May 1, 2018
Narrator Henry Goodman self-righteously sputters, resignedly accepts, viciously plots, frantically searches, and plays especially well the Fool--all in the service of expertly, effortlessly voicing the latest in the Bard-updated-by-famous-contemporary-authors "Hogarth Shakespeare" series. In St. Aubyn's (Patrick Melrose series) wickedly compelling, guiltily provocative adaptation, King Lear becomes media mogul octogenarian billionaire Henry Dunbar, who's trapped in a Lakes District sanatorium with alcoholic comedian Peter as his closest company. His two older daughters have seduced Dunbar's personal physician--with sadistic sex, multiple millions, and outright terror--into mentally incapacitating their father and falsely having him committed to make way for their hostile sororal takeover. Dunbar escapes with Peter's help but blindly wanders until he's rescued by youngest daughter Florence, whom he once disinherited for refusing to be bullied into joining his rampaging empire. Goodman's expansive range showcases multigenerational dysfunction to create an aural masterpiece that surely does the good Bard proud. VERDICT Libraries already attuned to the "Hogarth Shakespeare" will undoubtedly choose to continue to grow the series in all formats; others not yet committed might begin by investing in St. Aubyn's irascible, irresistible megalomaniac. ["There is a surreal quality to the heightened violence and depiction of Dunbar's inner turmoil... One needn't know Shakespeare to appreciate the novel, but it helps": Xpress Reviews 9/29/17 review of the Hogarth: Crown hc.]--Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon, Washington, DC
Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
August 21, 2017
In St. Aubyn’s retelling of King Lear, Canadian media mogul Henry Dunbar finds himself drugged and imprisoned in a sanatorium somewhere in deepest, darkest Cumbria by his two pernicious elder daughters and their sycophantic celebrity doctor. The monstrous girls intend a hostile takeover of their father’s empire. (Their younger sister, Florence, has denounced this empire, and Dunbar has, in turn, disinherited her.) After duping his nurses into thinking he’s swallowed his meds, Dunbar regains his wits just enough to escape from the sanatorium with the help of a fellow inmate, an entertaining, drunken fool named Peter. But Peter is caught, and there ensues a race among sisters, friends, and enemies to find Dunbar as the old man stumbles away through the countryside in a storm. St. Aubyn (the Patrick Melrose novels) eliminates or cleverly amalgamates characters from Shakespeare’s original, glossing over the messy political intrigue of the play’s middle parts. He concentrates on Dunbar’s suffering and inner conflict as he confronts his own demise and realizes his mistake in rejecting the love of the principled Florence. The end of this contemporary version is abrupt and unsatisfying, but the tale is the perfect vehicle for what this author does best, which is to expose repellent, privileged people and their hollow dynasties in stellar prose.