Losing the Light

A Novel

By: Andrea Dunlop

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

A smart, obsessive debut novel about a young woman studying abroad who becomes caught up in a seductive French world - and a complex web of love and lust.

When 30-year-old Brooke Thompson unexpectedly runs into a man from her past, she's plunged headlong into memories she's long tried to forget about the year she spent in France following a disastrous affair with a professor.

As a newly arrived exchange student in the picturesque city of Nantes, young Brooke develops a deep and complicated friendship with Sophie, a fellow American and stunning blonde, whose golden girl façade hides a precarious emotional fragility. Sophie and Brooke soon become inseparable and find themselves intoxicated by their new surroundings - and each other.

But their lives are forever changed when they meet a sly, stylish French student, Veronique, and her impossibly sexy older cousin, Alex. The cousins draw Sophie and Brooke into an irresistible world of art, money, decadence, and ultimately, a disastrous love triangle that consumes them both. And of the two of them, only one will make it home.

©2016 Andrea Dunlop (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Recorded by arrangement with Washington Square Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Right book for right time

My younger self, back when I was studying French, would have enjoyed this book more than my today's self. There really is a right time, with the right book, for the right reader.

The story was okay, a couple of college girls in France studying abroad, learning french. They meet a cousin of a french friend, one of those older guys that come from one of the old established families. Of course our main character Brook falls in love with him, but they become more of a threesome. He's not one to be tied down anyway.

minor irk is with the two friends age: Brooke and Sophie. At one point around Christmas time they are nearly 21, then a couple of weeks later they are referred to as 22. Which is it? And the French guy is "so old" with being a whopping 25. Okay, 5 years at 20 is a difference, but not that much.

Great book for college age who is interested in travel, or studying abroad.

Light, romantic fiction - enjoyable but not deep.

I picked this book up on sale not knowing what to expect. I am not a reader of light, romantic fiction as a general rule, but the description attracted me due to its indication that the story revolves around life abroad and had some level of mystery. (I think they used the descriptors "intrigue" and "web".) If you are expecting mystery don't buy it. There is a twist at the end, but not enough to classify it as mysterious. If you are a lover of contemporary fiction with some humor and some romance then you may find it both interesting and entertaining. This is a quick and easy read which entertained me and never ventured into a place where I was either confused or thinking. The problem is that I like books which force me to be uncomfortable, to think hard and to feel confused. I like books which are deep and intricate rather than entertaining. I like characters who are deeply flawed, in pain, angry, obstinate, stubborn, funny, kind, likable and unlikable.

Cassandra Campbell's narration is beautiful, sweet and subtle. She was the reason for the sale and so now I am looking forward to two other books I bought which she read. I am grateful for that.

Can't finish it

It's painfully obvious every time the narrator inhales to breathe and it's driving me batty. It's so distracting I can't proceed another minute. It might be a good book, I'll never know.