Under the Influence

A Novel

De: Joyce Maynard

Narrado por: Joyce Maynard

Duración: 9 h y 13 m

Resumen del Editor

The New York Times best-selling author of Labor Day and After Her returns with a poignant story about the true meaning - and the true price - of friendship.

Drinking cost Helen her marriage and custody of her seven-year-old son, Ollie. Once an aspiring art photographer, she now makes ends meet by taking portraits of schoolchildren and working for a caterer. Recovering from her addiction, she spends lonely evenings checking out profiles on an online dating site. Weekend visits with her son are awkward. He's drifting away from her fast.

When she meets Ava and Swift Havilland, the vulnerable Helen is instantly enchanted. Wealthy, connected philanthropists, they have their own charity devoted to rescuing dogs. Their home is filled with fabulous friends, edgy art, and dazzling parties.

Then Helen meets Elliott, a kind, quiet accountant who offers loyalty and love with none of her newfound friends' fireworks. To Swift and Ava, he's boring. But even worse than that, he's unimpressed by them.

As Helen increasingly falls under the Havillands' influence - running errands, doing random chores, questioning her relationship with Elliott - Ava and Swift hold out the most seductive gift: their influence and help to regain custody of her son. But the debt Helen owes them is about to come due.

Ollie witnesses an accident involving Swift, his grown son, and the daughter of the Havillands' housekeeper. With her young son's future in the balance, Helen must choose between the truth and the friends who have given her everything.

©2016 Joyce Maynard (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Engrossing contemporary tale

I enjoyed every page of this contemporary story about friendship and romance, and I always found it hard to stop listening. The storyline was intriguing, and the characters were well-developed. If you're looking for an intelligent tale about relationships today, this is it! Would love to have lunch with this author.

Wonderful author

I discovered this author by having interest in the premise of the main character, a recovering alcoholic. The characters struggles were relatable but I feel readers who are not in recovery will enjoy the book as much as I did. I'm ordering another Joyce( Maynard book today!

A talented writer becomes a pawn for the media

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

The story seems obligated to include the talking points of the liberal media.
Rich people must be bad and corrupt. Poor people are better. The best people
are the illegals who come from Central America.

If you’ve listened to books by Joyce Maynard before, how does this one compare?

I have read and enjoyed books by Joyce Maynard before, but never felt that she
had to suck up to the liberal media to have her book published.

Which character – as performed by Joyce Maynard – was your favorite?

Joyce Maynard did an excellent job of narrating her own novel.

Did Under the Influence inspire you to do anything?

I remember Maynard's essay in the New York Times Magazine section when she was in college. I will be very hesitant to read her other novels because it may be more propaganda from the liberal press.

Any additional comments?

Your novels would be much better when you don't have to push a liberal agenda.

Excellent

First off - great storyteller and writer. The story has everything to keep your interest. Intrigue, romance and human unpredictability. Loved this book and will seek out others from this author.

Parents make mistakes, hers was a big one...

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I liked this book but still had a few issues with it. It got really slow in places. I found myself wanting to skip to the end of a chapter just so that the story could actually move on to a different subject.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Most interesting was how Helen grew as a mother and as a person. She was so unsure of herself when she met Ava and Swift. By the time the "Lake Tahoe incident" was behind them, she was much stronger, sure of herself and was on the road to being an excellent mother. The least interesting would be too much detail. I know! How can a book have too much detail?! The more the better, right? For me in this book, it sometimes would drag on and on. I usually have favourite characters in a book. This one for me didn't really have any stand out awesome characters other than Estella, the Havilands maid. Scenes toward the end with her had me choked up. She was probably the one really good person in the book. Elliot was also a great person and I didn't have anything against him, he was just bland. Good-hearted but bland. My least favourite characters were Swift and his "I'm above the law and nothing can touch me" son, Cooper. He isn't in the book a whole lot, but he's a scoundrel.

Have you listened to any of Joyce Maynard’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No but I've read To Die For.

Was Under the Influence worth the listening time?

I'd say yes.

Any additional comments?

Some of the characters (most of them actually) are extremely irritating. Helen is a good mother who made a really stupid mistake. She drove her 5 year son to the hospital after drinking a couple of bottles of wine. My first thought was, what an idiot, why not call an ambulance to get them both to the ER? It's not against the law for a single mom to have a few drinks after she's put her child to bed, but driving with them while drunk is. So I can understand why she got into trouble. That being said, her ex-husband, Dwight and his whole family, were the ex and ex in-laws from hell. Then there's Swift and Ava, her "saviours", they grated on my nerves from the very moment they were introduced. They were both condescending, overbearing and snobby. Add loud, obnoxious and no morality and you get Swift. These two definitely gave off the air that if you were in their presence, you were an extremely lucky person. When Helen met the Havilands, she thought her luck was changing! They took her under their wings and she finally felt like she had a real family. But we all know the saying "if something seems too good to be true, it probably is". Hmmm, this is where Helen got really irritating. It's one thing to make friends and have them offer help and guidance, but Helen completely lost what little personality and backbone she had. If the Havilands didn't like her clothes, she dressed like Ava wanted her to, she blew off plans with her one REAL friend (and lost her) because she was so busy sucking up to the Havilands, she lost the only man she'd ever truly loved because the Havilands deemed him (Elliot), not good enough for her. Anything they said went. Now let's talk about her son, Ollie. The kid was a brat. Many, many kids are the product of divorce but they don't act like Ollie did. Helen loved him. She was always so excited to see him but nothing she ever did was good enough for him. That is until she bribed Ollie to stay overnight with her by offering use of the Haviland's big house, pool and their other fun amenities. He only did so to be able to go "see the monkey man" as he called Swift (that in itself was beyond annoying). Swift was not the best influence to have over a child either! In closing, Helen grew on me and grew as a mother. Oh and Ollie? Well, I won't give the WHOLE book away!

Hard to put down

This unfolded so perfectly. I could see each character in their places. The narration, by the author, so well done. Thank you, Joyce Maynard.

Not a mistery or thriller

Not bad but not a mistery or thriller, just a romance / drama so I cannot give a better rate, since it is incorrectly classified

One of Joyce Maynard's best!

I've read or listened to all of Joyce Maynard's books and this one was unexpectedly one of my favorites...great characterization, intriguing story line and superb narration by the author. Loved it.

Perfect for these times

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I loved both Ms Maynard's writing and narration. This is a book I have continued to think about since I finished listening. In these days when the gap between the ultra rich and the poor is growing, this book rang true to me.

Which character – as performed by Joyce Maynard – was your favorite?

My favorite was Eliot. Although Connor was a minor character, I loved Ms Maynard's portrayal of him: an entitled, selfish, user who gets away with everything because he has a wealthy father who thinks he can do no wrong. I know lots of people just like him!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Behind every great fortune there is a great crime
OR
Things are not always as they appear
OR
All that glitters is not gold

Excellent narration

Interesting story. Perfect for listening while working on a project which doesn’t require a lot of concentration