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    The Labrador Pact
    The Labrador Pact
    The Labrador Pact
    Audiobook6 hours

    The Labrador Pact

    Written by Matt Haig

    Narrated by Simon Jones

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    The story of a family in crisis and the loyal dog that holds them together, from the witty, imaginative author of The Dead Fathers Club. The Hunters-Adam, Kate, and their children Hal and Charlotte-are a typical family, with typical concerns: work, money, love, and the trials of adolescence. What sets them apart is Prince, their black labrador.

    Prince is an earnest and determined young dog. He strives to live up to the tenets of the Labrador Pact: Duty Over All. Other dogs, led by the springer spaniels, have revolted, but Prince takes his responsibilities seriously. As things in the Hunter family begin to go awry-marital breakdown, rowdy teenage parties, attempted suicide-he uses every canine resource to keep the clan together.

    In the end, Prince must choose: the family or the Pact? His decision may cost him everything.

    Wry, perceptive, and heartbreaking, The Labrador Pact is a cunning and original take on domestic life, with an improbably poignant narrator.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateFeb 28, 2008
    ISBN9781598875539
    The Labrador Pact
    Author

    Matt Haig

    MATT HAIG is the bestselling author of The Midnight Library. His most recent work is the non-fiction title The Comfort Book. He has written two other books of non-fiction and six highly acclaimed novels for adults, as well as many books for children. Matt Haig has sold more than a million books worldwide. His work has been translated into more than forty languages.

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    Reviews for The Labrador Pact

    4/5

    25 ratings10 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I enjoyed that the story is told by the Labrador. It was interesting to hear the perspective of how humanity can be viewed by our companion animals.
    • 3/5
      I expected this to be better. Funny and moving, yes, but also a bit naive and boring. Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood for this, also based on the conclusion that it took me forever to read. I'll give Haig another go at some point.
    • 4/5
      A novel about an ordinary British family told through the eyes of their labrador. The labrador believes he is responsible for the well-being of his family, and tries to protect them from themselves. Thought-provoking and worth your while.
    • 4/5
      'Nobody knows exactly how the Springer Uprising started. Or how. There are different stories, but it happened too quickly for anybody to be sure. Within no time at all, Springer spaniels could be found in almost every part of the country, spreading the word.' 'Dogs for Dogs, not for Humans' and 'Pleasure before Duty' say the Springers and more and more dogs follow their lead.But of course Labradors are everything Springer spaniels are not: dutiful; obedient; prepared to sacrifice everything for their masters. So Prince, a young black Labrador, is a fervent adherent to the Labrador Pact, a resistance movement which reveres the Family as the most beautiful aspect of human existence, and the proper environment for a dog to live. 'Duty over All' is the motto of the Pact and Prince tries to follow this creed as dogs all around him live for the moment. But his family is falling apart: suicide attempts, marriage, breakdown and teenage problems mean that Prince's attempts to protect his family become more and more desperate.The Last Family in England is a black comedy which starts with Prince awaiting his final appointment with the vet, and tells the story of how his breaking of the Pact led him to that position. I didn't enjoy this one as much as The Radleys by the same author which I read last year, but still a decent book and a good holiday read. And as someone who used to own a Springer Spaniel, the idea that Springers are responsible for an uprising makes perfect sense!
    • 4/5
      This is the one that I swore I wasn't going to listen to once I found out after purchasing it that the dog dies.Labradors share a special special pact to take care of their family. This is the story of a labrador's eye view of one family's disintegration. The more our narrator tries to fix things, the more out of control they become. Partly I chose to listen to this because I was intrigued to read that it is a retelling of Shakespeare's Henry IVth part II. Our four footed narrator's name is Prince. His best doggy friend is named Falstaff. Things go wrong and no matter how hard our hero tries to change this, bodies (dogs and humans) pile up, including, at the end our narrator.You do find out in the first few sentences that the dog will be put down. However, it seems so inevitable from the beginning, so much the classic tragedy, that I didn't have the same emotional reaction that I do to most stories where the animal dies.
    • 4/5
      Heartbreaking page turner about a labrador who does all he can to save his family.
    • 5/5
      Amazing and such an original book, perhaps the entire human race ought to read it and maybe they may begin (I hope) to see our animal friends in a new light. Fabulous..
    • 3/5
      Sadly this book didn't grab me in the way that Haig's other book, The Radleys, did. I loved the idea of the Labrador Pact, loved Prince - he reminded me of my aunt's labrador, Fred - but I found the family so tiresome and two dimensional, even when mitigated through a dog's eyes I just couldn't care about them enough to really engage with the book properly.
    • 4/5
      Charming unsentimental tale of family breakdown described by a dog in a distinctive droll voice that does not shrink from harsh observations.
    • 4/5
      i love matt haig but this one is a super sad story ?