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    Elegy for April: A Novel
    Elegy for April: A Novel
    Elegy for April: A Novel
    Audiobook8 hours

    Elegy for April: A Novel

    Written by Benjamin Black

    Narrated by Timothy Dalton

    3.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Quirke—the hard-drinking, insatiably curious Dublin pathologist—is back, and he's determined to find his daughter's best friend, a well-connected young doctor

    April Latimer has vanished. A junior doctor at a local hospital, she is something of a scandal in the conservative and highly patriarchal society of 1950s Dublin. Though her family is one of the most respected in the city, she is known for being independent-minded; her taste in men, for instance, is decidedly unconventional.

    Now April has disappeared, and her friend Phoebe Griffin suspects the worst. Frantic, Phoebe seeks out Quirke, her brilliant but erratic father, and asks him for help. Sober again after intensive treatment for alcoholism, Quirke enlists his old sparring partner, Detective Inspector Hackett, in the search for the missing young woman. In their separate ways the two men follow April's trail through some of the darker byways of the city to uncover crucial information on her whereabouts. And as Quirke becomes deeply involved in April's murky story, he encounters complicated and ugly truths about family savagery, Catholic ruthlessness, and race hatred.

    Both an absorbing crime novel and a brilliant portrait of the difficult and relentless love between a father and his daughter, this is Benjamin Black at his sparkling best.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateApr 13, 2010
    ISBN9781427209467
    Author

    Benjamin Black

    Benjamin Black is the pen name of the Man Booker Prize-winning novelist John Banville. Black's books include The Black-Eyed Blonde, Christine Falls, The Silver Swan, among others. He lives in Dublin.

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    Reviews for Elegy for April

