The Detour
- Author Andromeda Romano-Lax
- Narrator Dan Butler
- Publisher Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date 14 February 2012
- Run Time 8 hours and 17 minutes
- Format Audio
- Genre Fiction: general and literary, Historical fiction.
Flexible Pricing & Rewards For Listening
At xigxag, the more you read, the less you pay* on select audiobook and x-book® titles, as in the table below. Pricing updates automatically in the app and resets one year after your first purchase. And you can always find a selection of brilliant titles available for only £3.99.
Titles Purchased
- 1-5
- 6-10
- 11-15
- 16-20
- Over 20
Price per title
- £8.99
- £7.99
- £6.99
- £5.99
- £4.99
*Only the full price titles you buy count toward your personal pricing tier. Full price titles don’t include Listen for Less or other books bought with a voucher or discount code.
Listen to a sample
What to expect
Ernst Vogler is twenty-six-years old in 1938 when he is sent to Rome by his employer—the Third Reich's Sonderprojekte, which is collecting the great art of Europe and bringing it to Germany for the Führer. Vogler is to collect a famous classical Roman marble statue, The Discus Thrower, and get it to the German border, where it will be turned over to Gestapo custody. It is a simple, three-day job. Things start to go wrong almost immediately.
The Italian twin brothers who have been hired to escort Vogler to the border seem to have priorities besides the task at hand—wild romances, perhaps even criminal jobs on the side—and Vogler quickly loses control of the assignment. The twins set off on a dangerous detour and Vogler realizes he will be lucky to escape this venture with his life, let alone his job. With nothing left to lose, the young German gives himself up to the Italian adventure, to the surprising love and inevitable losses along the way.
The Detour is a bittersweet novel about artistic obsession, misplaced idealism, detours, and second chances, set along the beautiful back roads of northern Italy on the eve of war.
Critics Review
“As Nazi Germany passes from living memory, novels that allow the reader
to travel its ethical landscape are increasingly important. Andromeda
Romano-Lax has a fine feel for moments of clarity that are recognized
only in hindsight, when chance and personal defects—moral and
physical—combine to produce heroism, or mediocrity, or cowardice.”
“Romano-Lax brings inertia to her narrative, deflating the foreboding of this German’s imploding assignment.”
“A gently haunting work of subtle and surprising wisdom.”
“Romano-Lax is singularly gifted: she creates full-fledged, engaging
characters and writes compelling narrative. Some of her descriptive
passages take your breath away. The author’s The Spanish Bow was a hit. This novel will make a splash, too, for the same reasons.”
“With elegance and an eye for the unexpected, Ms. Romano-Lax distills
the often overwhelming anguish of World War II into this elegiac tale of
an earnest young art curator’s journey into Italy, where he finds
himself caught between his reverence for the past and the horrors of the
future. An evocative portrait of one man’s passage into maturity and
the resiliency of the human spirit, even in midst of the unimaginable.”
“A poignant and important historical drama, as well as part road trip and compelling adventure, The Detour defies our expectations on every page. Andromeda Romano-Lax is a powerful and moving storyteller.”
“A marvelous adventure across landscapes both inner and outer, The Detour is
a moving study in art and memory, history and geography, courage and
compassion and every kind of love. Beautifully executed, deeply felt,
and crammed with what feels for all the world like reality itself, it’s a
rare and valuable book indeed.”
“The Detour is a suspenseful tale of artistic ideals, culture and
power, complex family bonds, and redemptive love with one of the most
finely crafted narratives I’ve ever read. It’s certain to earn Andromeda
Romano-Lax a new level of readership. Vivid and heartbreaking, set
against a shameful time in world history, Lax celebrates the resilience
of the human condition, and its ability to heal against all odds.”
“The Detour is a wonderfully evocative and lyrical novel—a coming
of age story woven into an adventure of art-smuggling under the Nazis.
Romano-Lax brilliantly depicts a triumph over the seductive dangers of
passivity when faced by love, art and the moral choices of life. A
gemstone of a book!”
“The Detour is both a thriller and a poetic journey of a young
art specialist and an ancient statue through the deceits and dangers of
the Third Reich. Plunging into crazy adventures in a truck on the back
roads of Italy and fleeing long-buried memories, Ernst seeks the safe
delivery of the statue and in the process discovers loyalty, love, and
his own soul. Andromeda Romano-Lax is a unique and wonderfully gifted
writer.”
| Author | Andromeda Romano-Lax |
|---|---|
| Narrator | Dan Butler |
| Duration | 8 hours and 17 minutes |
| Release Date | |
| ISBN | 9781609988555 |
| Format | Audiobook |
| Publisher | Blackstone Publishing |
| Genre | Fiction: general and literary, Historical fiction |
| Availability | AU, GB, IE, US |
More from the same
Author
Narrator
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 £8.99. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from £3.99. 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.