Dunbar is the newest addition to the Hogarth Shakespeare series offering a compellingly well-written retelling of King Lear. Using the bare bones of the original, Edward St Aubyn creates a darkly original tale of betrayal and twisted family dynamics. I can imagine this book dividing readers due to its (sometimes unnecessary cleverness) but I loved it.

There’s a series of books re-imagining Shakespeare’s plays, and this was the King Lear adaptation. A businessman, Dunbar, (Lear) escapes from an old people’s home with a washed-up comedian with mental health issues (the Fool), while his daughters (two cruel, one caring) race to find him to destroy his sanity or rescue him, respectively.

In the first few pages, I nearly stopped reading because it was a little stilted, but that soon gave way to excellent, fluent prose. Lear as a play can drag, but there is much wit and levity to balance the sadness and horror within. In particular, his exploration of temporary madness was brilliant.

I’d say that it’s a great book to enjoy in its own right, but at another level if you know (or are trying to understand) King Lear. A great novel, especially for literature enthusiasts or teachers. Highly recommended

Retelling of King Lear, this is sometimes funny, sometimes bleak and very very true to the original.

Immensely enjoyable retelling of King Lear set in modern times.
Dunbar is the unlikeable power-hungry, scheming CEO of a multinational company, who has wheeler-dealed and bulldozed his way through life. When he decides to pass running the business to his two scheming daughters, they dope him and lock him up in a care home.
There he meets Peter, an alcoholic once-famous comedian, and together they plot their escape and Dunbar’s revenge.
Characterisation is wonderful and the retelling is so well done. I particularly enjoyed the wicked sisters and the depths of their evil.
A romp of a story retold, dark-humoured, fast-paced and funny.
Many thanks to Penguin Random House for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

The latest installment of the Hogarth Shakespeare series is a captivating retelling of the tragedy of King Lear.

However, Edward St Aubyn's version is a blockbuster thriller, with Lear becoming Henry Dunbar, a mass media mogul, who is confined to a care home by his Machiavellian eldest daughters. Brining the story up to date, Dunbar's madness has been staged by Megan and Abigail, who enlist the wily and unscrupulous Dr Bob to medicate their father, making him paranoid. As he manages to escape, the chase is on between the sadistic sisters, who would give any good Bond villain a run for their money, and their step-sister Florence, the saintly do-gooder who just wants to see her father, who disowned her, safe and sound. It is such a simple translation of the plot to the modern day and a brilliantly clever means of making the classic tale more relatable in today's day and age. The tale reaches a breathtaking climax as two helicopters race towards the stranded old man across the background of the Lake District.

The story is wonderfully told, with the relationships that are created worthy of the bard himself. Dunbar and Peter's early interaction is like something from a Beckett play, capturing a surreal farce but also the intense loyalty between the two characters. Likewise, some poetic license with the personalities of the daughters really embellishes their characters to give the story a little more bite - in some instances quite literally! The characters and plot are almost cinematic, this could easily be be a big screen thriller.

The novel also achieves wit and a level of social comedy you would not expect from one of Shakespeare's tragedies, with the corporate double dealings and acerbic insights through the internal focalisations of the characters. The patriarchal media moguls at the head of their respective companies are certainly ripe pickings for satire. However at the same time the novel is deeply touching - Dunbar's regret at how he has treated his one loving daughter is sadly frustrated by his inability to refrain from making monetary amends. There is a sad irony in the fact that it is too little too late. The tender moments between father and daughter are almost enough to make us forget that this is ultimately a tragedy, and while we strive for Dunbar to make the all important meeting, give Abby and Megan their comeuppance and return home to Florence and her family, this is really too good to be true. Unfortunately, Dunbar must follow the same trajectory as his Shakespearean inspiration, the the very simple achievement of being able to inspire hope in a reader who already knows how the story ends is testament to how well St Aubyn has created a standalone novel in its own right.

There is certainly a lot packed into this short novel, and as a Shakespeare play itself would be experienced in a compressed amount of time, it is appropriate that it is not expanded upon to heavily if keeping faithful to the story. While this does limit how well rounded the characters can be, with many continuing to be the one-dimensional portrayals and stereotypes from the original, it can be argued that in this instance simplicity is a virtue, and what Dunbar does not achieve in character study it makes up for in its wit and sheer entertainment.

