THE ONLY STORY

Barnes's novel rests heavily on the voice of its narrator, and Guy Mott delivers a fine representation of that voice: steady, settled, British, urbane, ruminative. This is a story of reflection about an older man looking back on his youthful affair with an older woman. Often he speaks of himself as the generic "you" and for long stretches puts himself into the third person. The female member of this couple is a less active presence, an equal partner in the story but not an equal voice. Her dialogue is sparse and mannered, and Mott unwisely underscores this deficiency by delivering her lines in an arch falsetto. Even so, there is much to recommend here. The novel's premise is especially interesting, and Barnes is, as always, a master storyteller. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2018]