The Year Without Summer
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The Year Without Summer
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Narrated by:
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Genevieve Swallow
About this listen
In 1815, a supervolcanic eruption led to the extraordinary 'Year Without Summer' in 1816: a massive climate disruption causing famine, poverty and riots. Snow fell in August. Lives, both ordinary and privileged, changed forever.
1815, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia Mount Tambora explodes in a cataclysmic eruption, killing thousands. Sent to investigate, ship surgeon Henry Hogg can barely believe his eyes. Once a paradise, the island is now solid ash, the surrounding sea turned to stone. But worse is yet to come: as the ash cloud rises and covers the sun, the seasons will fail.
1816. In Switzerland, Mary Shelley finds dark inspiration. Confined inside by the unseasonable weather, thousands of famine refugees stream past her door. In Vermont, preacher Charles Whitlock begs his followers to keep faith as drought dries their wells and their livestock starve. In Britain, the ambitious and lovesick painter John Constable struggles to reconcile the idyllic England he paints with the misery that surrounds him. In the Fens, farm labourer Sarah Hobbs has had enough of going hungry while the farmers flaunt their wealth. And Hope Peter, returned from Napoleonic war, finds his family home demolished and a fence gone up in its place. He flees to London, where he falls in with a group of revolutionaries who speak of a better life, whatever the cost. As desperation sets in, Britain becomes racked with riots - rebellion is in the air.
For fans of David Mitchell and Andrew Miller, The Year Without Summer tells the story of a fateful year when temperatures fell and the summer failed to arrive. It is a story of the books written, the art made; of the journeys taken, of the love longed for and the lives lost. Six separate lives, connected only by an event many thousands of miles away. Few had heard of Tambora - but none could escape its effects.
©2020 Guinevere Glasfurd (P)2020 Hodder & Stoughton LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Year Without Summer
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Venta
- 10-09-20
A selection of stories
I liked the story of the Littleport Riots and I found it quite moving. The other stories were a bit of a plod and I found myself waiting for the Fenland story to come round again.
I was aware of the Mt Tambora eruption and I should have read a historical account which would have been more enlightening
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Rachel Redford
- 02-03-20
a brave book well worth listening to
In her postscript, the author says this a story for NOW, linking the climatic disasters to our current climate changes. An interesting idea!
Glasfurd's research is evident (but well incorporated) in these stories of 6 people experiencing the catastrophic fall-out following the volcanic eruption of Tambora in Indonesia in 1815. Before listening to this, you need to get these 6 characters straight: Mary Shelley; Charles, Vermont preacher; John Constable artist; Sarah farm labourer; Peter soldier returning from the Napoleonic wars; Henry ship's surgeon sent to investigate the eruption. Without this outline, you're likely to be as confused as I was - no doubt the jumps from one to the other is clearer on the printed page. I would have preferred to hear each story in turn through to its end rather than this constant irritating flitting from one to another just as I'd got immersed in one.
It's probably possible to enjoy these stories even if you have no knowledge of the events (the eruption; the lives, relationships & work of Mary Shelley & Constable; the hunger riots in England etc) but I think it's better if you do. There is plenty of fine writing and descriptive detail - I liked Constable stippling pewter, grey and white to paint the wind - and moods, dialogues and very different lives are brought vitally alive and real. The narrator is very good with a wide range of voices and accents.
One element spoiled the whole for me, and that was the author choosing to put f*** and f****** into the mouths of virtually every character from every social class at every opportunity. I don't object on grounds of offence, but of anachronism. Glasfurd has gone to great lengths to create an authentic slice of history with considerable success, but if her research had covered the history of swearing , I'm sure she'd have found that f*** was used vulgarly as a verb to mean to fornicate at this time, but was not used as a catch-all expletive on every occasion. If she'd used it sparingly, it might have slipped by, but it is used again and again and again. I do wonder at the author's rationale behind this glaring anachronism.
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2 people found this helpful