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Man Out of Time

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Man Out of Time

By: Stephanie Bishop
Narrated by: Mark Coles Smith
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About this listen

When Stella's father, Leon, disappears in September 2001, the police knock at her door. She baulks at their questions, not sure how to answer. 'What if I just write it down for you.'

One summer, a long time ago, Stella sat watching her father cry while the sky clouded over. He had tried to make amends: for his failures, for forgetting to buy the doll she once hoped for, for the terrible things he had done.

The first time Stella sensed that something was wrong was on her ninth birthday. There was an accident, and when she opened her eyes there was the tang of blood in her mouth. Leon was beside her. But not quite there. In the winter, when her father finally came home from hospital, he looked different. Looked at her differently.

Now he was missing, and Stella held the key to his discovery. But did he want to be found? And after all that has passed, could Stella bring herself to help him?

Stella's whole life has been stained by her father's very struggle to exist. Would this be her inheritance too? Could she choose the steady minutes of an ordinary day? Or would she follow the path of a man out of time?

A masterful and deeply moving novel about inheritance and self-destruction, and of how the memories we carry and the blood we share discolour our view of the world ... and ourselves.
Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

Critic Reviews

Man Out of Time gracefully unpacks the emotional territory that accompanies mental illness and the capacity for trauma to travel through generations. Potent in its subtlety, it is a rich novel that demands the full attention of its readers, rewarding those who invest.
...reveals Bishop to be an astonishing talent who can tell a deeply moving story as well as look beneath it to deeper truths.
Bishop writes beautifully. Phrase after phrase sung.
This is a dark and often desolate story, but Bishop's writing is precise and perfectly formed
This is a dark and often desolate story, but Bishop's writing is precise and perfectly formed. She shows that inheritance - in terms of both illness and trauma - is more complicated than we think.
This is one of the most thought-provoking books I've read. There's plenty of action, entertaining dialogue, and sensual description alongside a philosophy of life
All stars
Most relevant
Narrator was very monotone which made the switch between characters very difficult to distinguish. Didn’t finish the book as it was too confusing to follow what was happening.

Monotone performance

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