Sorrow in Sunlight (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. A Modernist Colonial Caribbean Satire of Race, Class, Fashion, Desire, and Island SocietyBy Ronald Firbank
Length3h 1m
About this audiobook
Ronald Firbank's Sorrow in Sunlight is a dazzlingly elliptical comic novel of Caribbean society, following the socially ambitious Mouth family as race, class, religion, fashion, and desire intersect under the glare of colonial modernity. Written in Firbank's unmistakable manner—fragmentary dialogue, ornamental detail, sudden tonal shifts, and theatrical compression—the book belongs to the experimental fringes of early twentieth-century modernism, while also extending the decadent wit of Wilde into a stranger, more disquieting register. Firbank, born in London in 1886 and educated amid the privileges and constraints of Edwardian upper-class life, was a Catholic convert, cosmopolitan traveler, and outsider-aesthete whose fiction repeatedly turns social ritual into stylized performance. His fascination with ceremony, gossip, costume, and marginal identities informs this novel's oblique treatment of colonial aspiration and cultural mimicry. Though his racial language and assumptions reflect troubling aspects of his era, his work exposes the absurdities of hierarchy with uncommon formal daring. Sorrow in Sunlight is recommended for readers interested in modernist experimentation, camp aesthetics, colonial satire, and the genealogy of queer literary style. It is brief, difficult, brilliant, and unsettling: a novel best read slowly, for its silences as much as its glittering surfaces.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★ 3.3 (62)
Includes Goodreads
GenreHumor, General Fiction
Length3 hrs 1 min
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 10, 2023
LanguageEnglish
More from Ronald Firbank
Lost In TranslationAudrey Davis9h 15m4.4 (235)$17 · $0.00
Love That StoryJonathan Van Ness5h 44m4.2 (10.4K)$24 · $0.00
This Is Going to HurtAdam Kay5h 47m4.4 (444.7K)$24 · $0.00
You Will Get Through This NightDaniel Howell6h 56m4.4 (11.8K)$24 · $0.00
Northanger Abbey (Annotated)Jane Austen10h 7m4.5 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
My Dear HamiltonStephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie23h 7m4.4 (63.6K)$46 · $0.00
THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS & SCREWTAPE PROPOSES A TOAST (Annotated)C. S. Lewis5h 6m4.4 (471K)$2 · $0.00
BufferingHannah Hart5h 55m4.4 (12.4K)$24 · $0.00
The Office BFFsJenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey8h 26m4.3 (45.4K)$26 · $0.00
The Collected Stories of Dorothy ParkerDorothy Parker8h 36m4.3 (13.6K)$1 · $0.00
LambChristopher Moore15h 22m4.3 (211.3K)$33 · $0.00
#IMomSoHardKristin Hensley, Jen Smedley7h 19m4.3 (7.3K)$24 · $0.00
Mixed PlateJo Koy8h 18m4.3 (7.1K)$26 · $0.00
Over the TopJonathan Van Ness5h 50m4.3 (87.3K)$24 · $0.00
It Never EndsTom Scharpling8h 53m4.4 (2.3K)$20 · $0.00
More Tales of the CityArmistead Maupin8h 23m4.3 (22.6K)$26 · $0.00
Joyful Recollections of TraumaPaul Scheer6h 38m4.3 (8.2K)$7 · $0.00
More Than a WomanCaitlin Moran9h 31m4.3 (16.8K)$29 · $0.00
FamesickLena Dunham11h 46m4.3 (49.7K)$29 · $0.00
Scandalous WomenGill Paul10h 46m4.4 (1.5K)$29 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Things We Cannot SayKelly Rimmer13h 48m4.5 (359.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du BoisHonoree Fanonne Jeffers29h 49m4.5 (58K)$8 · $0.00
Going PostalTerry Pratchett11h 23m4.5 (189.9K)$29 · $0.00
Glen AffricKarine Giebel22h 51m4.5 (3.2K)$46 · $0.00
The Book Of NegroesLawrence Hill15h 45m4.5 (107.3K)$33 · $0.00
Lieutenant Hornblower (Annotated)C. S. Forester11h 41m4.5 (2.9K)$2 · $0.00
Pride and PrejudiceJane Austen14h 46m4.5 (5.3M)$4 · $0.00
You may also like
The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain (Illustrated) (Annotated)Mark Twain113h 23m4.4 (8.2K)$2 · $0.00
Queen VictoriaLytton Strachey10h 29m3.9 (4.2K)$1 · $0.00
Dombey and SonCharles Dickens37h 35m4.1 (23.2K)$2.30
The Garden Party, and Other StoriesKatherine Mansfield7h 27m4.0 (14.2K)$1 · $0.00
Boswell's Life of JohnsonJames Boswell21h 55m4.2 (47.6K)$1 · $0.00
UlyssesJames Joyce30h 36m4.0 (179.7K)$2.30
The Collected Stories of Jean StaffordJean Stafford19h 43m3.9 (1.8K)$30 · $0.00
DublinersJames Joyce7h 26m4.0 (218.2K)$1.20 · $0.00
Orlando: A BiographyVirginia Woolf8h 42m4.0 (147.3K)$1 · $0.00
DublinersJames Joyce8h 24m4.0 (230K)$1 · $0.00
Flush: A Biography (Annotated)Virginia Woolf4h 57m4.0 (23.2K)$1.99 · $0.00
Twelfth Night (The Unabridged Play) + The Classic Biography (Annotated)William Shakespeare, Sidney Lee16h 38m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
Twilight SleepEdith Wharton9h 18m3.6 (1.6K)$2.40
Anton Chekhov: The Collected Novellas and Short Stories in Multiple Translations (Annotated)Anton Chekhov132h 15m$2 · $0.00
The Mark Twain SamplerMark Twain3h 2m3.5 (34)$15
Collected Plays of Anton Chekhov (Annotated)Anton Chekhov16h 28m$2 · $0.00
Plays by August Strindberg, First SeriesAugust Strindberg7h 16m3.9 (21)$2 · $0.00
I Married the Icepick KillerCarol Muske-Dukes4h 53m3.9 (13)$27 · $0.00
The Fourth Progressive ReaderAnonymous10h 8m$2.40
Mark Twain’s Helpful Hints for Good LivingMark Twain4h 24m4.0 (991)$14