    3.5/5

    205 ratings30 reviews

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    • 4/5
      From My Blog...Set in 1950s Dublin, Elegy of April by Benjamin Black is a rather suitable title for this dark novel, part mystery and part social commentary of the time. Phoebe Griffin approaches her father, Quirke, who is about to be released from a detox programme, with her concerns about Dr. April Latimer’s strange disappearance. While Quirke does not think it too odd an adult would go away for a week without telling anyone, he contacts his friend Detective Inspector Hackett to help him poke around and make inquiries about April. At the same time Phoebe has taken it upon herself to make inquiries as well. April’s prominent family is not at all concerned their daughter has not been heard from in over a week, but rather put out that they should even be questioned. The novel is beautifully rich in description and character development, enough so that I wanted to learn more about the characters. The mystery, the disappearance of April Latimer, seemed to be almost an aside, rather than the main focus of the novel. The reader learns about Quirke’s time in a detox programme, his desire to buy a car and learn to drive and then about the car itself, an Alvis. The relationships in the story are equally dark and mysterious and while the ending is a bit of a surprise, it leaves many questions left unanswered. I would recommend an Elegy for April to those who enjoy Irish literature, dark mysteries or simply looking for a mystery that is far removed from conventional mysteries.
    • 3/5
      When young Phoebe's girlfriend stops calling her, at first she thinks it's nothing. But when it becomes clear that no one has seen April for days, Phoebe gets in contact with Quirke who has recently returned from an infirmary where he's been drying out after a protracted drunk. April was a promising young doctor, even if she was - by popular consensus - a little fast. She wouldn't have just left without telling anyone. When Quirke finds traces of blood in her room, he is certain that they are looking for a missing person. But April's family seems oddly unconcerned. Quirke takes it upon himself to uncover this family's dark secret and determine who is responsible for April's disappearance.
    • 3/5
      This novel falls curiosly flat. Sure, it covers a lot of pages, but it never seem to*go* anywhere. There's never a real build-up of suspense. The premise is that a young doctor, April, supposedly unconventional for 1950s Dublin (though there's ultimately very little development regarding that), has gone missing, and one of her friends, the pathologist (ane d don't expect any forensic pathology) Quirke's daughter, has appealed to her father for his help in locating her. Quirke enlists the help of a detective, whose un/official capacity is never made clear, in the search. At the fringes lie scatted the ultimately uninteresting and unsympathetic group of April's also-unconventional friends and her cold, distant family.The character of April is never developed; we know she's missing, but we know next to nothing about her, so it's hard to get drawn into the search. The novel is not so much an "elegy for April" as it is "an extended, rather overly long examination of Quirke (the main character, the closest thing we have to a detective-- though there's really very little detecting going on in the novel)." The whole pretense of a search for a supposedly unconventional missing person reads like an excuse to delve into the psyches of a handful of characters who are-- pardon the pun-- ultimately rather bloodless. It's a thriller without the thrills, a suspense novel without the suspense. The supporting cast of characters, such as April's friends, are unlikeable, and, frankly, Quirke's problems become tiresome after a while. There's only so much that can be said, and this novel says too much, spreading it over too thin of a skeleton of a plot.This isn't one that will keep you turning the pages.
    • 4/5
      No one quite knows what has happened to April. And those that may know are saying nothing. But Phoebe is convinced something is wrong, and sets out to find out what it might be.She persuades her father, Quirk, and Inspector Hackett to help her get to the bottom of the mystery.A good story of intrigue, family cover ups and standing by your friends
    • 5/5
      “Elegy for April” (2010), the third Quirke novel by Benjamin Black (John Banville), once again flawlessly blends literary fiction with genre fiction.Set in Dublin in the 1950s, the story opens with Quirke, who conducts autopsies by profession, drying out in a clinic. His job is not the only thing that drives him to drink. In Christine Falls, the first book in this series, Quirke finally admits that Phoebe, a young woman raised by someone else, is actually his daughter.Now Phoebe is worried about a friend, Dr. April Latimer, a member of a prominent Irish family, who has not been seen for several days. She worries that something serious may have happened to her, even though April's own family doesn't seem concerned. In fact, they complain when Phoebe tells Quirke, who then tells a friend in the police force. Traces of blood are found in April's flat, suggesting she may have had a miscarriage or an abortion.No missing-person case is ever formally opened, yet Quirke and Phoebe continue to ask questions, while raising the ire of the Latimer family, more worried about bad publicity than April.This is hardly a typical murder mystery -- in fact, there is no murder -- yet the tension builds progressively just the same. Some of that tension results from Quirke's relentless struggle with strong drink and his romantic involvement with another of his daughter's friends. There's a hint of comedy, too, mostly involving his purchase of an expensive car even though he lacks both insurance and a driver's license.Banville once described crime novels as "cheap fiction," implying that he didn't think much of his Benjamin Black novels and wrote them only because they were easy to write and more profitable than his serious fiction. Yet there's nothing cheap about “Elegy for April.“
