{"id":43906,"date":"2018-05-30T11:10:40","date_gmt":"2018-05-30T15:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/?p=43906"},"modified":"2018-06-11T11:15:47","modified_gmt":"2018-06-11T15:15:47","slug":"world-steady-claire-messud-library-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/world-steady-claire-messud-library-journal\/","title":{"rendered":"When the World Was Steady by Claire Messud [in Library Journal]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium alignleft wp-image-43321\" src=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/12\/When-the-World-Was-Steady-Claire-Messud-BookDragon-685x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"685\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/12\/When-the-World-Was-Steady-Claire-Messud-BookDragon-685x800.jpg 685w, https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/12\/When-the-World-Was-Steady-Claire-Messud-BookDragon.jpg 721w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 685px) 100vw, 685px\" \/>Following the collapse of her marriage, not-quite-50-year-old Emmy arrives in Bali from Sydney, Australia, where she&#8217;s built her life after leaving her native England almost three decades prior. Now unfettered, she finds herself in the hostel-like home of local guide (and lothario) Buddy, all the while avoiding the various illicit dramas happening inside and beyond the compound.<\/p>\n<p>Back in London, Emmy&#8217;s older sister Virginia still lives with their mother, Melody, who perhaps is more manipulative than muddled by age. Virginia&#8217;s evangelical fervor is a desperate anecdote to middle-aged loneliness, but even that devotion is soon shattered.\u00a0At Melody&#8217;s coercing, mother and daughter embark on their own island getaway to Skye, one of Scotland&#8217;s Inner Hebrides.<\/p>\n<p>Originally published in 1994, Claire Messud&#8217;s (<em><a href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/the-woman-upstairs-by-claire-messud\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Woman Upstairs<\/a><\/em>) first novel makes its audio debut voiced by <a href=\"http:\/\/shiromispeaks.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Shiromi Arserio<\/a>. While her adaptation of both sisters is solid, Arserio is most affecting as some of the less prominent characters, including the acerbic, self-absorbed, wholly aware Melody.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Verdict<\/strong>: Messud&#8217;s fan base has grown substantially since her debut; libraries should be prepared for renewed interest in her first novel in all formats.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Review<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/reviews.libraryjournal.com\/2018\/05\/media\/audio\/messud-in-multiple-audio-book-reviews\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">&#8220;Messud in Multiple,&#8221; <em>Library Journal<\/em>, May 30, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Readers<\/strong>: Adult<\/p>\n<p><strong>Published<\/strong>: 2017<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Following the collapse of her marriage, not-quite-50-year-old Emmy arrives in Bali from Sydney, Australia, where she&#8217;s built her life after leaving her native England almost three decades prior. Now unfettered, she finds herself in the hostel-like home of local guide (and lothario) Buddy, all the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,81,225,114,6,60,6535],"tags":[84,6608,59,11,70,13,129,39,7901,170,44,173,7900],"class_list":["post-43906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-readers","category-audio","category-australian","category-british","category-fiction","category-nonethnic-specific","category-repost","tag-betrayal","tag-bookdragon","tag-cultural-exploration","tag-friendship","tag-library-journal","tag-love","tag-mother-daughter-relationship","tag-parent-child-relationship","tag-shiromi-arserio","tag-sibling-rivalry","tag-siblings","tag-travel","tag-when-the-world-was-steady"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.14 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>When the World Was Steady by Claire Messud [in Library Journal] - BookDragon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/world-steady-claire-messud-library-journal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When the World Was Steady by Claire Messud [in Library Journal] - BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Following the collapse of her marriage, not-quite-50-year-old Emmy arrives in Bali from Sydney, Australia, where she&#8217;s built her life after leaving her native England almost three decades prior. 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