An entertaining retelling of King Lear. But to be honest you'd get more much from reading the original.

Henry Dunbar was the head of the multi-national company. He was fed-up with living in the care home and angry with his family for stealing his corporation from him. He started to run away from the home with friend Peter.

Abigail, Megan and Florence heard that their father (Henry) was raving at the passers-by and the cash machines swallowed all his cards and the phone was disconnected. They tried to have him sectioned permanently.

Peter, the demented alcoholic comedian, made me giggle as Henry planned his revenge against his spoilt daughters.

Edward St Aubyn is the modern version of the comical William Shakespeare!

Caesar 13

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

I was a little disappointed by this addition to the Hogarth Shakespeare Series. Although I liked the modern setting that the author had brought King Lear into, the characters themselves were far too overblown for me to be able to take the book seriously. I was continually pulled out it by their exaggeration. I am grateful for being given the chance to review this book, but I’m afraid it wasn’t for me.

Henry Dunbar has lead his whole life a successful businessman whose orders are carried out immediately and who is not only in charge but in control. But now he finds himself in a sanatorium somewhere in the British countryside, locked away and sedated by his doctors. His eldest daughters Abby and Megan and the family doctor Bob have complotted against him to take over the Dunbar imperium. With his roommate Dunbar decides to flee and to get his life back. His youngest daughter Florence has also gotten wind of the other daughters’ doings and is rushing for help. While the old man is roaming the unknown country in a fierce storm, the sisters and their accomplices are plotting how to get out of the mess best, each one is fighting the others with insidious plans and tricks. But the old man is stronger than anyone would have thought.

“Dunbar” is part of the Shakespeare Hogarth project in which famous authors have transferred the bard’s stories into our modern time in honour of the 400th anniversary of his death. One of the four major tragedies provides the basis for this modern madness: King Lear.

Edward St Aubyn clearly is one of the most gifted authors of our time. He masterly managed to create a gripping story in which the core conflict of Shakespeare’s play can clearly be seen, but which speaks for itself and is a great pleasure to read from the very first to the last page. First of all, the setting. Transferring the king’s household to a media mogul’s family is absolutely adequate for today, it’s not only about power, but much more about the stock market and money. That’s what drives many people nowadays and for which they are willing to sell their own grandmother – or their father as it is here.

Strongest are the characters in the novel. The stubborn old head of the family who cannot be broken by medication and a remote clinic, who develops superhuman survival forces if needed but who finally finds the wisdom of the elderly and can see when in his life he was wrong – that’s one side of the story. Yet, I had a lot more fun with the beastly sisters Abby and Megan, they both are that sly and cunning – it was just a great fun to read (“Oh, God, it was so unfair! That selfish old man was spoiling everything”, Megan complains about her father when she learns that he has fled and her carefully designed plot is about to crumble down). Admittedly, I did not feel too much compassion for their Victim Dr. Bob, who, he himself, also was not the philantropic doctor whom you wish for but much more a turncoat seeking for his own benefit.

A lively family vendetta which completely gets out of control perfectly framed by Edward St Aubyn’s gifted writing. Great dialogues alternate with extraordinary inner monologues – for me so far one of the best works of the Hogarth Shakespeare series.

This was a dark evil tale. Three sisters actually two sisters, one step sister. Two sisters trying to oust their father from a billion dollar worth company by having him institutionalised in a remote mental health facility.

Of course Dunbar being Dunbar (he never became a billionaire by taking the easy path) plans his escape with the help of an alcoholic comedian and succeeds. He is being sought by his youngest daughter for his protection because she does know that her two sisters are ruthless and would not hesitate to even murder both her father and herself (and this is what they eventually do) to get their hands on this vast conglomerate.

A fairly modern interpretation of King Lear, this was a tragic, sad tale of families split apart by greed and ambition.

Fast paced, descriptive, strong characterization.

Goodreads and Amazon reviews posted on 2/11/2017. Review on my blog 16/11/2017. Linked to my FB page as well.

