Helpful Score: 2
Constant Bradley has what it takes to go all the way; looks, breeding, wit and style. Yet the famed congressman has one fatal flaw. Beneath his handsome face lies a hidden rage that can explode in murder. ONce Harrison Burns was Constants best friend. A scholarship student drawn into the Bradleys privileged world of seaside summers and exclusive clubs, he enjoyed the familys generostiy, until the night when fifteen year old Winifred Utley was bludgeoned to death near the Bradley estate
Helpful Score: 2
Much like the Kennedy family with political power used for personal gain and cover-up for murder. Great read!
Helpful Score: 1
I always like Dominick Dunne and his account of the ways of wealthy people. They do think differently, from you and me. It also gives insight into the death of Martha Moxley and what could have happened in the Skakel household at the time of her murder.
Helpful Score: 1
I loved this book!
Helpful Score: 1
This novel is Dunne at his best. In this story Dunne fictionalizes the Martha Moxley murder and shows his strengths as a storyteller. Here Dunne shows he can balance plot as well as charcter development.
This story is told from the point of veiw of Harrison Burns. When Harrison was a teenager he saw his friend Constant Bradley murder the girl next door. Constant's family buys Harrison's silence through the years by paying his college tution and sending him abroad.
However as the years go on Harrison finds it harder to live with what he has seen. These feelings cause the demise of his marriage and general self loathing. Harrison is forced to face off with the Bradley's when they invite him to their home to ask Harrison to write a book about Constant's life.
Along with Harrison's dilema Dunne tells the story of the demise of a family. The skill with which Dunne tells both stories make this book well worth reading. The other to reason to read it is of course, affairs, family battles, and good gossip.
This story is told from the point of veiw of Harrison Burns. When Harrison was a teenager he saw his friend Constant Bradley murder the girl next door. Constant's family buys Harrison's silence through the years by paying his college tution and sending him abroad.
However as the years go on Harrison finds it harder to live with what he has seen. These feelings cause the demise of his marriage and general self loathing. Harrison is forced to face off with the Bradley's when they invite him to their home to ask Harrison to write a book about Constant's life.
Along with Harrison's dilema Dunne tells the story of the demise of a family. The skill with which Dunne tells both stories make this book well worth reading. The other to reason to read it is of course, affairs, family battles, and good gossip.
Helpful Score: 1
Glamour, wealth, success, power. the Bradleys are as close to an aristocracy as America has ever had. And one day soon, if patriarch Gerald Bradley has his way, his charismatic youngest son will win the highest office in the land.
Constant Bradley has what it takes to go all the way: looks, breeding, wit, and style. Yet the famed congressman has one fatal flaw: Beneath his handsome face lies a hidden rage that can explode...in murder.
Constant Bradley has what it takes to go all the way: looks, breeding, wit, and style. Yet the famed congressman has one fatal flaw: Beneath his handsome face lies a hidden rage that can explode...in murder.
By far the best Dominick Dunne book I've read.
A very interesting read.
Very interesting story about an aristocratic wealthy famiily.
People called the Bradleys "America's Royalty" and they had everything, money,glamour,influence and the power to commit murder and halt police investigation in its tracks...But then,an outsider appears who refuses to play his part in the coverup and the day of reckoning and the fall of the Bradleys is at hand...
A murder mystery about a wealthy Irish family.
One of my very favorite books. I've read it twice. The first time, I couldn't put it down.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Dominick Dunne turns the secrets of power and privilege into his most shocking and important novel. In A Season in Purgatory, Dunne explores a wealthy Catholic family, a sinister murder of an innocent girl, and its twenty-year cover-up. When Harrison Burns first meets the family of his boarding school chum Constant Bradley, he is awed by their wealth and generosity. But the Bradleys are a family of strong social aspirations and unrelenting political ambition, and Harrison soon learns that friendship with the Bradleys has its price. As Harrison Burns strips away the facade of wealth and acquisition, he brings the reader face to face with the inner structure of a large family at odds with the religion that is at its core, and the terrible secret that is his purgatory to bear.
Dominick Dunne turns the secrets of power and privilege into his most shocking and important novel. In A Season in Purgatory, Dunne explores a wealthy Catholic family, a sinister murder of an innocent girl, and its twenty-year cover-up. When Harrison Burns first meets the family of his boarding school chum Constant Bradley, he is awed by their wealth and generosity. But the Bradleys are a family of strong social aspirations and unrelenting political ambition, and Harrison soon learns that friendship with the Bradleys has its price. As Harrison Burns strips away the facade of wealth and acquisition, he brings the reader face to face with the inner structure of a large family at odds with the religion that is at its core, and the terrible secret that is his purgatory to bear.
I like all of Dunne's books
Excellent book. I thoroughly enjoyed this. Hard to put down.
