Reviews - Onze avonden | The StoryGraph

618 reviews for:

Onze avonden

Alan Hollinghurst

3.95 AVERAGE

annagracek's review against another edition

5.0

A perfect story, perfectly told.

jools3303's review against another edition

4.75

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

cyaneve7's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

bionicsarah's review against another edition

4.0

I think this book is rather splendid. I enjoyed this novel which tells the story of Dave win a half Burmese 13-year-old who lives with his mother in in an English market town . He gets a scholarship to the local private school where he boards during term time. We watch as he struggles with the differences between home and school life and the difference between many of the boys who come from rich families and his own more modest upbringing
This book has a timeless feel to it. It’s set in the early 60s and could’ve been written then as well. The description of the young boy’s homosexual feelings are described beautifully. It’s tentative and confused. Haven’t we all felt like that at his age?
Part two when he becomes an actor almost seems another book .
The friendship between his mother and another woman who becomes her business partner in a business making and mending clothes becomes clearer in the second part as a child they are seen as friends but with adult eyes eventually sees that they are lovers.
The offer has a beautiful flowing writing style which feels timeless and classic British in someway There were lots of sections that I particularly enjoyed one in particular stood out for me. This sentence “So a fairly self-sufficient person with a keen love of theatre might be the ideal partner for an actor” describes me precisely!

I love the epilogue the change of narrator is unexpected but tied the book up nicely
I recommend this novel for lovers of primarily relationship based novels with intense detailed character development. If you like in memoriam by Alice Winn then I think you will love this novel
I originally copy of the novel on NetGalley UK. The book is publishing in the UK on the 3rd of October 2024 by Pam McMillan Picadore.
This will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads, and my book blog bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK.