Alec, William di Canzio
Alec, William di Canzio
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Alec
A Novel

Author: William di Canzio

Narrator: John Sackville

Unabridged: 9 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/06/2021


Synopsis

"Sackville imbues this character-driven historical drama with warmth, comfort, and a sense of optimism, especially during the story's darkest moments." —AudioFile Magazine

William di Canzio’s Alec, inspired by Maurice, E. M. Forster’s secret novel of a happy same-sex love affair, tells the story of Alec Scudder, the gamekeeper Maurice Hall falls in love with in Forster’s classic, published only after the author's death.

Di Canzio follows their story past the end of Maurice to the front lines of battle in World War I and beyond. Forster, who tried to write an epilogue about the future of his characters, was stymied by the radical change that the Great War brought to their world. With the hindsight of a century, di Canzio imagines a future for them and a past for Alec—a young villager possessed of remarkable passion and self-knowledge.

Alec continues Forster’s project of telling stories that are part of “a great unrecorded history.” Di Canzio’s debut novel is a love story of epic proportions, at once classic and boldly new.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

About William di Canzio

William di Canzio’s plays--including the award-winning Dooley and Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier--have been staged in New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Philadelphia; at Yale University and the O’Neill Theater Center; and at the National Constitution Center. Di Canzio has taught literature and writing at Smith College, Haverford College, and Yale University. Since 2013, he has taught in the Pennoni Honors College of Drexel University.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Erik on September 06, 2021

In Alec, William di Canzio brilliantly rethinks E.M. Forster's gay classic, Maurice. Alec Scudder is the Welsh boy of working class means that Maurice Hall falls in love with in the classic story of Maurice. But in Alec the story is flipped and Alec's world is centered. We learn about the man who Mau......more

Goodreads review by George on February 10, 2022

The tone of this novel started out on shaky ground for me—too expository and "on the nose." For those who don't know, this novel develops the story of Alec Scudder, the gamekeeper who catches the eye of Maurice in the novel by E.M. Forster. As Forster explains in the Terminal Note to his novel, "Maur......more

Goodreads review by Flo on July 30, 2023

'Alec' is okay, but nothing special. The author rewrites the last chapters from 'Maurice' from the perspective of Scudder and then it becomes a conventional First World War novel. I wouldnt read it again, if I knew the results.......more

Goodreads review by Ricky on December 23, 2021

Thank you William di Canzio for this gorgeous gift for fans of E.M. Forster's classic Maurice like myself. It's obvious from page one that this passion project means a lot to the author as it undoubtedly will to the reader. Di Canzio's approach is full of deference, passion and a tender adoration fo......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on December 17, 2023

A beautifully written story of love and war.......more