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Title details for Before the Ruins by Victoria Gosling - Available

Before the Ruins

A Novel

by Victoria Gosling
Kristin Atherton
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
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2 of 2 copies available

Victoria Gosling's Before the Ruins is a gripping, multilayered debut in the tradition of Paula Hawkins and Tana French about four friends, an abandoned manor, and one fateful night that will follow them for the rest of their lives
That summer, there were four of them, all on the cusp of adulthood: Andy, her boyfriend Marcus, her best friend Peter, and Em, whiling away the hours in a deserted manor house with a rich, sordid history. Sorely without the ambition and opportunities that her friends have always counted on, Andy finds herself terrified of a future that will take them all down very different paths. Her newfound fears make her reckless, resulting in increasingly destructive behavior. Then David shows up. Magnetic, worldly, and on the run from the police, David presents an irresistible lure for both Andy and Peter, pitting the two lifelong friends against each other for the first time. When the group learns that a diamond necklace, stolen fifty years ago, might still be somewhere on the manor grounds, the Game—half treasure hunt, half friendly deception—begins. But the Game becomes much bigger than the necklace, growing to encompass years of secrets, lies, and, ultimately, one terrible betrayal.
Decades later, Andy and Peter struggle to maintain their friendship, meeting only to drink to the past and trying not to talk about what happened at the manor. But when Peter goes missing, Andy is thrust back to that summer—with all of its frantic energy, yearning, and loss—and the mysteries that still haven't been solved.
A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 12, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781250772435
      • File size: 314911 KB
      • Duration: 10:56:03

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 10, 2020
      British author Gosling’s stellar debut focuses on four childhood friends—Andy, the bold ringleader; her boyfriend, Marcus; her best friend, Peter; and the creative and enterprising Em. In the summer of 1996, the four, all in their late teens, decide to experience “the apocalypse” that Andy’s alcoholic mother believes will happen on June 20 at an abandoned manor house in the Wiltshire countryside that was the scene of a suspicious death and the theft of a priceless diamond necklace in 1936. When they arrive at the manor that day, there’s no apocalypse, but they do encounter a stranger, David, in the drive. He knows the new owners, a wealthy family waiting to remodel it. David, flirtatious and a bit older than the others, is immediately drawn to Andy—and to Peter, creating tension between the two friends. In the days that follow, Em finds a suitable, cheap facsimile of the stolen necklace in a thrift shop, and the friends take turns hiding the fake necklace, which the others must find. Some romantic drama ensues, and in the autumn they all go their separate ways. More than 20 years later, Andy and Peter meet on occasion, but avoid talking about what happened at the manor. Then Peter disappears, and Andy resolves to find him. The gorgeous, poetic prose perfectly complements the suspenseful plot. Gosling is off to a terrific start.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Narrator Kristin Atherton infuses her delivery of this debut novel with moodiness and longing. When Andrea's lifelong friend, Peter, falls off the grid, his mother asks her to find out what happened. The task forces Andy to confront the friendships and tragedy of the defining summer of her youth, dredging up unresolved feelings and conflicted relationships. Atherton distinguishes angsty teen Andy from professional grown-up Andrea. Atherton's pitch-perfect characterizations illuminate each friend's personality, insecurities, bravado, and pain. The story unfolds from Andy's viewpoint, weaving past and present, first love, two murders, a creepy manor house, and rumors of hidden diamonds to create a complex tale that's as much coming-of-age as it is mystery. C.B.L. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      October 1, 2021

      Teenage Andy, her boyfriend Marcus, and her friends Em and Peter spend a lot of time at a deserted manor house avoiding being home and half-heartedly searching for jewels that were supposedly hidden somewhere on the grounds decades earlier. When they encounter another teenager, David, hiding out there, it throws the group's equilibrium out of balance, and one of their number eventually winds up dead in an apparent accident. Years later, Peter has disappeared and when his mother asks Andy to try to track him down, she finds herself revisiting the events of that fateful night. Kristin Atherton ably voices characters of various ages and genders. VERDICT Focusing more on character study and group dynamics than the mysterious death, Gosling's debut will please fans of Tana French's The Secret Place.--Stephanie Klose, Library Journal

      Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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