Tigers in Red Weather

A Novel

By: Liza Klaussmann

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Nick and her cousin, Helena, have grown up sharing sultry summer heat, sunbleached boat docks, and midnight gin parties on Martha's Vineyard in a glorious old family estate known as Tiger House. In the days following the end of the Second World War, the world seems to offer itself up, and the two women are on the cusp of their 'real lives': Helena is off to Hollywood and a new marriage, while Nick is heading for a reunion with her own young husband, Hughes, about to return from the war.

Soon the gilt begins to crack. Helena's husband is not the man he seemed to be, and Hughes has returned from the war distant, his inner light curtained over. On the brink of the 1960s, back at Tiger House, Nick and Helena -- with their children, Daisy and Ed -- try to recapture that sense of possibility. But when Daisy and Ed discover the victim of a brutal murder, the intrusion of violence causes everything to unravel. The members of the family spin out of their prescribed orbits, secrets come to light, and nothing about their lives will ever be the same.

Brilliantly told from five points of view, with a magical elegance and suspenseful dark longing, Tigers in Red Weather is an unforgettable debut novel from a writer of extraordinary insight and accomplishment.

Critic reviews

"With sultry prose and a sure hand for suspense, Liza Klaussmann expertly weaves a vivid tale of glamour and despair, fidelity and betrayal, secrets and abandon. Tigers in Red Weather will have you furiously postponing all human interaction until its gripping finale."—- Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Disillusionment -- 'Life Without Imagination'

What a great name (and theme) for a novel -- the W. Stevens poem wherein "the houses are haunted by white nightgowns. None are green, or purple with green rings, or yellow...or blue...only here and there an old sailor, drunk and asleep in his boots, catches tigers in red weather." Facing the disillusion of the dreams and yearnings of our youth--the grand plans we made and better things we hoped for, then growing up and finding only plain old ordinary "white nightgowns." Poor little rich girls Nick and Helena come of age.

This novel feels almost like an Eugene O'Neill or Tennessee Williams play, heavy with the claustrophobia of generational vacation homes and extended families, the strain of carrying on rituals and pretending everything is on track while the elephant-in-the-room-tension becomes like a stranglehold. A fairly entertaining plot is tucked in, and some characters drawn well enough to hold your interest; some cliche, some predictability, but used well and in the spirit of the whole novel. Good summer beach read if you don't want something cute and happy-go-lucky; definitely not a feel good book, but I thought it was wicked fun. (Weird Cousin Ed is super creepy.) Kellgren ususally raises my hackles with her tendency to exclaim (!) everything and misinterpret, but she actually did a fairly good job with this one. Good writing by Klaussmann that shows some real staying power rather than a one season, one hit wonder.

Waste of Time --

What would have made Tigers in Red Weather better?

The narrator grated on me. I think I might have stayed with this book if I had read it rather than listened to it. Oftentimes, I cant' get into a book until mid-point (a la Gone Girl) and then the story grabs me and I'm glad that I persevered. This audiobook was a complete waste of time. "14", by Peter Clunes was next on the list, so I pulled the plug, so to speak, to move on to that book and I'm soooooo glad I did.From now on I will make note of the narrator and if it is Katherine Kellgren, I will not buy the book.

Would you ever listen to anything by Liza Klaussmann again?

Yes.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She was attempting a haughty East Coast upper-class snobbiness in her tone of voice and it was very fake to me -- like fingernails on a chalkboard. Like very bad acting. I could not concentrate on the story line, because I could not get past the narrating.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Tigers in Red Weather?

I didn't listen to enough of the book to answer this intelligently.

Not good

Badly written trash. Her book about the Murphys was terrific. She can write well....why didn't she in this case?
Adolescent diary not beguiling. No sympathy on my part for any of the subjects.

Not one of my favorites, rather slow, and predictable.
Sister recommended it, she really liked it.

Kept My Interest

Where does Tigers in Red Weather rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's among the top ten for sure, this book kept me listening. I just had to know what was going to happen next. I loved hearing each characters side of an incident.

What three words best describe Katherine Kellgren’s performance?

She was good but not enough change to her voice for the different characters. Sometimes I didn't realize there was a different person talking.