Becoming Strangers
Written by Louise Dean
- Longlisted
- The Man Booker Prize 2004
- Published by Scribner
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Louise Dean’s perceptive debut novel about two unhappily married couples who, after their paths cross on holiday, revisit their flawed relationships
After more than 50 years of marriage, Dorothy and George are embarking on their first journey abroad together. Three decades younger, Jan and Annemieke are taking their last, as illness and incompatibility bring their unhappy union to an end. At first, the luxury of a Caribbean resort is no match for the well-worn patterns of domestic life. Then the couples’ paths cross, and small awakenings punctuate a week in which each pair struggles to come to terms with what’s been keeping them apart.
Louise Dean
Louise Dean, longlisted for her first novel, Becoming Strangers, once memorably likened writing to good bowel habits: 'Do it regularly, at the same time each day, and use plenty of paper'
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