    • 4/5
      I am constantly amazed at Quirk's way with the ladies! Good story with a number of possibilities leading up the ending
    • 4/5
      What's not to love? Another Quirke adventure, beautifully written with a little too little plot. Still, the characters, city, and emotional tone subtly enrich a well-made genre piece. Worth it for the car.
    • 3/5
      I liked it, the atmosphere Banville/Black creates is very thick and nostalgic without being cloying, and the characters move along in their own foggy and confused worlds. But he always seems to run out of time and wrap up the bulk of the plot in the final 10% of the book, which feels then like you read a lovely preamble and had to skim the last bit in a hurry.
    • 3/5
      The reviewer from Bookmarks Magazine sums up the pluses perfectly; a dark brooding central character, literary elegance and an excellent evocation of a Dublin winter. But these do not totally overcome the weakness of the plot, which lets down this third book in the Quirke series. Despite this I look forward to later books in the series.
    • 3/5
      An entertaining if not too challenging police procedural. There is an understated grittiness to the events, a fairly grim atmosphere painted, a typically flawed alcoholic investigator, and lots of sad people shagging people they probably shouldn't. April is missing, her friend is concerned and brings her Dad, the craggy protagonist, into the picture, and most of the book is taken up with his forays into relationships with April's friends and family, some who care some who don't seem to give a damn. Unsavoury secrets are revealed as the book comes to a cliffhanging finale. Elegy For April is well written and a decent way to while away a few hours.
    • 3/5
      This book is beautifully written. It evokes the fog-enveloped gloom of 1950s Dublin. It provides insights into the claustrophobic world of the city’s middle class. But nothing happens.Phoebe thinks her friend April may have disappeared but April always was a bit of a wild one. Phoebe talks about it to Quirke. Quirke ruminates on his complex family history. He learns to drive. He occasionally does some work but when he does it’s not very good.Various people suddenly want to speak to Quirke with the express purpose of not telling him anything about April. They acknowledge that she may be missing, but then she always was a bit of a wild one. They remind us of Quirke’s complex family history.Quirke has a flash of insight then wraps up the mystery in a couple of pages, just in time for his complex family history to become even more complex.I’m not sure whether John Banville is toying with his readers or whether he isn’t really interested in crime fiction. I recently heard him talking on BBC Radio 4 about how he found his Benjamin Black novels much easier to write than his literary novels. Perhaps he needs to find them a bit harder.
    • 4/5
      Dublin, Ireland in the 1950′s is the setting for the third novel in the Quirke series by John Banville, writing as Benjamin Black. Phoebe Griffin, Quirke’s daughter, is concerned when her friend, April, goes missing. April Latimer is a junior doctor at a local hospital, but her familial ties are more interesting than her job. The Latimer’s are wealthy, privileged, and have some dark family secrets which may or may not have anything to do with April’s sudden disappearance. Quirke is freshly out of rehab for his alcoholism and struggling to remain sober when Phoebe comes to him asking for his help in locating her friend.As with previous books in the series, Quirke finds himself embroiled in a mystery that takes him behind the scenes of a dysfunctional family. In Elegy for April, the themes include racism, inter-racial relationships, and the struggle to free oneself from not only the past, but from substance abuse. Quirke is more likable in this third novel, due largely to Banville/Black’s decision to show Quirke’s vulnerability and inner turmoil, especially when it comes to his battle against alcohol.Quirke’s whiskey arrived. He had determined he would not touch it until a full minute had gone by. He looked at the blood-red second hand of his watch making its round, steadily and, so it seemed to him, smugly. - from Elegy for AprilIn fact, the mystery in Elegy for April takes second place to the development of Quirke’s character and his ever evolving and difficult relationship with his daughter. From this perspective, I found the book engaging on a psychological level. But for readers wanting a thriller-mystery, they may find themselves a bit disappointed with an anticlimactic ending that was easy to predict. This series has been described as literary suspense – which I think is apt. But in this third book, the literary supersedes the suspense.I thought the first two books of the series were stronger than this one. Even still, Elegy for April is worth the read if only for Banville/Black’s strong prose and excellent character development.
    • 4/5
      This was my first Quirke (indeed, my first Banville), and perhaps for that reason, it took a while for the setting to establish itself in my mind's eye. But once I realised this was 1950s Dublin, all came into focus and began to make much more sense. Perhaps I should have started at the beginning.Anyway, although I concede that the plot is rather gentle for this genre, at least for the 2013 reader, the writing is beautiful, far superior to that of most of the crime novels with which I spend my time, and Quirke is a pleasure to meet.As long as you know you're getting a crime mystery, rather than a police procedural thriller, you won't be disappointed by this. A whole world is convincingly presented, and I'll certainly be heading back there soon ...
