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Title details for Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show by Frank Delaney - Available

Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show

#1 in series

by Frank Delaney
Frank Delaney
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
“She sprang from the womb and waved to the crowd. Then smiled and took a bow.” And so we first meet Venetia Kelly, the beguiling actress at the center of this new, spellbinding, and epic novel by Frank Delaney, the bestselling author of Ireland and Shannon.

January 1932: While Ireland roils in the run-up to the most important national election in the Republic’s short history, Ben MacCarthy and his father watch a vagabond variety revue making a stop in the Irish countryside. After a two-hour kaleidoscope of low comedy, Shakespearean recitations, juggling, tumbling, and other entertainments, Ben’s father, mesmerized by Venetia Kelly, the troupe’s magnetic headliner, makes a fateful decision: to abandon his family and set off on the road with Miss Kelly and her caravan. Ben’s mother, shattered by the desertion, exhorts, “Find him and bring him back,” thereby sending the boy on a Homeric voyage into manhood, a quest that traverses the churning currents of Ireland’s fractious society and splinters the MacCarthy family.
Interweaving historical figures including W. B. Yeats, and a host of unforgettable creations—“King” Kelly, Venetia’s violent, Mephistophelean grandfather; Sarah Kelly, Venetia’s mysterious, amoral mother; and even a truth-telling ventriloquist’s dummy named Blarney—Frank Delaney unfurls a splendid narrative that spans half the world and a tumultuous, eventful decade.
 
Teeming with intrigue, pathos, and humor, Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show explores two of Ireland’s great national passions: theater and politics. Writing with his signature mastery and lyrical prose, Frank Delaney once again delivers an unforgettable story as big and boisterous as the people and events it chronicles.

  • Creators

  • Series

    Ireland

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 23, 2010

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780307714596
      • File size: 382419 KB
      • Duration: 13:16:42

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Weaving Irish vaudeville and politics of the 1930s into a mix both delightful and astonishing, Frank Delaney devises an engaging saga that will captivate listeners. Delaney's success as both writer and narrator of earlier tales-well-told, SHANNON and IRELAND, soars to new heights with the story of Venetia Kelly. His double role is perfectly rendered as audio listening. Our first-person storyteller, Ben MacCarthy assembles his personal story of how his Irish family becomes in thrall to the Kelly family, who include resplendent mother, Sarah; conniving, powerful grandfather, "King" Kelly; and magnetic Venetia. The account is magically intimate and emotionally real. Delight in Delaney's feast of hilarious, improbable details; side-story digression taken to a new art form; and memorable characters. R.F.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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