Alec

A Novel

By: William di Canzio

Narrated by: John Sackville

"Sackville imbues this character-driven historical drama with warmth, comfort, and a sense of optimism, especially during the story's darkest moments." —AudioFile Magazine

William di Canzio’s Alec, inspired by Maurice, E. M. Forster’s secret novel of a happy same-sex love affair, tells the story of Alec Scudder, the gamekeeper Maurice Hall falls in love with in Forster’s classic, published only after the author's death.

Di Canzio follows their story past the end of Maurice to the front lines of battle in World War I and beyond. Forster, who tried to write an epilogue about the future of his characters, was stymied by the radical change that the Great War brought to their world. With the hindsight of a century, di Canzio imagines a future for them and a past for Alec—a young villager possessed of remarkable passion and self-knowledge.

Alec continues Forster’s project of telling stories that are part of “a great unrecorded history.” Di Canzio’s debut novel is a love story of epic proportions, at once classic and boldly new.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

©2021 William di Canzio (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

SHATTERING

William di Canzio has taken a good book and expanded it into a masterpiece. Alec is romantic, transgressive in the best sense of the word, emotionally shattering and movingly narrated.

A worthy companion to Maurice

Thoroughly enjoyed this. By turns romantic, sensual and brutal, and enhanced by a brilliant performance from the narrator. Only criticism is it could have been longer.

Well done

A refreshing story of hope through perseverance in constantly challenging times.

This is an enjoyable and well-written book.

Loved every minute.

Amazingly beautiful and human story of love, trust, acceptance, and strength. Thoroughly enjoyable and heartwarming. The talented narration brought the story to life and is a work of art in itself.

Bravo

I’ve adored Forster’s Maurice for many years, and I was delighted to discover that di Canzio had written a novel to succeed Forster’s original. It is a creative imagining of Alec and Maurice’s future, and I wish the story kept going. Overall, the story was a treat, the audio performance was great, and I look forward to more works by di Canzio.

Beautiful novel

I absolutely loved it. I cried, I laughed, and lived with the heroes. Can’t imagine a better sequel to the original story.

A brilliant twin to “Maurice”

The writer captures the imagination with brilliant writing of all aspects of the story. Background, action, inner dialogue, and sex. Finally, someone who can write a sex scene that is actually worth reading and is a necessary and seamless part of the story.

Snuggle up for a nice ride.

Stunning

‘Alec’ is a beautiful story, exquisitely written, and narrated and performed with great care and finesse. I highly recommend it.

Masterful

This is what storytelling is all about. This is the stuff, right here. Absolutely brilliant.

Marvelous continuation of Maurice

This novel is a wonderful continuation of the E.M. Forster original. The writing seems to belong to the same narrative. I was very pleased. Highly recommended.