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The Performance
The Performance: A Novel | Claire Thomas
11 posts | 7 read | 1 reading | 17 to read
A novel about three women at turning points in their lives, and the one night that changes everything. One night, three women go to the theater to see a play. Wildfires are burning in the hills outside, but inside the theater it is time for the performance to take over. Margot is a successful, flinty professor on the cusp of retirement, distracted by her fraught relationship with her adult son and her ailing husband. After a traumatic past, Ivy is is now a philanthropist with a seemingly perfect life. Summer is a young drama student, an usher at the theater, and frantically worried for her girlfriend whose parents live in the fire zone. While the performance unfolds on stage, so does the compelling trajectory that will bring these three women together, changing them all. Deliciously intimate and yet emotionally wide-ranging, The Performance is a novel that both explores the inner lives of women as it underscores the power of art and memory to transform us.
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shawnmooney
The Performance: A Novel | Claire Thomas
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https://youtu.be/OmCAsMViLpU

A playlist of all episodes in the Bite-sized Book Chat series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU-61cZp1pQdBH5V0Zb9q-2ujl4PY8nhf

Chat #1: with Bill from Nairobi

The Performance by Claire Thomas

Chat #2: with Ashwin from Kerala State

Collected Works by Lydia Sandgren
Agnes Broomé (Translator)

Chat #3: with Hunter from Florida

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

shawnmooney Chat #4: with Cauvery Madhavan from Ireland

Solace by Belinda McKeon
2y
25 likes1 comment
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LapReader
The Performance: A Novel | Claire Thomas
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Salvos scores last year after work. The skirt has pockets! My aim these holidays is to get some craft in. Perhaps whilst camping?

dabbe I love to cross stitch and haven't done it in a long time; I'd need a magnifying glass these days to be able to see those little squares! 🤣 2y
46 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Sparklemn
The Performance: A Novel | Claire Thomas
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Mehso-so

This book should have worked for me. Three women lost in their thoughts while attending a play with wildfires raging nearby? Right up my alley. However, it was a bit of a slog to get through. I didn't find the 20- or 70-something characters interesting. I did like Ivy's (40+) storyline particularly her career in philanthropy.

I listened to the audiobook. The narration was great!

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Megabooks
The Performance: A Novel | Claire Thomas
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Pickpick

This novel centers around three women watching a performance of Happy Days, a Beckett play (no Fonz 😉). I found the book much easier to follow after watching highlights of the play on YouTube. It‘s an interesting window into how we each interpret art based on what‘s going on in our lives. A good follow up book to The Museum of Modern Love.

I got a new spooky Halloween booksleeve from https://www.etsy.com/shop/StoryTimeSleeve 💜🕸🦉🦇

BarbaraBB You‘re into art! 2y
Cinfhen Ohhhhh, I love your new book sleeve 💜💜 2y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB I am! I‘m really loving these sort of offbeat books this month. 2y
See All 6 Comments
Megabooks @Cinfhen thanks!! She rarely does purple, and this is just so fun! 2y
CarolynM Glad you enjoyed. I liked it a lot but wondered how much of the atmosphere would translate. 2y
Megabooks @CarolynM it definitely felt Australian which was great because I don‘t read enough Oz fiction. 2y
72 likes6 comments
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Cathythoughts
The Performance: A Novel | Claire Thomas
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Thankyou Carolyn ! I‘m looking forward to the tagged book. Love the book for my granddaughter 🥰💕
The handcream is gorgeous ( already using it ) and I love soap .. all lovely.
You see The Daughter of Time is there on the left , still waiting for its big day ! Thankyou 😘

squirrelbrain Lovely! ❤️ 3y
LeahBergen Wonderful gifts! I read Hairy Maclary over and OVER to my nephew. 🥰🥰 3y
See All 6 Comments
CarolynM Only slightly late then, that's good😊 Enjoy! 3y
Cathythoughts @LeahBergen oh good! It‘s a good one so X 3y
Cathythoughts @CarolynM Thanks so much ! I l will enjoy 😘 3y
57 likes1 stack add6 comments
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rmaclean4
The Performance: A Novel | Claire Thomas
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Pickpick

@TheAromaofBooks I read the #bookspin book for Feburary...in the first week of the month! Loved this very introspective novel. We get the interior life of three diffrent women watching a Becket play while wild fires rage outside the theater. Loved that we had women of various ages and diffrent concerns. Highly recommend. Reads like a much longer book 4 🌟

