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Clade

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Clade

By: James Bradley
Narrated by: Ian Bliss
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About this listen

A provocative, urgent audiobook about time, family and how a changing planet might change our lives, from James Bradley, acclaimed author of The Resurrectionist and editor of The Penguin Book of the Ocean.

Compelling, challenging and resilient, over 10 beautifully contained chapters Clade canvasses three generations, from the very near future to late this century. Central to the novel is the family of Adam, a scientist, and his wife, Ellie, an artist. Clade opens with them wanting a child and Adam in a quandary about the wisdom of this.

Their daughter proves to be an elusive little girl and then a troubled teenager, and by now cracks have appeared in her parents' marriage. Their grandson is in turn a troubled boy, but when his character reappears as an adult he's an astronomer, one set to discover something astounding in the universe.

With great skill James Bradley shifts us subtly forward through the decades, through disasters and plagues, miraculous small moments and acts of great courage. Elegant, evocative, understated and thought-provoking, it is the work of a writer in command of the major themes of our time.

©2015 James Bradley (P)2016 Audible, Ltd
Contemporary Fiction Marriage Fiction

Critic Reviews

" Clade opens up to become that rarest of novels: one that stares down its harrowing beginning to find a sense of peace and even of wonder, while being true to itself. All the way through, the prose is achingly beautiful. Bradley's a magnificent writer and it's all on display here: sentences and images float, poetic and sharp as crystal." ( The Saturday Paper)
"James Bradley's lithe and inventive novels defiantly resist the present.... Clade triumphs because Bradley renders his characters graspable...prioritises the human touch.... It is impossible not to be swept along by the sheer pace of the narrative.... [There is] a palpable sense of urgency and consequence that is conveyed subtly, without any heavy-handed didacticism or sententiousness." (Malcolm Forbes, The Australian)

What listeners say about Clade

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Thoughtful and real, just what I wanted

This isn't your normal story, it feels like dipping into memories from the near future.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Hmm, still undecided

I thought I would love this book. And I did. Kind of. It also irritated me quite a bit . Tasters and characters sketched lightly when I wanted more depth - never felt like there was time to get to know the characters, to engage with or care for them. Some of the science also seemed a little sketchy. But. That said there were other things I loved - the lack of melodrama. The honesty of the love stories - parental love, married love, the way we deal with loss of love and loved ones, with grief . So. It only gets 3 stars because in the end I feel strangely unsatisfied

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

0 stars is not an option but this was -1! Refund?

Nothing about this book matches my reading needs - not the storyline, not tbe narrator, nothing. It was so awful I can't believe it was recommended to me based on previous (nearly 500) purchases.

Avoid like cholera!

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Don't like sci-fi in general. Very complicated story line. Overly convoluted scientific explanation that was hard to follow.

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