Edward St Aubyn reimagines the tragedy of King Lear as Dunbar, a modern-day media mogul who has handed his company over to his two rapacious daughters. The daughters, Abigail and Megan, conspire with Dr Bob to have Dunbar committed so that they can take the company private. Dunbar, however, escapes with the aid of TV comedian Peter and flees out onto the Cumbrian moors.

Dunbar's estranged daughter, Felicity, learns of his plight and flies in from the USA with loyal retainer Wilson to try and rescue her father from the depredations of her monstrous sisters. Thus ensues a ruthless race against time to locate and extract Dunbar ahead of the all-important board meeting where the company's future will be decided. There is treachery on all sides, and others keenly anticipating their chance.

This is another of the Hogarth Shakespeare series where the great plays are re-imagined by modern authors. St Aubyn's adaptation of Lear is interesting, pacy and highly readable, and one can easily see the parallels with Shakespeare's original. I would say that it seemed a bit lightweight compared to the crushing tragedy of the original, and I found the ending a little unsatisfying.

Hogarth Press has commissioned a series of well-known writers to reinterpret Shakespearean plays. The success rate is very patchy, and this novel demonstrates all the problems and pitfalls that lie in wait for hapless adaptations. I've read three. This one is a riff on King Lear, of a cringe-making crudity.

Henry Dunbar is a media mogul who has been incarcerated in a sanitarium by two of his rapacious daughters who can't wait to get their hands on his fortune. It is another in the Hogarth Shakespeare's series where well known authors re-tell a Shakespearian play. This one is based on King Lear, a play I have not read but I don't think it matters as this is a rather melodramatic tale infused with a wry sense of humour. I have also read New Boy by Tracey Chevalier in this series which was based on Othello, again a play I hadn't read but I thought New Boy failed miserably. I have read other works by both authors and enjoyed them so not knowing the plays these stories are based on I don't think makes a difference - a good story is a good story. Edward St Aubyn seems to have had a marvellous time fulfilling the brief of reimagining King Lear for our times.

This is the most recent of the Hogarth Shakespeare series instalments, which rework one of the bard's infamous plays.

Dunbar is the reborn story of King Lear. The central character is, as in the original, also the title of the piece. Henry Dunbar resides in a nursing home with only the jovial yet nonsensical Peter for companionship. His enterprise and fortunes have made their way to his two greedy daughter's outstretched hands and he is seemingly unable to stop it, in his current predicament. He plans to escape and a mad dash ensues, in which it remains unclear who shall reach him first - the greed-driven and self-serving duo, or the one remaining daughter with love remaining for the father she thought lost?

I found this too true to the original story to make any suspenseful reading. This was, of course, the story's aim but others in this series, that I have read, have also imbibed some sense of their own personality. I found this to appear a more regulation retelling, in comparison. The modern-day scenario was a little too predictable but this still remained an entertaining read, if removed from the association with its basis.

I’m afraid I gave up with this one. Edward St Aubyn’s reworking of King Lear for the Hogarth Shakespeare series of novels seemed to me to be playing for cheap laughs, and I didn’t find it funny. All the subtlety and nuance of Shakespeare was sacrificed for one-dimensional characters who act in quite farcical ways at times – the two elder daughter are sexually rapacious in a quite unbelievable way – and even Florence, the youngest, although so critical to the plot, is portrayed superficially. Henry Dunbar as Lear is a fabulously wealthy media mogul, head of a global empire and is as venal as you would expect such a man to be. The whole novel seemed to me to be one long cliché and I just couldn’t be bothered to struggle on to the end. Where all the glowing reviews have come from I simply don’t understand.

Good but not his best.
ByGreville Watermanon 15 October 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
Anything by this author is guaranteed to be beautifully written and savagely funny but this take on King Lear although entertaining and witty seemed a fairly slight work and unlike his incredible Melrose series will not live long in the memory.

I thought Dunbar was excellent. I approached it with a little trepidation because a modern re-imagining of the King Lear story could have been worthy or turgid or forbidding or just plain terrible. In fact I found it gripping, witty, touching and very readable.