    • 3/5
      I read this book while recovering from the flu. It may have clouded my enjoyment to some degree. I am left wondering what more can the writer do with the small cast he surrounds himself in this series around the character Quirke.
    • 5/5
      This the fourth book by Banville,written as Benjamin Black,and the third Quirke crime novel. Quirke is a complex and unhappy figure who continues to reveal himself to the reader with each new book. They take place in the Ireland of the 1950's,where in this book a young woman goes missing.Querke is persuaded by his daughter to attempt to find her missing friend.A brilliant and disturbing story told in John Banville's usual literary style. This is much more than just a crime story,it is a tour-de-force.
    • 5/5
      We start moving into deeper, blacker territory here with Elegy for April, a trend that continues through the two novels following this one. This book also happens to be one of my favorites in the series. The book appropriately begins in the fog, which hangs over the story throughout -- and finds Quirke at the House of St. John of the Cross, a "refuge for addicts of all kinds, for shattered souls and petrifying livers," where he'd checked in after a six-month drinking binge he could barely remember. For Quirke, "stopping drinking had been easy; what was difficult was the daily, unblurred confrontation with a self he heartily wished to avoid." During his daughter Phoebe's last visit before Quirke checks himself out, she tells him that one of her friends, young Dr. April Latimer, has seemingly left without telling anyone and that she's concerned. None of their group of mutual friends have heard from April in a week. At first Quirke tells Phoebe that a week is not so long a time, but he does promise to make some calls. Phoebe, however, remains concerned, especially when she and another friend go into April's flat and find what may be blood in the bathroom. Not too long after Quirke releases himself from rehab, he, Phoebe and Hackett make their way to April's home, where they discover blood on the floorboards. They decide to go and visit April's family, but they find themselves up against the epitome of Dublin's "fiercely-Catholic" powerful, the Latimers. April's Uncle Bill is no less than the Minister of Health; her mother Celia a widow of a well-respected GPO war hero, a powerful socialite, known for her good works and for having the ear of "many at the pinnacle of power in society;" April's brother is a powerful physician known to be "concerned with keeping condoms out and maternity hospitals full." After they go to the family with their concerns, Quirke and Hackett both realize that the family is starting to distance themselves from April while simultaneously closing ranks. That doesn't mean, however, that Quirke will stand down from his enquiries.Elegy for April is the best of the novels among the first three. Not only is the central mystery intriguing, but the fog that begins in the first chapter immediately establishes a very real sense of the claustrophobia that pervades Dublin at the time, and also conjures a murkiness that lingers through the mystery of April's disappearance. Throughout the story there are "lingering ghosts," that reflect not only the hold of the past, but the "poison of the past" as well, something Quirke knows very well. Racism is added to the ongoing list of the city's ills, Quirke may or may not have a found a girlfriend, and Phoebe is becoming more fully developed as a character. And while the post-dénouement action might seem a bit contrived, it works in a clumsy sort of way. All of that is really sort of secondary though, because in this novel, it's the literary quality of the writing and the depth to which Black dives into character psyche that stand out above everything else. I was so taken by and wrapped up both areas that sometimes I forgot I was reading a crime novel. Definitely recommended -- and, as with all of the Quirke novels, they should be read in order to get the most out of them.
    • 4/5
      I thought this was just great. Very atmospheric, tightly written and thought-provoking, but a good quick read. I think it's the best of the three, and I like all of them.
    • 3/5
      Anything John Banville writes is worth our attention and Elegy for April, the fourth novel published under the pen name Benjamin Black, satisfies on many levels. Ostensibly a who-done-it, the book features a cast of indelibly drawn characters led by troubled pathologist Garret Quirke, who at the behest of his daughter Phoebe reluctantly pokes his nose into a young woman's suspicious disappearance in 1950s Dublin. The mystery is absorbing, but Banville's novel is also about friendship and family and the lengths to which we will go to protect ourselves and those we love from unpleasant truths. Quirke--amiable, inquisitive and impulsive, with a fondness for drink and an abhorrance of unseemly displays of emotion--literally gropes his way through the fog as he searches for answers, struggles to control his intake of booze, and tries to repair the strained relationship with his daughter. Perhaps the solution to the puzzle is a bit obvious, but getting there is great fun.
    • 3/5
       I guessed the big secret.
    • 4/5
      Full of the characterization and writing style that I find very engaging and enjoyable. The primary mystery is not particularly high-stakes, and does not completely resolve itself, which will not be much a problem for readers who enjoy the series for themselves.