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 3y
CarolynM I liked this one a lot🙂 3y
Cathythoughts Nice review ! Stacking 3y
18 likes3 comments
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CarolynM
The Performance: A Novel | Claire Thomas
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#12booksof2021 #6thbookof2021 #June

A snapshot of the lives of 3 women at a particular point in time. It's deceptive simplicity made it stand out.
@Andrew65

Andrew65 Sounds good. 3y
TheBookHippie Oh this does sound good! 3y
57 likes2 comments
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KarenUK
The Performance: A Novel | Claire Thomas
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Pickpick

#midyearfaves #Day4 of 10
An intimate study of 3 women, as a their lives intersect. A philanthropist, drama student working as an usher, and a Lit professor facing retirement are watching a Beckett play as wildfires close in on their city. As the performance goes on, their minds wander, as they contemplate their hopes, traumas, anxieties and struggles, reflecting the themes of the play. The women felt so real, I felt such empathy for each of them.

BarbaraBB I completely missed this one but it does sound good! 3y
JennyM This is a cracker of a book that I read on your recommendation, Karen. A bit of a hidden gem. I think you‘d like it @barbarabb (edited) 3y
KarenUK Oh I‘m so glad you like it @JennyM I had a feeling you would x 3y
vivastory This one sounds brilliant. Another one that I'm stacking! 📚 3y
CarolynM I liked it a lot too🙂 3y
44 likes3 stack adds5 comments
review
CarolynM
The Performance: A Novel | Claire Thomas
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Pickpick

Describes the thoughts of three very different women as they watch a performance of Samuel Beckett's play Happy Days while a bushfire burns in the mountains on the edge of their city, giving just a snapshot of this particular point in each woman's life. It doesn't sound very promising, but I couldn't put it down. #ozfiction
Also #CuriousCovers #Pink

Eggs Unique! 💖📚🌸 3y
JennyM I really enjoyed this one, too. Lovely writing 3y
CarolynM @JennyM Yes, she does a lot with a very little (edited) 3y
Cinfhen This sounds amazing!!! 3y
66 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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Abailliekaras
The Performance: A Novel | Claire Thomas
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed this story of three women at the theatre. Sharply observed, engaging writing and interesting structure with the play as backdrop as bushfires rage outside. It‘s rich white people‘s problems but their traumas are deeply felt, & it‘s also a climate change novel with the symbolism in the play of humans‘ inertia, complacency and the risk of slowly becoming extinct. Clever writing, Charlotte Wood fans will love.

BookishClaire I can‘t wait to read this! Struggling with more literary books right now but hopefully one day soon! 4y
CarolynM On my shelf. Hope to get there soon🙂 4y
Kalalalatja Great review, and very striking cover! 4y
See All 6 Comments
Abailliekaras @Kalalalatja thank you ☺️ 4y
Abailliekaras @carolynm hope you enjoy. 4y
Abailliekaras @BookishClaire I know the feeling! 4y
36 likes2 stack adds6 comments
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KarenUK
The Performance: A Novel | Claire Thomas
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Pickpick

I ❤️this kind of book, a beautiful character study of 3 women, their lives intersecting. A philanthropist, a drama student and a Lit professor are watching the Beckett play ‘Happy Days‘, as wildfires rage close to their city. As the performance plays out, their minds wander, contemplating their hopes and anxieties, their inner struggles reflect the themes of the play, the actress literally becoming buried deeper into a mound of dirt and trash.⬇️

KarenUK I felt such empathy for each of them.
The writing is intimate and lovely, the characters so real. The themes of identity, aging, trauma, fear and expectations are handled with such care. Such a fantastic read. Can‘t wait to read more from this author.

(No prior knowledge of the play is required, but a quick browse of the wiki page definitely gave me a greater understanding of the way these women‘s lives and the themes of the play intertwine)
(edited) 4y
JennyM Beautiful review. I‘m very excited to read this one. Sounds my kind of book 📚 4y
KarenUK I think you‘ll like it.... 🤞🤞💕 @jennym 4y
CarolynM Lovely review🙂 I'm looking forward to this one, this month, hopefully. 4y
43 likes4 stack adds5 comments