Henry Dunbar, the Lear character, is a billionaire media mogul and the machinations of the characters are in the business and financial worlds which, given the events of the last couple of decades, works extremely well. In the characters of Abigail and Megan (Goneril and Regan), St. Aubyn catches the lazily indignant sense of entitlement and the unthinking, self-absorbed cruelty of the over-privileged sisters. Dunbar escapes from an institution in the Lake District to which these two have secretly committed him, and we get a brilliant picture of a disintegrating mind as he wanders the fells…and so on.

The plot is recognisable without being slavish to the original, and St Aubyn uses it for some very well-aimed barbs at modern finance, the behaviour of the super-rich and other aspects of contemporary life. He writes beautifully, in prose that is elegant but simply carries you along without drawing self-regarding attention to itself. I marked lots of neat passages and phrases, like an institution which "could not keep up with the modern demand for a place in which to neglect the mad, the old and the dying," or the rich, powerful man who "knew what it was to be surrounded by a halo of hollow praise," which seemed especially apt in 2017. The humanity and pity of the play are all there, too, and in the context I found, "Florence, is that you? I've been looking for you everywhere," every bit as moving as,
" Do not laugh at me;
For, as I am a man, I think this lady
To be my child Cordelia"
which for me is really saying something.

In short, I found Dunbar readable, gripping, witty, moving and insightful and I can recommend it very warmly.

(I received an ARC via NetGalley.)

Henry Dunbar is a successful businessman with three daughters, except that two of them (Megan and Abby) and twisted, money-grabbing and disloyal. His third daughter, Florence, is kind and gentle and just wants her father's love and to love him in return, but at a crucial moment Dunbar didn't recognise this and disinherited his favourite daughter. Megan and Abby soon step in to take advantage of their father's ageing mental vulnerability, putting his mental state into question, his business in danger, and shoving their father into an asylum where no one can find him.

The novel opens with Dunbar in this asylum, confused and alone in the middle of nowhere, unable to grasp who has betrayed him and why. The novel follows Dunbar's escape attempts, Florence's mission to save her father, and what seems like all the other characters' motivations to betray Dunbar and profit from the betrayal, leaving Dunbar with nothing.

'Dunbar' is a modern-day rewrite of Shakespeare's King Lear, and has all the characters and plot of the original, but set in the 21st century. It's very well-written and well-paced, however the issue comes with the novel form: none of the characters are particularly likeable and many seem like exaggerated parodies instead of true characters. That may be ideal when watching a 90-minute play, but becomes a bit of an endurance when reading a novel. However, setting is good, the characters have very clear motivations, and the connection with Shakespeare's play is very very well-wrought. If you're a fan of King Lear or tragedy in general, this is a great choice.

Possibly I should not be reviewing this book. I only have a rudimentary knowledge of King Lear: windswept heaths, railing at the elements, disinherited daughters, bastard sons coming sniffing round, which I had hoped would be enough to get me through. It isn’t, not really. Dunbar, a Murdochian figure with a vast media empire, I am able to identify as Lear. Florence, the good daughter who seeks to save him from his incarceration in a Lake District psychiatric facility, is Cordelia. Goneril and Regan are the bad sisters Megan and Abby, pretty much interchangeable here, although one seems to enjoy more sexual perversions. I liked Peter, an alcoholic ex-comedian who escapes with Dunbar from the hospital, as the Fool. And then I became a bit unstuck, the whole Edmund/Edgar/Poor Tom/Albany part of the narrative being rather sketchily drawn in my head. Probably I should have read the play first. I was hobbled, too, by not fully appreciating the corporate shenanigans subplot – Goneril and Regan wish to oust their enfeebled father and take over the empire – as much as I should. Apart from films like The Big Short, this subject matter often leaves me cold.
My biggest problem with the book, perhaps, was that even with my less than thorough familiarity with the source text, it didn’t seem to take many risks. Other reviewers have referred to A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley, and I’ll do so here: she subverts the text enough to give a more interesting reading, with the “bad” sisters emerging sympathetically and her Cordelia finally being exposed as a bit of a prig. It’s a shame that St Aubyn, a man and a writer I much admire, didn’t do something comparable. Dunbar is good fun, but feels like a missed opportunity.

I think I would have liked this more if I didn't know the play. My own ideas about what each character was like never quite matched that of the author. And, of course, I knew what was going to happen next.
The fault is entirely mine for choosing the wrong book. I am sure that others will enjoy it.