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Title details for Sparrow by James Hynes - Wait list

Sparrow

by James Hynes
Theo Solomon
Audiobook
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Wait time: About 2 weeks
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0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
In a brothel on the Spanish coast during the waning years of the Roman Empire, a young enslaved boy of unknown parentage is growing up. His world is a kitchen, then an herb-scented garden, followed by a loud and dangerous tavern, and, finally, the mysterious upstairs where the "wolves" do their business. The wolves, named after the muses and coming from across the vast empire, are Sparrow's surrogate family. They are his mothers and his sisters, his guides in a rough life, his solace from it. When he is not being told stories by his beloved Euterpe, he runs errands for her lover, the cook, while trying to avoid the blows of their brutal overseer or the machinations of the chief wolf, Melpomene. But a hard fate awaits Sparrow, one that involves suffering, murder, mayhem, and the scattering of the little community that has been his whole world. Through meticulous research and bold imagination, James Hynes brings the entirety of a Roman city to vivid life, recreating old Pagan Rome as its codes and morals give way before the new religion of Christianity, and introduces listeners to one of the most powerfully affecting and memorable characters of recent fiction. Sparrow is an enthralling, heartbreaking novel of identity, endurance, and love in a dangerous and changing time.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 8, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781666645484
      • File size: 512409 KB
      • Duration: 17:47:31

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      December 1, 2023

      Hynes's (Kings of Infinite Space) latest takes listeners into a Roman village in Spain as the pagan gods and old ways give over to a new Christian order. The story follows an enslaved orphaned boy who grows up in a brothel, first in the kitchen, then in the tavern, and finally upstairs with the "wolves," his surrogate mothers and sisters who have been enslaved alongside him. He is known by many names (Pusus, or "Little One"; Mouse; Jacob), but the name that resonates most with him is Sparrow, for as a metaphorical bird he can hover above the ugliness and protect his psyche from the horrors visited upon him. Narrator Theo Solomon's smooth British accent adorns this story, adding a note of beauty that matches the grace of Hynes's prose. He empathetically describes how Euterpe, a fellow wolf whom Sparrow considers his foster mother, tells stories to help the boy understand the world around him. These respites from their circumstances are enchantingly conveyed, with the characters' range of emotions on full display. VERDICT A story of pain, survival, and community set in a lyrically described, intricately built world. For readers of Jesmyn Ward's Let Us Descend.--Laura Trombley

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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