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Book at Bedtime

The Forgotten Waltz

Episode 1: Encounters

Duration: 15 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 FMLatest broadcast: on BBC Radio 4 LW

Available for years

'The Forgotten Waltz' is Anne Enright's long-awaited novel, her first since 'The Gathering', which won the Man Booker 2007.

'The amazing thing is how much I got in that first glance: how much, in retrospect, I should have known. It is all there: the twitch of interest in Sean, the whole business with Evie; I remember this very clearly, as I remember the neat and indomitable politeness of his wife.'

In a snow blanketed Dublin, Gina reflects on the last decade, from the moment she first caught a glimpse of Sean Vallely, through a haze of cigarette smoke, through the happenstance and lust, the hotel rooms and the secrets, that have brought down two marriages, three mortgages and left her a reluctant inhabitant of her childhood home. Startling, honest, witty and wry, Enright's novel captures the nuances and the bliss of an overwhelming attraction that becomes an affair and charts the gradual encroachment of reality,damage and a love that can't be overstated.

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The Reader is Niamh Cusack, currently starring in Cause Celebre at the Old Vic.
The Abridger is Sally Marmion
The Producer is Di Speirs. Show less

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