    • 3/5
      This book is set in Dublin, Ireland in the 1950's. A girl, April, goes missing and her close friend, Phoebe, does everything to find her. Including talking to her family and enlisted her own father to help.This is a dark book part mystery part thriller and part romance.It took forever to read this book. Not due to the quantity of pages, but there was no pull to read. It did not grab my attention. Overall, the book was okay, worth the read in the end.
    • 3/5
      This story entangles you from the very first chapter.
    • 1/5
      This story of a missing woman ended rather suddenly...and without much of a good wrapping up. The plot was there, as was the intensity of the mystery of her whereabouts and the personalities of the key characters, but it seemed to have been rushed into the ending. You don't really know for certain what happened to her, nor her friends in the long run. There were some grammatical errors, as well as the fact that the missing woman's character name is different on the back of the jacket compared to what is used in the story (yet another reason it seems rushed). Overall - suspenseful, but not well finished.
    • 3/5
      This novel falls curiosly flat. Sure, it covers a lot of pages, but it never seem to*go* anywhere. There's never a real build-up of suspense. The premise is that a young doctor, April, supposedly unconventional for 1950s Dublin (though there's ultimately very little development regarding that), has gone missing, and one of her friends, the pathologist (ane d don't expect any forensic pathology) Quirke's daughter, has appealed to her father for his help in locating her. Quirke enlists the help of a detective, whose un/official capacity is never made clear, in the search. At the fringes lie scatted the ultimately uninteresting and unsympathetic group of April's also-unconventional friends and her cold, distant family.The character of April is never developed; we know she's missing, but we know next to nothing about her, so it's hard to get drawn into the search. The novel is not so much an "elegy for April" as it is "an extended, rather overly long examination of Quirke (the main character, the closest thing we have to a detective-- though there's really very little detecting going on in the novel)." The whole pretense of a search for a supposedly unconventional missing person reads like an excuse to delve into the psyches of a handful of characters who are-- pardon the pun-- ultimately rather bloodless. It's a thriller without the thrills, a suspense novel without the suspense. The supporting cast of characters, such as April's friends, are unlikeable, and, frankly, Quirke's problems become tiresome after a while. There's only so much that can be said, and this novel says too much, spreading it over too thin of a skeleton of a plot.This isn't one that will keep you turning the pages.
    • 3/5
      This was a fine read, but I think if I were recommending it to other readers I'd suggest they read the series in order. The author assumes you know the key characters that were introduced earlier and it was easy to get lost without that info.
    • 4/5
      Crime fiction has no shortage of brooding crime-solvers, and it’s usually their vices and complications that make them so memorable. In Benjamin Black’s new novel, Elegy for April, the “facilitator” is Dr. Quirke, a pathologist who doesn’t investigate crimes as much as he observes the key players and encourages them to talk and communicate until the mystery is revealed. His perception and the way he moves people is the key to the solution, rather than typical detective techniques. Dr. Quirke is one of the most memorable characters I’ve run across lately, and this novel is an engaging read that constantly offers surprises and complications.The biggest surprise to me is that it is not politically correct: Quirke is a raging alcoholic and the book begins with him leaving his treatment center, and he manages a few hours of sobriety. His drinking is stupendous, with blackouts and all, and yet the author doesn’t try and preach anything from it nor romanticize it. It’s a refreshing change that makes Quirke’s character that much more sympathetic. Other complications in his life, such as his relationship with his daughter and several women, also demonstrate conflict without resolution. He clearly doesn’t have all the answers, yet he’s able to help solve the disappearance of April with subtle questions.Several things really struck me about this book, clearly an example of Dublin Noir. Sure, there’s rain in most of those style books, but Elegy for April features rain, sleet, mist, hoarfrost, fog, and drizzle. Black uses these weather features to illustrate twists to the plot and factors in the mystery, without ever getting cutesy or formulaic. Additionally, many scenes feature characters looking in or looking out of windows, and the symbolism of introspection and separation from the outside world is clear. This aspect of the main characters is especially telling, yet done subtly.Lastly, the other symbolism in the story is the archetypical meanings of black and white, light and dark. Characters step into shadow, out of bright rooms, into shadowed corridors, under bright streetlights, and into gloomy booths. The contrasts between the light and dark are intertwined with the story and it creates an air of tension and suspense. Quirke himself uses the analogy of an ocean to observe:“All around lay the surface of the ocean, seeming all that there is to see and know, in calm or tempest, while, underneath, lay a wholly other world of things, hidden, with other kinds of creatures, flashing darkly in the deeps.” If this were ever made into a movie, I'd hope they’d film it in black and white to keep the feel and mood of it united. It’s set apart from other mysteries because much is left unresolved, as happens in real life. My only critique of it was that it ended rather abruptly after a tense buildup through the greater part of the book. I think I simply didn’t want to let go of the mood and characters. Altogether though, I enjoyed this and intend to seek out Black’s earlier books that feature Dr. Quirke.
