When the World Was Steady
A Novel
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3.8 • 4 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A PEN/Faulkner Award finalist about two sisters’ divergent paths, from the author of The Burning Girl and The Emperor’s Children.
In this highly acclaimed novel, life isn’t all Emmy and Virginia Simpson anticipated. When Emmy’s marriage ends, she flees her home in Sydney to “find herself” on the island of Bali—only to become embroiled with a crew of international misfits and smugglers. Her prim and pious sister Virginia, meanwhile, has never wandered far outside of London. Struggling to find meaning, Virginia follows her aging mother’s advice to vacation on the Isle of Skye. On these two islands halfway around the world, the middle-aged sisters confront the costs of self-knowledge and their destinies with unexpected consequences.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Voice actor Arserio carries listeners along on the gentle flow of Messud's fine prose in this new recording of her 1994 novel. Arserio has a pleasant voice, an unobtrusive British accent, and a knack for smooth transitions from emotion to emotion. Her pacing, pausing, inflections, and emphasis keep listeners involved in the parallel narratives: pious, introverted, dutiful daughter Virginia and her needy and extroverted mother, as they traverse Scotland's Isle of Skye; Virginia's estranged sister Emmy and her bizarre group of misfits and smugglers on the island of Bali; Virginia's friend Angelica and the Indian student Nikhil, who is searching for his sister who eloped with a Scot. Each character expresses a similar type of imbalance, searching simultaneously for childhood innocence and adult freedom. Arserio's smooth handling of the low-key drama of each life "somewhere between fear and triumph" makes this a strong and rewarding listen. A Norton paperback.
