The Widower's Tale

A Novel

By: Julia Glass

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

In a historic farmhouse outside Boston, 70-year-old Percy Darling is settling happily into retirement: Reading novels, watching old movies, and swimming naked in his pond. His routines are disrupted, however, when he is persuaded to let a locally beloved preschool take over his barn. As Percy sees his rural refuge overrun by children, parents, and teachers, he must reexamine the solitary life he has made in the three decades since the sudden death of his wife. No longer can he remain aloof from his community, his two grown daughters, or, to his shock, the precarious joy of falling in love.

One relationship Percy treasures is the bond with his oldest grandchild, Robert, a premed student at Harvard. Robert has long assumed he will follow in the footsteps of his mother, a prominent physician, but he begins to question his ambitions when confronted by a charismatic roommate who preaches - and begins to practice - an extreme form of ecological activism, targeting Boston’s most affluent suburbs. Meanwhile, two other men become fatefully involved with Percy and Robert: Ira, a gay teacher at the preschool, and Celestino, a Guatemalan gardener who works for Percy’s neighbor, each one striving to overcome a sense of personal exile.

Choices made by all four men, as well as by the women around them, collide forcefully on one lovely spring evening, upending everyone’s lives, but none more radically than Percy’s. With equal parts affection and satire, Julia Glass spins a captivating tale about the loyalties, rivalries, and secrets of a very particular family. Yet again, she plumbs the human heart brilliantly, dramatically, and movingly.

©2010 Random House Audio; 2010 Julia Glass

Critic reviews

“Elaborately plotted and luxuriously paced, Glass’s inquisitive, compassionate, funny, and suspenseful saga addresses significant and thorny social issues with emotional veracity, artistic nuance, and a profound perception of the grand interconnectivity of life.” ( Booklist)

beautiful

beautifully written. enjoyed from start to finish! great narration, also. you could feel the different characters.

The Main Character Makes The Book

This book is told from the perspective of four different characters, all men. The main character, a crusty widower, is absolutely marvelous. It’s also where the narrator finds his strongest voice.
Interestingly enough, I felt that Ira, the gay man, what is the least interesting character in the book. This is a little odd, because Julia Glass previously created really compelling portraits of gay men.
I’ve enjoyed all of her novels so far, and this is no exception. Her storytelling, characters, and especially her evoking the landscape and culture of wealthy suburban Massachusetts are vivid and engaging. It’s the kind of intelligent look at other peoples lives that I enjoy.

Taler Made

Julia Glass spins a tale of life in a small New England town that draws the listener into the life of Percy Darling, the eponymous widower, and his attempt to recover from his wife's death thirty years ago. Glass's insights into a senior citizen, his children, extended family, friends and acquaintances make each character real, i.e., flawed but sympathetic. There are neither heroes nor villains, yet, just as we hope we can, the characters muddle though life wiser for the experience.

Loved this book!

Characters are well developed, the plot holds you to the end. Full of compassion and love.

Writing is good enough…

The book is just 7 hours and 6-10 characters too LONG and too MUCH.

Besides that, the writer spends so much time on her political agenda that endearing things, meaningful things, like Celestino’s reaction to seeing his lover again are nearly lost. We KNOW she is rich compared to him!

In fact that agenda is hammered so hard that it, not Percy, nor Robert, is the main character in the book, if you can let go of your peevishness at Percy warbling “Daaaaugh-ter…” down the driveway.

Mr. Ira and his partner were a beautifully written couple as was the emotionally practical Sarah. As I said, the writing in most places was good.

However, re Trudy, I am exhausted with hero doctors/lawyers/politicians/police/PIs who are too busy to breathe from both nostrils because they are using one to sleep. That trope was old with Frank Furillo on Hill Street Blues.

A Certain Kind of Maturity

I throughly enjoyed Julia Glasses "The Widower's Tale," but, then again, I am of a certain age.

Mark Bramhall was the perfect, slow, almost drawling voice of an older man, but far from boring. He made Percy Darling jump to life with his gently sardonic wit, and insightful self deprecations.

The book was a little slow going at times, and its punches were slow to build rather than a constant bombardment of action, but I think it was well worth the listen.

Baffling choice by the Narrator.

I can't understand why the narrator chose to portray the main character in the voice of an extremely elderly man with a stereotypical Boston Brahmin accent. The man is actually 71 years old and specifically mentions that he grew up in a bookish household in Montclair New Jersey. This choice skews the entire narrative and makes the central character almost comically flat. He's not a character, but a caricature, one invented not by the author, but by the Narrator. Too bad.

Great!

great story and fantastic writing; very interesting characters and the narration was perfect loved it

Too Many Ideas

I did love Julia Glass' "Three Junes" so I thought this would be a good choice. The story is entertaining enough, but there are too many threads. You don't get confused, but they don't connect. Each is very interesting, but as I said, they didn't connect enough. The immigrant part, especially.

Narrator Bramhall does a wonderful job of narrating, but I agree with another reviewer that the Brahmin accent of the central character did not fit well. He distinguishes the characters very well.

So this wasn't a bad choice, just not stellar.

Very enjoyable

I thought the story was good and the writing excellent—I loved the way Julia Glass uses words. I hope to read more from her. The narrator was great too!