Death of an Owl (Audible Audio Edition) Paul Torday Piers Torday Leighton Pugh Orion Publishing Group Books
Download As PDF : Death of an Owl (Audible Audio Edition) Paul Torday Piers Torday Leighton Pugh Orion Publishing Group Books
Brought up in Switzerland, the only son of well-to-do parents, Charles Fryerne is somewhat unprepared for the world he meets when he goes up to Oxford University in the early 1980s. There he meets a fascinating social set, including a stellar young playwright, a student dubbed 'the future leader of the Conservative party' and a mercurial figure with ambitions to become the youngest prime minister since Pitt.
When they leave university, the characters go their separate ways. But as Charles' career as a journalist takes off, he finds himself once more in their orbit and observes firsthand the price of ambition and the inner workings of the political machine. And when the country's future leader accidentally hits an owl on a country road, there are difficult choices to be made....
Death of an Owl is a satire on political expediency and spin from the author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.
Death of an Owl (Audible Audio Edition) Paul Torday Piers Torday Leighton Pugh Orion Publishing Group Books
A delightful book like watching a slow comedic train wreck of a career. An act of love to finish it and done with seamless consistency. An excellent read.Product details
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Death of an Owl (Audible Audio Edition) Paul Torday Piers Torday Leighton Pugh Orion Publishing Group Books Reviews
Charles Fryern is the narrator of this beautifully written book, with excellent characterization. It begins in 1981, just before he goes up to Oxford. The description of his undergraduate years there is nicely atmospheric. Among his fellow undergraduates were Maldwyn Christie would become a Tory MP soon after leaving Oxford. Another, Andrew Landford, was competitive, hugely and ruthlessly ambitious and effortlessly brilliant in all sorts of areas; he would become an investment banker. Charles himself first became a political journalist at a small left-wing paper. (The novel is full of references to domestic and foreign politics at the time). His articles there were known for their honesty which got him into some trouble with his editor, but which made him noticed by Maldwyn and by Andrew. Through Andrew, Charles met Jeremy Cutler, who ran a firm of parliamentary lobbyists, and who persuaded Charles to join the firm. As Russia under Yeltsyn embraced the capitalist system, Andrew saw great opportunities for investing in Russia and getting even richer than he already was. He went to Moscow for months on end, and he asked Charles to look after his girl-friend Caroline while he was away. This will lead to complications, but with no hard feelings on either side.
Fast forward to September 2010. Charles had become reasonably prosperous, and had moved into academia as Professor of Strategic Communications at Newcastle University. Andrew, who had bought a farm house on the Cumbria-Northumberland border, had become a front bench Conservative MP for a North of England constituency and was a member of the parliamentary committee which had just toughened up the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Ambitious as ever, and with his (unnamed) party leader losing his grip, a leadership challenge was on the cards, and Andrew was preparing himself to be the challenger, as was his Oxford contemporary Maldwyn. (This where the book departs from the actual political scene the Conservative party leader in the autumns of 2010, David Cameron, was not in such a weak position that a leadership challenge was remotely on the cards.) Andrew wanted Charles to become one of his special advisors, along with one Matt Dilcombe, who already had a reputation for having turned around an electoral campaign in New Zealand. Andrew, Charles and their wives were driving to Andrew’s farm where Andrew and Charles were going to discuss this, when Andrew’s car hit and wounded a barn owl, a protected species. In a fury, Andrew killed the bird. The next day the dead owl was discovered by one of Andrew’s neighbours, and Andrew said he knew nothing about it. This upset Charles’ sense of honesty, as did Dilcombe’s underhand suggestion about how they could destroy Maldwyn’s chances to become party leader; but Charles continued to work for Andrew. Small thanks he would get for it.
It would be a spoiler to say what happened next, either in regard to the challenge from Maldwyn or to the owl incident. Suffice it to say that owls hovers over the story, not only as a real incident which threatens Andrew’s career, but also in a spooky and gothick way that haunts Charles, his wife and Andrew the book becomes a ghost story with a macabre ending.
I have always enjoyed Paul Torday’s novels and was saddened by his death. This, his last novel, was completed by his son, Piers, and I am sure that his father would have been pleased it made it into print. The book begins in 1981, when Charles Freyne returned to England with his ex-pat parents. Charles comes from a large, but somewhat scattered, family; although they make great efforts to meet up for important events. At one such event, he first meets his distant American cousin, Caroline Woodchester.
Charles is soon at Oxford, where he is invited to join Merlin’s, a rather exclusive dining club, and meets the ‘College Swan,’ Andrew Landford. The nickname comes from Andrew’s cool and collected outward demeanour, where everything he does looks effortless, while he is desperately paddling away beneath the surface… Despite others reservations, Charles likes Andrew, and they meet up again some years later when, to his surprise, Charles finds that Andrew and Caroline are romantically involved.
I really liked the beginning of this book. The relationships between Charles and Andrew and Charles and Caroline worked really well. I was totally engrossed at the rise of Charles and his successful career and, in the background, Andrew’s rise to Deputy Leader of the Opposition and possible next Prime Minister. Of course, though, the whole novel revolves around the death of an owl – as the very title tells us. This takes place years after we meet the characters when Charles and Andrew, plus their respective wives, are going for a weekend at Andrew’s family home.
Throughout the years, Andrew has acted as an advisor for Charles and is renowned for his honesty. However, when Andrew is driving he hits, then kills, an owl. A minor tragedy, you might feel, but in Paul Torday’s hands, this event is cleverly played. Andrew Landford is on a parliamentary committee which recently toughened up the Wildlife and Countryside Act; making it a criminal offence to kill an owl, even by accident. Now, Andrew finds himself in an awkward position and, when a neighbour finds the bird and reports the offence to the police, the situation begins to spiral out of control.
I found the end of this book quite disappointing, especially after a strong start. I know Piers Torday completed the novel, so wonder whether that was why the ending felt so wrong, or whether he followed notes his father had made on where the book was going? Either way, it did feel the novel derailed slightly, but I am still glad that I read it and I enjoyed the beginning and middle enough that I will overlook the weak ending and give Paul Torday both the benefit of the doubt and my thanks for writing so many great novels for us to enjoy. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review. Rated 3.5.
A bit slow to start but intriguing.
Very interesting.
A delightful book like watching a slow comedic train wreck of a career. An act of love to finish it and done with seamless consistency. An excellent read.
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