructive. Am I right in thinking one of the minor characters is linked to Captain Corelli and Birds without Wings?
    • 3/5
      This is the first book by De Bernieres I have read and from his reputation it sadly wasnt what I expected. Chris is a medical salesman who appears to be having a midlife crisis, he becomes obsessed with a younger immigrant woman called Roza, who encourages him to visit her. These visits consist of Roza telling some almost unbelievable stories of her past and result in Chris becoming all the more obsessed with her. Chris is a sad character and the result of his relationship with mysterious Roza is more unanswered questions. Despite the focus on Roza and her history, I completed the book doubting the truth of her stories and feeling like I knew little about her present. I personally felt this book would have been improved if Chris had been the only narrator, rather than jumping between both Chris and Roza. This would have added to the mystery of Roza and gave a broader understanding of Chris's feelings.
    • 4/5
      A rather restrained 40 yr old male with an unsatisfactory marriage meets a 30 yr old woman from the former Yugoslavia who has fled to London some years previously to escape her family complications and society there. She is living in a squat in Thatcher's London and he visits her frequently to hear her stories of her colourful life. [Not everything is necessarily true.] He is besotted with her but never does anything about it physically - partly because of the nature of her stories. We are presented with reactions from both characters separately which provides us with rather more knowledge than either of them have. The stories seem to act as therapy for the woman and although the man is intrigued by the stories he also acts as the sympathetic ear. It ultimately ends sadly - but understandably when knowing their shortcomings and past complications. Very easy to read and absorbing.I feel this does succeed precisely because it is limited by its structure and setting.
    • 4/5
      the story of an older man, in his 40's unhappy with his life, by change meets a younger woman in her 20's. they developt a relationship and become very close. she tells him about her life, a very interesting life, he wants, what a suprise to have sex with her. when they meet he thought she was a sex worker, while he does want sex he also deveopts very deep feelings for her. she also becomes very close to him. the plot is very simple what moves the story is both the writing but the characters it is like you are the thrid person in the room listening to them talk
    • 3/5
      Set in the late 1970's about a man going through a mid life crisis who attempts to pick up a woman on a street corner assuming she is a prostitute although as he makes clear he is not a man who has approached a prostitute before. The story is narrated by these two characters, Chris and Roza. He becomes fascinated by this woman from Yugoslavia and she invites him as a friend to come back to apartment. He returns on a regular basis and begins to fall in love and lust as she tells him about her life since she was a child and the proud daughter of a Partisan fighter in the second world war. This was an ok slim read but not one to stay in the thoughts for long.
    • 3/5
      This book was not as strong as some of the other Louis de Bernieres books I've read. From the very start it is hinted that there will be a disastrous ending, which never really lives up to your expectations. The tales of the daughter's life do not encourage immense sympathy as you are never sure whether she is telling the truth or not.
    • 3/5
      A quirky and sad little tale, rather like Scheherezade.