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    The Clasp: A Novel
    The Clasp: A Novel
    The Clasp: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Clasp: A Novel

    Written by Sloane Crosley

    Narrated by David Pittu

    3/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Part comedy of manners, part treasure hunt, the first novel from the writer whom David Sedaris calls "perfectly, relentlessly funny"

    Kezia, Nathaniel, and Victor are reunited for the extravagant wedding of a college friend. Now at the tail end of their twenties, they arrive completely absorbed in their own lives-Kezia the second-in-command to a madwoman jewelry designer in Manhattan; Nathaniel the former literary cool kid, selling his wares in Hollywood; and the Eeyore-esque Victor, just fired from a middling search engine. They soon slip back into old roles: Victor loves Kezia. Kezia loves Nathaniel. Nathaniel loves Nathaniel.

    In the midst of all this semi-merriment, Victor passes out in the mother of the groom's bedroom. He wakes to her jovially slapping him across the face. Instead of a scolding, she offers Victor a story she's never even told her son, about a valuable necklace that disappeared during the Nazi occupation of France.

    And so a madcap adventure is set into motion, one that leads Victor, Kezia, and Nathaniel from Miami to New York and L.A. to Paris and across France, until they converge at the estate of Guy de Maupassant, author of the classic short story "The Necklace."

    Heartfelt, suspenseful, and told with Sloane Crosley's inimitable spark and wit, The Clasp is a story of friends struggling to fit together now that their lives haven't gone as planned, of how to separate the real from the fake. Such a task might be possible when it comes to precious stones, but is far more difficult to pull off with humans.

    Includes the short story The Necklace, read by Barbara Rosenblat.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateOct 6, 2015
    ISBN9781427264756
    The Clasp: A Novel
    Author

    Sloane Crosley

    Sloane Crosley is the author of the novels Cult Classic and The Clasp and three essay collections: Look Alive Out There and the New York Times-bestsellers I Was Told There’d Be Cake and How Did You Get This Number.

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    Reviews for The Clasp

    3/5

    71 ratings3 reviews

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    • 1/5
      I chose this book as it sounded like light-hearted escapism, a fun comedy about an adventure to Paris to locate a missing item of jewellery.

      Firstly, I'm not familiar with the short story that inspired this book. This wasn't a problem however, as it is explained in detail in the book (so I guess now there's no need to read it). However, even without reading it, I'm fairly convinced it is better than this novel.

      There were a few things that spoilt this book for me. I didn't like any of the characters, I thought they were all a little bit flat and forgettable and, possibly with the exception of Victor, didn't really develop in the story. The storyline could have been really entertaining, but it got swallowed up in pointless dialogue and little events that didn't move the story on, to the point where the story got boring and I almost stopped reading it about half-way through. There were a few times when I had to back-track, having realised I was reading but not taking anything in. There were also a few factual errors (the definition of scurvy, for instance). What was particularly off-putting was the amount of it written in French; a few phrases would have been bad enough, but there were whole paragraphs that I was unable to read and that the author hadn't even given a translation for.

      What did I like about the book? I enjoyed reading the parts about the necklace that was falling apart. It was clear the author had some good knowledge on the subject of jewellery and that really showed through. Sadly that is all I did like.
    • 3/5
      A lot of hype. It was interesting, but I didn't really relate much to the characters.
    • 4/5
      I have read both of Crosley's previous 2 books which are personal essays in the style of David Sedaris. They were excellent. She has made a good transition to fiction. This is an engaging story about 3 college friends who have are not as connected as they were 8 years ago who come together at a wedding of a college friend. Crosely is very funny and her insights and observations give us a good view into that 30 ish group. The plot about the The Clasp is nothing more than a device to hold the novel together. If you want a funny read with great characters, try this. There is one scene where one of the character's boss from hell totally blames her for something that was the bosses fault that was worth the entire read. If you like this book, I recommend reading her earlier books.