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The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle
- Author
- Neil Blackmore
- Narrator
- Ben Aldridge
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 30 April 2020
- Run Time
- 8 hours 56 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
Brought to you by Penguin.
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'Seductive, decadent, cruel and utterly thrilling - just like Horace Lavelle himself. This is The Talented Mr Ripley for the twenty-first century.' Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths
'An enjoyable dip into decadence.' Observer
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Brothers Benjamin and Edgar have so far led a quiet life, but change is afoot as they enter a world of glorious sights and People of Quality on their Grand Tour of Europe. But a trunk full of powdered silver wigs and matching suits isn't enough to embed them into high society.
As Edgar clings on to conventions, Benjamin pushes against them. And when the charming, seductive Horace Lavelle promises Benjamin a real adventure, it's only a matter of time before chaos and love ensue.
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'A fizzing, seductive queer romance.' i Paper
'Wildly entertaining and painfully heartbreaking ... Neil Blackmore writes with a fizzy wit that bounds his characters off the page.' Ben Aldridge
© Neil Blackmore 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020
Critics Review
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Most so-called comic novels these days barely raise a smirk. Enter Neil Blackmore to show us all how it's done with his hugely entertaining romp through 18th-century Europe. The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle is a novel for which the word "rollicking" might have been invented ... From the start, Benjamin's voice is a delight ... Blackmore draws clear parallels between the social and financial disparities of the 18th century and today ... The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle is the kind of novel that a reader can sink into, delighting in the merriment of the prose and the eccentricity of the protagonists. But it's not just played for laughs: it's also an insightful study into a period of history often overlooked in fiction.
Irish Times
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Seductive, decadent, cruel and utterly thrilling - just like Horace Lavelle himself. This is The Talented Mr Ripley for the twenty-first century.
Emma Flint, author of 'Little Deaths'
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An original and spirited novel.
The Times
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I gorged myself with wicked glee on Horace Lavelle, and his scandalous joyride through society. Thrillingly cruel, heartbreakingly tender and altogether exhilarating; don't believe a word Lavelle says but relish every one of them.
Zoe Gilbert, author of 'Folk'
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Wildly entertaining and painfully heartbreaking ... a surprisingly timeless journey of self-discovery and the queer experience. Neil Blackmore writes with a fizzy wit that bounds his characters off the page and yet a gentle tenderness that may break your heart.
Ben Aldridge
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A dark and sexy whirl across the Continent on a Grand Tour like no other. Under the spell of the dangerous, delicious Horace Lavelle, every Enlightenment certainty is undone, every taboo is broken and every hypocrisy is wildly and thoroughly trampled.
Alix Christie, author of 'Gutenberg's Apprentice'
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Sexy, smart, funny, dark. Get ready for the intoxicating Mr Lavelle!
Anna Mazzola, author of 'The Story Keeper'
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Blackmore's seductive tale of two brothers who fall in with a mysterious stranger while on a Grand Tour of 18th century Europe fizzes with wit and invention.
i paper
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[A] lively narrative.
Sunday Times
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[A]n enjoyable dip into decadence.
Observer
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Neil Blackmore
- Narrator
- Ben Aldridge
- Duration
- 8 hours 56 minutes
- Release Date
- 30 April 2020
- ISBN
- 9781473577480
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Historical fiction, Historical romance
Synopsis
Brought to you by Penguin.‘Seductive, decadent, cruel and utterly thrilling – just like Horace Lavelle himself. This is The Talented Mr Ripley for the twenty-first century.’ Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths'Wildly entertaining and painfully heartbreaking … Neil Blackmore writes with a fizzy wit that bounds his characters off the page.' Ben Aldridge When Benjamin and Edgar Bowen embark on a Grand Tour of Europe, they are ready to meet People of Quality. They have trunks full of powdered silver wigs and matching suits, a hunger to experience the architectural wonders of Ancient Rome and an ability to quote Voltaire (at length). They will make connections and establish themselves in high society, just as their mother has planned. But it soon becomes apparent that their outfits are not quite the right shade of grey, their smiles are too ready, their appreciation of the arts ridiculous. Class, they learn, is not something that can be studied. Benjamin’s true education begins when he meets Horace Lavelle. Beautiful, charismatic, seductive, Lavelle delights in skewering the pretensions and prejudices of their milieu. He consumes Benjamin’s every thought.Love can transform a person. Can it save them?© Neil Blackmore 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020
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