A very unique narrator
You’ll really need to stretch your imagination wide open for this one! Trudy is living in the marital home where she once lived with her husband, John, but now she’s living with his brother, Claude. She’s 9-months pregnant with John’s baby. But the love of money must have its way and Trudy and Claude scheme a plot to commit murder. But there’s a witness to this murder plot – Trudy’s unborn baby, who narrates this whole book.
Now a baby doesn’t know much about this world, right? Well, this baby has been absorbing all of the podcasts and audio books and TV news shows that his mother has been listening to and has gained great insight into the world in which he’s about to be born. He’s really amazingly educated being such a young age! However, there’s only so much this little baby can know, not being able to see what’s going on and falling asleep during vital conversations, so he’s a bit of an unreliable narrator but he does the best he can.
This is a very witty, and certainly totally unique, retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. I usually steer clear of retellings but I’m very glad I had a chance to read this one. Mr. McEwan has really pulled out all stops with his latest.
I won this book in a Doubleday giveaway.
