Listen to a sample
Masquerade
- Author
- Oliver Soden
- Narrator
- Oliver Soden
- Publisher
- Orion
- Publish Date
- 16 March 2023
- Run Time
- 22 hours 25 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Rating
- 5.0 (1 review)
Not available in your country
We don't have the rights to sell this audiobook where you are. If it's already in your library you can still listen to it in My Books.
What to expect
DAILY TELEGRAPH
The voice, the dressing-gown, the cigarette in its holder, remain unmistakable. There is rarely a week when one of Private Lives, Hay Fever, and Blithe Spirit is not in production somewhere in the world. Phrases from Noël Coward's songs - "Mad About The Boy", "Mad Dogs and Englishman" - are forever lodged in the public consciousness. He was at one point the most highly paid author in the world. Yet some of his most striking and daring writing remains unfamiliar. As T.S. Eliot said, in 1954, "there are things you can learn from Noël Coward that you won't learn from Shakespeare".
Coward wrote some fifty plays and nine musicals, as well as revues, screenplays, short stories, poetry, and a novel. He was both composer and lyricist for approximately 675 songs. Louis Mountbatten's famous tribute argued that, while there were greater comedians, novelists, composers, painters and so on, only "the master" had combined fourteen talents in one. So central was he to his age's theatre that any account of his career is also a history of the British stage. And so daring was Coward's unorthdoxy in his closest relationships, obliquely reflected throughout his writing, that it must also be a history of sexual liberation in the twentieth century. In Oliver Soden's sparkling, story-packed new Life, the Master finally gets his due.
Critics Review
-
My handbook was the magnificent Masquerade by Oliver Soden, which superbly explores what was behind the mask
Arty Froushan, who stars as Noel Coward in Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025)
-
What a pleasure it is to read a book into which so much labour, and so much affection, have evidently gone. But the labour is never flaunted and the affection is mingled with the same sophisticated irony that made Coward such a giant of the theatre. This is the biography - truthful, sympathetic and thorough - that Coward deserves
Daily Telegraph
-
Assiduous, even-handed, readable . . . astute
The Times
-
Excellent . . . reveals Coward to be a more complex individual than we had acknowledged
Guardian
See more reviews See fewer reviews
-
A captivating biography
Financial Times
-
This is a sympathetic and very touching biography. Soden makes the daring decision to write occasional sections in imitation of Coward's style. Not every biographer would be up to this, but Soden pulls it off. The ending is particularly good - first skating around Coward's last days, letting him evaporate like Elvira, then giving us a chorus of biographers, boyfriends and household servants to narrate it in detail. But the whole book is beautifully done, and will last . . . There's every reason to think Coward will last forever - and this excellent biography is just what he deserves
Spectator
-
Soden, who has had access to unpublished diaries and letters, comes up with a far more complex Coward than we have seen before... This is a highly illuminating book that makes us reconsider Coward
Country Life
-
Masquerade is a pleasure to read - not just for Oliver Soden's splendid survey of Coward's life, but also for the rhythm and tempo of his writing as he parries with his mercurial subject. This Coward commands our empathy: more real, more mortal, "more Noël than Coward", as Soden intended... His fallibility renders him more likeable, lovable even. With this enriched arc from conception to denouement, the myth is made man. At last, the character of Noël Coward makes sense.
The Critic
-
Praise for Michael Tippett: The Biography An exceptional piece of work
Philip Hensher, Spectator
-
Praise for Michael Tippett: The Biography
Generous, game-changing biographyObserver
-
Praise for Michael Tippett: The Biography
That rarest of things: a genuine landmark publicationBBC Radio 3 Music Matters
-
Praise for Jeoffrey: The Poet's Cat
Simply unforgettable ... one of the most beautiful and haunting books of recent timesAlexander McCall Smith
-
Praise for Jeoffrey: The Poet's Cat
Inspired and originalHilary Mantel
-
Praise for Jeoffrey: The Poet's Cat
I intend to give a copy to everyone I likeAndrew O’Hagan
-
Soden's verve and way of handling the subject completely breathes new life into an absolutely extraordinary story . . . I really recommend it, it's a fascinating look at somebody who is still relevant fifty years after his death
The Rest is Entertainment
-
A masterly account of the Master - including stuff we didn't know before. And so beautifully and entertainingly written
Gyles Brandreth
User Reviews
Book 5.0
Narration 5.0
- No written reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Oliver Soden
- Narrator
- Oliver Soden
- Duration
- 22 hours 25 minutes
- Release Date
- 16 March 2023
- ISBN
- 9781399606455
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Orion
- Genre
- Theatre studies, Biography: arts and entertainment, Biography: writers
- Rating
- 5.0(1 review)
- Narration
- 5.0(1 review)
Synopsis
'This is the biography - truthful, sympathetic and thorough - that Coward deserves'DAILY TELEGRAPHThe voice, the dressing-gown, the cigarette in its holder, remain unmistakable. There is rarely a week when one of Private Lives, Hay Fever, and Blithe Spirit is not in production somewhere in the world. Phrases from Noël Coward's songs - "Mad About The Boy", "Mad Dogs and Englishman" - are forever lodged in the public consciousness. He was at one point the most highly paid author in the world. Yet some of his most striking and daring writing remains unfamiliar. As T.S. Eliot said, in 1954, "there are things you can learn from Noël Coward that you won't learn from Shakespeare".Coward wrote some fifty plays and nine musicals, as well as revues, screenplays, short stories, poetry, and a novel. He was both composer and lyricist for approximately 675 songs. Louis Mountbatten's famous tribute argued that, while there were greater comedians, novelists, composers, painters and so on, only "the master" had combined fourteen talents in one. So central was he to his age's theatre that any account of his career is also a history of the British stage. And so daring was Coward's unorthdoxy in his closest relationships, obliquely reflected throughout his writing, that it must also be a history of sexual liberation in the twentieth century. In Oliver Soden's sparkling, story-packed new Life, the Master finally gets his due.
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.