    • 3/5
      This early reviewers copy was somewhat out of my general line of reading, but an interesting read. Quirke- the erratic, alchoholic, Dublin pathologist is a well developed character, more so than his daughter Phoebe, and her odd friends, & much more than her missing friend April Lavery. It was disorienting to be reading about the 1950's, I had to keep reminding myself of the time, especially when Phoebe had no fridge for milk in her rented flat. The descriptions of Dublin, Ireland captured the mood of the time well. The family dysfunction and ruthlessness were ugly, but the story of a father and his daughters relationship was well done.
    • 2/5
      I enjoyed the first book in the series, Christine Falls, very much and I didn't care for the second, The Silver Swan, at all. I'd put Elegy for April somewhere between the two, perhaps closer to SS. Which is very disappointing. The story was slow, a bit dull. So many crime fiction protaganists today have the big character flaw, and most often it is booze. But Quirke has two flaws - booze of course, and on occasion he is very stupid. One flaw in some odd way attracts the reader, but for this reader a second flaw repelled. I'm not sure if I'll read book number four - I think BB has to work a tad harder on the rest of the series.
    • 3/5
      I was hoping for a little more in this novel, coming from a best-selling author and being the 3rd in a series. It was an interesting story, but it moved pretty slowly--the plot twist didn't show up until the very end, and the major question of the book--where is April?--isn't actually answered, at least the way I read it. It's clear what happened to her before she went missing, but unless I skipped over it, we'll never know what came next, because the perpetrator is now out of the picture. Perhaps that will be revealed in a future book.The little details of 1950s Dublin were a hoot to read, though sometimes they pulled me out of the story because I had forgotten where the book was taking place and I had to remind myself that e.g. it wouldn't be odd for an apartment not to have a fridge for milk in that time.There were some moving parts and some references to the previous books, which I might be interested in reading. I'd like to know more about Quirke (what's his first name?) and see him solving more crime.
    • 3/5
      I wondered after I read this novel, which while atmospherically lovely, was somewhat lacking in character development, if it assumed previous knowledge of the protagonist, Quirke, a middle-aged pathologist/alcoholic in 50s Dublin, trying to dry out, but failing, and sometimes failing miserably. He appears in previous novels by the author but I found him a hard character to get to know just on the basis of Elegy for April. Quirke is assisting his biological daughter, Phoebe, by looking into the mysterious disappearance of a friend, who may or may not have met with foul play. The two have some deep issues, not the least of which is abandonment, so much of his motive for doing some detective work is based on wanting to please her.April Latimer, Jr. M.D. in training at the local hospital, appears to be as much of a mystery to her friends as her disappearance is. We are only shown very little glimpses of her, in conversations between friends and between Quirke and other characters. Revelations about April emerge more to the end of the book, but I felt a little cheated by that. If there is a character which is the center of a mystery, shouldn't you care more about what has happened to them? The most you find out about before the big reveals, is that her family thinks she's a troublemaker and have basically disowned her. But no concrete examples of her black sheep status are ever illuminated, beyond April being selfish and does what she wants to do.On the other hand, Author Black does a fine job drawing you in to the daily rhythm of this city, and painting some lovely word pictures of rain, ice, bleak mountainsides, and other landscapes, which in some way reflect the reticence of characters I would have liked to know more about. For instance, why is Phoebe so attracted to Patrick Ojukwu, the young black Nigerian also studying to become an M.D., along with April? Yes, physical differences can attract, be exotic, but while her awkwardness in his presence was nicely written, I felt I wasn't quite getting the whole picture.A couple of characters feel stock; the diminutive reporter using friendship to scoop stories, the bohemian actress affecting icy allure as part of her craft, but Black for the most part gives us an interesting cast of characters, particularly Inspector Hackett, the most well-drawn of the major players, besides Quirke.This book is definitely worth a read, but after a few days of reflection, still remember the ending as being jarring in its intensity and subject matter. Jarring because we're being shown something horrible and being asked, "There, see? See what April endured? Now you can care about her." And up to that point, I hadn't really known enough to feel the concern others in the story did, so in essence it is asking quite a lot of a reader to suddenly care when that ending hadn't been set up at all in the beginning or middle sections of the novel.Still, I found Quirke intriguing enough that I want to investigate Black's other works featuring him.