Rules of Engagement

By: Anita Brookner

Narrated by: Joanna David

"I have come to believe that there can be no adequate preparation for the sadness that comes at the end, the sheer regret that one's life is finished, that one's failures remain indelible and one's successes illusory."

Elizabeth and Betsy are old school friends. Born in 1948 and unready for the sixties, they had high hopes of the lives they would lead, even though their circumstances were so different. When they meet again in their thirties, Elizabeth, married to the safe, older Digby, is relieving the boredom of a cosy but childless marriage with an affair. Betsy seems to have found real romance in Paris. Are their lives taking off, or are they just making more of the wrong choices without even realising it?

©2004 Anita Brookner (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Harsh Reader

Joanna David, the reader, gives the main character (who narrates the book) a very harsh, strident voice. As a result, any sympathy for this primary character is lacking, and we don't feel the nuances of her behavior or thoughts. Anita Brookner has a unique way of presenting interiority, and that gets lost in this unfortunately narrow presentation.

Brookner's London life

Although she was not an early starter, as a novelist Anita Brookner was prolific and highly skilled. She also created and explored a territory in a manner uniquely her own. Her books are London books, through and through. The changing of the seasons, long walks through streets and parks (all her protagonists seek the solace and escape provided by thinking and walking), small flats and sumptuous houses, the V&A, the river and all else that a solitary mind might consider. This time, in this familiar setting, a female narrator tells her own story and that of a childhood girl friend when, as adults, their fates intersect again due to a man. Read with insight and furnished with subtle character creation, this superb reading by Joanna David does Brookner full justice. Highly recommended.