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The Dolphin House
- Author
- Audrey Schulman
- Narrator
- Alex Picard
- Publisher
- Europa Editions
- Publish Date
- 3 August 2023
- Run Time
- 8 hours 59 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
"Schulman delivers the known world in startling new sounds, colours, tastes and smells."— New York Times Sunday Book Review
It is 1965 and Cora, a deaf young woman, buys a one-way ticket to the island of St Thomas, where she discovers four dolphins held in captivity, part of an experiment led by an obsessive Dr Bloom. Drawn by a strong connection to the dolphins, untrained Cora falls in with the scientists to protect the animals.
Recognising Cora's knack for communication, Bloom uses her for what will turn into one of the most fascinating experiments in modern science: an attempt to teach the dolphins human language.
As the experiment progresses, Cora forges a remarkable bond with the creatures that leads to a clash with the male-dominated world of science, threatening to engulf the experiment as Cora's fight to save the dolphins becomes a battle to save herself.
For fans of Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.
Critics Review
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"Compelling ... This thought-provoking novel, based on real events, probes communication between species and between sexes."
Shelf Awareness
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"Readers will enjoy this novel of the human need for connection, conversation, and community."
Booklist
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"This is worth plunging into."
Publishers Weekly
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"As with Ms. Schulman's outstanding 2018 novel "Theory of Bastards," about a bonobo researcher in a dystopian near future, the frisson of "The Dolphin House" comes when it turns the methods of rigorous observation on its humans. Sexual desire is central to understanding the behavior of both species. But as the scandal at the conclusion of this engrossing book shows, only one wields it as an instrument of aggression and shame."
Wall Street Journal
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"Audrey Schulman's The Dolphin House achieves something remarkable by recasting this kooky, salacious chapter in American science into a melancholy psychological drama. Schulman—whose excellent 2018 novel, Theory of Bastards, also features a female researcher developing a close relationship with her animal subjects—is a daring and original writer. Despite its sordid-seeming subject matter, The Dolphin House is a true heartbreaker."
WIRED
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"Both woman and dolphins come to vivid life in this fascinating and beautifully realized novel."
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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"Theory of Bastards is both an edifying read and an exhilarating one."
The Economist on Theory of Bastards
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"The novel I can't get out of my head is Audrey Schulman's mid-Collapse Theory of Bastards, with its nuanced confluence of the personal and the epic, the human and the nonhuman."
Jeff VanderMeer on Theory of Bastards
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"Wonderful, intricate . . . Schulman's vision of the future is powerful and strange."
Publishers Weekly on Theory of Bastards
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Audrey Schulman
- Narrator
- Alex Picard
- Duration
- 8 hours 59 minutes
- Release Date
- 3 August 2023
- ISBN
- 9781787705227
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Europa Editions
- Genre
- Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general
Synopsis
"Schulman delivers the known world in startling new sounds, colours, tastes and smells."— New York Times Sunday Book Review It is 1965 and Cora, a deaf young woman, buys a one-way ticket to the island of St Thomas, where she discovers four dolphins held in captivity, part of an experiment led by an obsessive Dr Bloom. Drawn by a strong connection to the dolphins, untrained Cora falls in with the scientists to protect the animals. Recognising Cora's knack for communication, Bloom uses her for what will turn into one of the most fascinating experiments in modern science: an attempt to teach the dolphins human language. As the experiment progresses, Cora forges a remarkable bond with the creatures that leads to a clash with the male-dominated world of science, threatening to engulf the experiment as Cora's fight to save the dolphins becomes a battle to save herself. For fans of Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus.
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