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Title: Mrs. Osmond
Subtitle: A Novel
Author: John Banville
Narrator: Amy Finegan
Format: Unabridged
Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
Language: English
Release date: 11-07-17
Publisher: Random House Audio
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 45 votes
Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:
From the Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Sea, a dazzling and audacious new novel that extends the story of Isabel Archer, the heroine of Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady, into unexpected territory.
Isabel Archer is a young American woman swept off to Europe in the late 19th century by an aunt who hopes to round out the impetuous but naïve girl's experience of the world. When Isabel comes into a large, unexpected inheritance, she is finagled into a marriage with the charming, penniless, and - as Isabel finds out too late - cruel and deceitful Gilbert Osmond, whose connection to a certain Madame Merle is suspiciously intimate. On a trip to England to visit her cousin Ralph Touchett on his deathbed, Isabel is offered a chance to free herself from the marriage but nonetheless chooses to return to Italy. Banville follows James' story line to this point, but Mrs. Osmond is thoroughly Banville's own: the narrative inventiveness; the lyrical precision and surprise of his language; the layers of emotional and psychological intensity; the subtle, dark humor. And when Isabel arrives in Italy - along with someone else! - the novel takes off in directions that James himself would be thrilled to follow.

Members Reviews:
John Banville honors Henry James in devising an elegant continuation of The Portrait of a Lady
First, there is an excellent review of Mrs. Osmond by Caryl Phillips in The New York Review of Books, November 23, 2017. Audible might put a link to it on its website.
I do enjoy John Banvilles exquisite writing, and was wary of listening to it on the audio book, but found that the narrator did an excellent job of letting the language spool out, while articulating the differences in characters. As in the James novel, most of the narrative comprises Isabels interior thoughts. Slowly, Banville reveals how Isabel comes to wrest control for her destiny out of the hands of her husband, while leaving her next steps unresolved. For readers of Portrait of a Lady, this is compelling because despite our impatience with Isabel, we want her to succeed. Banville traces Isabels very human fits and starts of finding direction for herself, while leaving her future steps unresolved.
I found Mrs. Osmonds narrative absorbing, and entertaining, despite wanting to scream at her occasionally. I enjoyed Banvilles finely drawn characterization of the other players, those from the James novel and some new ones.

Banville, what were you thinking?
Unless it was the reader who butchered this book it was John Banville who had a misstep in writing it. How could this great author write such a dull, repetitive novel, seemingly parodying James, not emulating him.
None of the Jamesian insight or narrative drive.

Narrator Doesn't Do Banville Justice
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I certainly wouldn't recommend the audiobook; Banville is a very good writer, but the narrator just isn't up to his level. What was Random House Audio thinking when they paired Amy Finegan with him??
Would you be willing to try another one of Amy Finegans performances?
No.

Cant believe I made it to the end
Afraid I can not appreciate the authors descriptive passages or lengthy dialogue. Reminds me of a soap opera. Same painful pace.

Betraying Isabel Archer
I picked up this book on the heals of finishing The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.