The Radleys
Books | Fiction / General
3.8
(93)
Matt Haig
Soon to be a major film—starring Kelly Macdonald and Damien Lewis! From the bestselling author of The Midnight Library—an “irresistible...full of clever turns, darkly hilarious spins...Even if you're suffering from vampire fatigue...The Radleys is a fun, fresh contribution to the genre” (Associated Press). Just about everyone knows a family like the Radleys. Many of us grew up next door to one. They are a modern family, averagely content, averagely dysfunctional, living in a staid and quiet suburban English town. Peter is an overworked doctor whose wife, Helen, has become increasingly remote and uncommunicative. Rowan, their teenage son, is being bullied at school, and their anemic daughter, Clara, has recently become a vegan. They are typical, that is, save for one devastating exception: Peter and Helen are vampires and have—for seventeen years—been abstaining by choice from a life of chasing blood in the hope that their children could live normal lives. One night, Clara finds herself driven to commit a shocking—and disturbingly satisfying—act of violence, and her parents are forced to explain their history of shadows and lies. A police investigation is launched that uncovers a richness of vampire history heretofore unknown to the general public. And when the malevolent and alluring Uncle Will, a practicing vampire, arrives to throw the police off Clara’s trail, he winds up throwing the whole house into temptation and turmoil and unleashing a host of dark secrets that threaten the Radleys’ marriage. The Radleys is a moving, thrilling, and radiant domestic novel that explores with daring the lengths a parent will go to protect a child, what it costs you to deny your identity, the undeniable appeal of sin, and the everlasting, iridescent bonds of family love. Read it and ask what we grow into when we grow up, and what we gain—and lose—when we deny our appetites.
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More Details:
Author
Matt Haig
Pages
384
Publisher
Simon and Schuster
Published Date
2010-12-28
ISBN
1439194645 9781439194645
Ratings
Google: 5
Community ReviewsSee all
"Not the type a book I would read but it was good and I like the author."
J C
John Carter
"★★★½ -- <i>The Radleys</i> is an intriguing look into the life of a family of vampires trying to fit in as a normal family in a small, normal town. The vampire mythology in this novel is different than what readers are used to, and is quite interesting. First off, vampires aren’t immortal. They can subsist on human blood, vampire blood, or abstain from both. Those who do their best to ignore their cravings for blood are part of a vampire subculture known as abstainers, who work diligently to live uneventful, human-like lives, denying the callings of blood and the imagination. <br/><br/>The Radleys are abstainers. Helen and Peter have kept their children, Rowan and Clara in the dark for seventeen years. For years, these teens have tried to live unassuming lives in a small English town. However, they have always stuck out; have always been picked on by others who, subconsciously, realized that the Radleys are different. Nothing challenges this status quo until Clara is followed home and assaulted by the bully at school. He forces himself on her, and in a panic, she defends herself to keep herself from getting raped. This is the night that changes everything, that brings into question whether or not the Radleys can ever truly live normal lives again.<br/><br/>I thought the novel, overall, was quite well done. It really brings to light the issues of family, fitting in, guilt, temptation and identity. It may be a story about vampires, but there are messages applicable to real life. The general premise and themes remind me of “The Gates”, an American television show about a suburban gated community of supernatural beings, and their struggle to lead somewhat normal lives. I liked that show, and I liked this novel. I’d recommend it to fans of vampires and fans of books about the struggles of domestic life.<br/><br/><i>This book was obtained freely through the Goodreads First Reads program in exchange for an honest review.</i>"
M
Megan
"This was a vampire novel that was also trying to be a philosophy text and it didn't really work for me. It was ok but not particularly engaging or entertaining. Mostly just dark and brooding. The end did pick up slightly."
S F
Suzanne Feinspan