Dual Timelines Reveal Family Secrets in Nero Prize-Winning Novel
The story, which won the Nero prize for fiction last month, unfolds across two timelines, exploring family secrets and a bitter divorce. The first timeline is set in 2022, when Heron, an older man, receives a terminal cancer diagnosis. Although he appears to be coping well, he unexpectedly climbs into a freezer at his local supermarket and must be coaxed out by staff. Heron prefers routine and solitude but is also practical, enlisting his only daughter, Maggie, to help him sort through his house and paperwork.
Maggie shares a close bond with her father, who raised her alone after her mother, Dawn, left the family—or so Maggie believed. While going through Heron’s papers, Maggie discovers the true reason for her mother’s estrangement. The second timeline takes place in 1982, when a young Dawn falls in love with Hazel, a schoolteacher. During this period, family court judges held negative views on homosexuality, operating under the belief that children would be harmed by being raised by same-sex parents. Consequently, Dawn is separated from her three-year-old daughter Maggie as Heron is granted full custody following their divorce.
Narration and Author’s Note
The audiobook is narrated by actor Miranda Raison, who skillfully handles the book’s multiple voices. Claire Lynch reads the author’s note, in which she explains that her story was inspired by the real-life experiences of lesbian mothers forcibly separated from their children in the 1980s. She also reflects on the subsequent period of change in societal attitudes and legislation, which now allows for “parenting possibilities [to] feature in the imagined futures of LGBTQ+ relationships.”
Available via Vintage Digital, the audiobook runs for 4 hours and 41 minutes.
Further Listening
Even the Good Girls Will Cry
Melissa Auf der Maur, Atlantic Books, 13hr 27min
The former musician looks back on her early life in Montreal, her adventures in 1990s grunge-rock, and her career as a songwriter and solo artist. The audiobook is read by the author.
Homework
Geoff Dyer, Canongate, 10hr 46min
Narrated by actor Leighton Pugh, this memoir recounts coming of age in 1970s England. Set in an end-of-terrace house in Cheltenham, Dyer’s childhood story is low in drama but rich in observation and period detail.
