Edward St. Aubyn

'I really did have an empire, you know,' said Dunbar. 'Have I ever told you the story of how it was stolen from me?' Henry Dunbar, the once all-powerful head of a global corporation, is not having a good day. In his dotage he handed over care of the family firm to his two eldest daughters, Abby and Megan. But relations quickly soured, leaving him doubting the wisdom of past decisions... Now imprisoned in a care home in the Lake District with only a demented alcoholic comedian as company, Dunbar starts planning his escape. As he flees into the hills, his family is hot on his heels. But who will find him first, his beloved youngest daughter, Florence, or the tigresses Abby and Megan, so keen to divest him of his estate? Edward St Aubyn is renowned for his masterwork, the five Melrose novels, which dissect with savage and beautiful precision the agonies of family life. His take on King Lear, Shakespeare's most devastating family story, is an excoriating novel for and of our times - an examination of power, money and the value of forgiveness.

Dunbar

Briar's Reviews

I love Shakespeare - anyone who knows me well can tell you that - so when I saw this book I knew I had to read it. But, sadly, it was under whelming and quite the disappointment. Perhaps I put to much pressure on this book before reading it?

I haven't read King Lear yet, but I have been meaning to. I made sure to read over the synopsis and read some of the more "famous" pieces from the story online to get a better feel for it before I picked up this book. I wanted to understand the source material and see what Edward St. Aubyn would do with it. While he got the base of the story and plot correct, it just wasn't as great as it could have been.

Henry Dunbar (our King Lear) the media mogul is our lead, who has three daughters (two of whom seem out of their right mind 99% of the time, I feel like they should have been in the psych ward, personally), is currently in what appears to be a psych ward with a not-so-funny comedian. He plans to escape and prevent the two psychotic daughters from running his company/getting his trust money.

The two psychotic daughters appear to be too evil - like it's obvious, but their reasoning for getting the trust money doesn't seem like a good enough reason to be crazy. I would have liked to see the craziness pulled back a bit to make it more realistic, or interesting. I just found them to pull away from the great story of Henry and Florence. While Florence does seem to be a little too goody-goody, their scenes are really beautiful and seem to be the best part of this entire story.

St. Aubyn uses a lot of Shakespeare quotes - which I loved! They were used in the correct context too. My issue within this, is sometimes it seemed like he was trying to write in iambic pentameter or using language from that era when it just didn't fit in. The first chapter when Henry and his comedian friend are telling stories seem to be edging towards that era, but it just wasn't funny. If anything, it made me more confused and bored. I had to keep re-reading what they were saying just to try to understand what they are doing (and I was an ace at Shakespeare in English, so how could I not understand normal English?...Geez).

My overall review - just read the original. There are some FANTASTIC adaptions out there that can wow your socks off and rival the original, and this one isn't it. It's a great story, and if it entered a contest it could potentially win, but it's not the best I've seen. I gave up a few chapters in just to force myself through the book.

Edward is a great author, and while this might not be his strongest novel I'm sure he is great in other areas. I definitely want to give him another shot in the future with a book that's an original story because I'm sure he could shine there.

Two out of five stars.

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

Judy Hudgins

Henry Dunbar is wealthy and powerful. And he turns all over to his two older daughters. In exchange, they have him committed and put out of the way. Only his youngest daughter seems to care about him and not his power and money. After a dramatic escape from the hospital where he is incarcerated, Henry and Florence, his youngest, find each other. But for how long remains to be seen. 

In a modern retelling of King Lear, St. Aubyn has written a wonderful story. A short read, only 244 pages, it is worth an afternoon in the recliner with a cup of hot coffee while it's cold outside.

While this isn't my favorite Shakespeare story, I will be passing it along to my oldest daughter who loves King Lear.

"I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review."

A reimagining of one of Shakespeare's most well-read tragedies, by the contemporary, critically acclaimed master of domestic drama Henry Dunbar, the once all-powerful head of a global media corporation, is not having a good day. In his dotage he hands over care of the corporation to his two eldest daughters, Abby and Megan, but as relations sour he starts to doubt the wisdom of past decisions. Now imprisoned in Meadowmeade, an upscale sanatorium in rural England, with only a demented alcoholic comedian as company, Dunbar starts planning his escape. As he flees into the hills, his family is hot on his heels. But who will find him first, his beloved youngest daughter, Florence, or the tigresses Abby and Megan, so keen to divest him of his estate? Edward St Aubyn is renowned for his masterwork, the five Melrose novels, which dissect with savage and beautiful precision the agonies of family life. His take on King Lear, Shakespeare's most devastating family story, is an excoriating novel for and of our times - an examination of power, money and the value of forgiveness.

Christine Liu

I found this book underwhelming both as a retelling of King Lear and as its own story. None of the characters were particularly compelling, and I just couldn't manage to muster up any interest in the premise of an aging media mogul lamenting his squandered life while his awful daughters scheme and murder to get their hands on his billions.

Julieta Nardin

'I really did have an empire, you know,' said Dunbar. 'Have I ever told you the story of how it was stolen from me?' Henry Dunbar, the once all-powerful head of a global corporation, is not having a good day. In his dotage he handed over care of the family firm to his two eldest daughters, Abby and Megan. But relations quickly soured, leaving him doubting the wisdom of past decisions... Now imprisoned in a care home in the Lake District with only a demented alcoholic comedian as company, Dunbar starts planning his escape. As he flees into the hills, his family is hot on his heels. But who will find him first, his beloved youngest daughter, Florence, or the tigresses Abby and Megan, so keen to divest him of his estate? Edward St Aubyn is renowned for his masterwork, the five Melrose novels, which dissect with savage and beautiful precision the agonies of family life. Dunbar is a devastating family story and an excoriating novel for and of our times - an examination of power, money and the value of forgiveness.