Listen up, folks, because I've got a hot audiobook recommendation for you. We're talking about Lisa Halliday's debut novel, Asymmetry. This book has been making waves, being hailed as "extraordinary" by The New York Times, "a brilliant examination of power dynamics in love and war" by The Wall Street Journal, and even called "a literary phenomenon" by The New Yorker. So yeah, it's kind of a big deal.
Now, this audiobook is not your average run-of-the-mill story. It's divided into three distinct and intriguing sections, each with its own unique charm. First up is "Folly," where we meet Alice, a young American editor, and her unexpected romance with the famous and much older writer, Ezra Blazer. Set in the early years of the Iraq War, this tender love story also serves as a coming-of-age tale for an aspiring novelist like Alice.
But hold on, because we're not done yet. We then shift gears to "Madness," where we are introduced to Amar, an Iraqi-American man who finds himself detained by immigration officers on his way to visit his brother in Kurdistan. He spends the last weekend of 2008 stuck in a holding room in Heathrow, and let me tell you, things get intense. These seemingly unrelated stories start to intertwine and overlap, revealing new layers to their connection in an unexpected coda.
Lisa Halliday is a rising literary star, and Asymmetry showcases her talent in a big way. This book is a transgressive roman a clef, a novel of ideas, and a politically engaged work of metafiction. It's got everything you need to keep you hooked until the very end. Plus, the audiobook is narrated by a stellar lineup including Aden Hakimi, Fiona Hardingham, Candace Thaxton, and Arthur Morey, so you know you're in for a treat.
Now, I gotta be real with you. This audiobook has received a mixed reception, with a rating of 2.4 out of 5. But hey, sometimes that just makes a book even more intriguing, right? You'll have to listen in and decide for yourself. Clocking in at 8 hours and 2 minutes, Asymmetry will keep you entertained and make you question the very nature of fiction. So grab your headphones, settle in, and prepare for a literary journey unlike any other. Enjoy!
