Trio

A Novel

By: William Boyd

Narrated by: Imani Jade Powers

A rollicking novel with a dark undertow, set around three unforgettable individuals and a doomed movie set - from the award-winning, best-selling author of Any Human Heart

A producer. A novelist. An actress. It's summer 1968 - a time of war and assassinations, protests and riots. While the world is reeling, our trio is involved in making a disaster-plagued, Swingin' Sixties British movie in sunny Brighton. All are leading secret lives. As the movie shoot zigs and zags, these layers of secrets become increasingly more untenable. Pressures build inexorably. The FBI and CIA get involved. Someone is going to crack - or maybe they all will. From one of Britain's best loved writers comes an exhilarating, tender novel - by turns hilarious and heartbreaking - that asks the vital questions: What makes life worth living? And what do you do if you find it isn't?

©2021 William Boyd (P)2021 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"A rollicking escape from today’s soul-crushing social and political turmoil.” (Ellen Akins, Washington Post)

“Boyd winks at the idiosyncrasies and vulgarities specific to each character’s métier, and at the precarious process of artistic creation.... This novel proceeds at a brisk clip.... With tart humor.” (The New Yorker)

“The characters are wonderfully written and I loved escaping to the gossipy world of the film set.” (Good Housekeeping, Book of the Month)

Poor Reader for This Author

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading William Boyd's books, and really lookd forward listening to this. but the voice of this reader is so weak, and monotonous I cannot finish. She sounds sort of English, and strives to pronounce in a clipped way but she is American, despite her time in a British drama school, and it is a distraction.

Moviemaking Microcosm

It takes a little while for Boyd's story world to get its grip on you, but then his flawed but deliciously self-aware characters loop around one another in revealing ways. The story's themes are filmmaking, money, writing, and how they exert their peculiar gravities. Brilliantly crafted. Empathically told.

Great book for a book club read

William Boyd is one of my favorite writers and I have read and enjoyed almost all of his books. Trio would be great for a book club because there is so much to discuss. I can easily picture readers talking about various plot directions, and different character's dawning awareness and growth. I think that Boyd is probably a writer's writer and many things he does with plot, subplot and scene-settings seem to be so smooth and effortless and maybe appreciated more than by this average reader. Trio is a big story, and it took me a long time to figure out who the trio was and then in what way they related or connected - again great fodder for a book club.
Imani Jade Powers as narrator does a superb job with the many accents. I will look for more books using this narrator.

Characters on Set

The three main characters in “Trio” are troubled but likeable: an American starlet with love problems, a closeted movie producer with film problems and a blocked novelist with drinking problems. They converge in 1968 on Brighton, England, during the making of a silly but expensive film called “Emily Bracegirdle’s Extremely Useful Ladder to the Moon.” Quirkiness ensues. There are some nice moments and some cool plot twists. Ideas lurk about honesty, loyalty, creativity, suicide and lust, but I never quite believed any of it. Nevertheless, this was a fun listen. The narrator was excellent.

Do not read if depressed!!! Waste of money!!

I searched for the BEST-SELLING book on Amazon and this was the result! Very disappointed in the "Trio" of books!! At times the flow is precise however, the hacked content extinguishers the fire!!