I love William Boyd's writing and Trio is another excellent book. The Trio of the title are an interesting set of characters with plenty of back story and lots going on. Set mainly in Brighton in 1968 during the shooting of a movie the story certainly sets the scene with historic and social references. It was an interesting year and this is an interesting and very enertaining read. With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review and e-ARC of this title.

William Boyd is definitely one of my go-to authors for good writing and excellent plotting plus a little bit of surprise as his themes are so wide ranging. ‘Trio’ did not disappoint. Brighton in the 1960s and filming has begun on location. We are introduced to the ‘cast’ both on and off set and dualities in private and personal personas emerge. The title ‘Trio’ is rather clever - I was initially anticipating a ménage a trois, and there are some triangular relationships, but this is also very much a book about three people who all have in common their isolation, unstable relationships, dependence on drugs or alcohol and how these are impacting on their professional lives. They all appear to be something they are not and gradually the masks slip - as one character observes, ‘ if you want to know what human beings are like, actually like,if you want to know what’s going on in their heads behind those masks we wear, then read a novel. ‘ The novel is full of duplicity - affairs, financial trickery, theft, pretending to be something you are not whether professionally or sexually. I particularly loved the character of Elfrida, how Boyd portrays her drinking and the novel within a novel as Elfrida begins to write the first lines of her new book. This was a really enjoyable read, at times comic, at times tragic. With thanks to Penguin General U.K., Hamish Hamilton, Fig Tree and Viking for a digital copy of this book

The trio in the title are involved in the making of a film in Brighton in 1968. Anny Viklund is the American star of the film, who has a complicated emotional life. Talbot Kydd is the producer who supposedly has financial control over the film, and has his own secrets. Elfrida Wing is a blocked author “the new Virginia Wolf”, who likes vodka rather too much, and is married to the film’s director, Reginald (call me Rodrigo) Tipton. As the filming lurches from problem to problem, each of the trio has to address their demons, and find a way to escape them and move on, some more successfully than others. This is a compelling read with a wonderful cast of characters, set at a time when it felt that the whole world was in flux and anything was possible. Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General UK for the opportunity to read this book.

William Boyd’s latest book tells the story of three characters whose lives intersect during the production of a movie in the 1960s. There is Talbot, the film producer; Anny, the film star; and Elfrida, a novelist who is also the film director’s wife. As you would expect, each of the characters has their secrets and these all come to the fore to effect their lives in different ways. I enjoyed reading this book but I’m not sure it will live long in my memory. I liked and felt some sympathy towards all of the main characters but some of the supporting ones felt a bit stereotypical. I also felt the story would’ve been serviced better by being a bit longer in order to give more detail to the end of each of their stories. Without giving too much away, Elfrida’s particularly felt a little bit out of character and too simplified. Maybe the author had this in mind while he was writing it, but I think this would make an excellent movie itself and I was left wondering if anyone has already snapped up the film rights, much like Talbot does on one occasion in the book! While I have my criticisms, I would recommend this book and would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read it.

Trio is based in Brighton in the summer of 1968, and focuses on three main characters who are all related in one way or another to the film production that is central to the story. Talbot is the producer of the film, but is he keeping a secret from everyone he knows? And is his business partner trying to rip him off? Anny is the beautiful, unpredictable star of the film, but is her past coming back to haunt her, in the form of old lovers? And how will her new lover deal with this? And Elfrida Wing is the alcoholic, reclusive author who is married to the director of the film, desperately searching for her next source of inspiration. I found this book quite unusual, the characters are incredibly vivid and well written, and I found them each quite compelling in their own way, although if I had to order them in preference, I probably found Elfrida the most interesting, with Talbot in the middle, and I was a bit indifferent towards Anny. The concept of the story was good, but I’m afraid it just didn’t quite grab me, although in saying that, I was never tempted to not finish the book - I wanted to know what happened and found it a decent read, but I wouldn’t re-read it myself. The characters are great and the story was intriguing, and I thought it all came to a good resolution, but it just didn’t hit a particularly high note for me, I’m afraid! If you’re on the fence about reading it, I think it would be worth a read - you’ll probably figure out quite quickly if it’s for you or not. I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.