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Title: Cavendon Hall
Author: Barbara Taylor Bradford
Narrator: Anna Bentinck
Format: Unabridged
Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
Language: English
Release date: 04-01-14
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 239 votes
Genres: Fiction, Historical
Publisher's Summary:
From the #1 New York Times best-selling author comes an epic saga of intrigue and mystique set in Edwardian England. Cavendon Hall is home to two families, the aristocratic Inghams and the Swanns who serve them. Charles Ingham, the sixth Earl of Mowbray, lives there with his wife Felicity and their six children. Walter Swann, the premier male of the Swann family, is valet to the earl.
His wife Alice, a clever seamstress who is in charge of the countess's wardrobe, also makes clothes for the four daughters. For centuries, these two families have lived side-by-side, beneath the backdrop of the imposing Yorkshire manor. Lady Daphne, the most beautiful of the Earls daughters, is about to be presented at court when a devastating event changes her life and threatens the Ingham name.
With World War I looming, both families will find themselves tested in ways they never thought possible. Loyalties will be challenged and betrayals will be set into motion. In this time of uncertainty, one thing is sure: these two families will never be the same again. Cavendon Hall is Barbara Taylor Bradford at her very best, and its sweeping story of secrets, love, honor, and betrayal will have listeners riveted up to the very last word.
Members Reviews:
Sticky Sweet and Shallow
This book was written in a fairytale semi-historic way that is so without depth that the individual characters can be summed up in the author's few words. Once these words are introduced, they are used ad nauseam. For aristocratic Ingham women:
"lovely, kind, so gentle and caring", frosted with sweetness and aching heart's. (Who must pass the time of day thinking only of ballgowns.)
Then the aristocratic men:
"Devoted, entranced, so brave, so noble." This goo is topped with variations of:
"What ever is wrong, my dear, lovely wife?" Often altered "my dear girl" or my personal favorite, "What ever can it be, my dear love?"
In fairness, the last quote is altered to fit both genders, in all strata of society.
If that weren't enough, the servants of the aristocrats in this case the "Swann Family" are cursed with their own never ending phrases and heart aches. Though not nearly as pervasive as the aristocratic Ingham's. If I could run a word program choosing these words, and sickly sweet phrases, it might read in the hundreds.
If you don't mind being bombarded with "My dear's" and characters whose lives center on the next ball or frock, you might enjoy it. Otherwise, run! You will never get those hours back.
Ending left surprising questions unanswered...
Predictable without resolution of most intriguing plot line. Have never read this author before so perhaps this is just a set up for a sequel. I'm not that interested in any of the characters to spend my time on another book by this auther
Ending was not what I was expecting :(
I thought the performance was great but didn't like the ending at all. Very disappointed
Could NOT finish....
Downton Abbey it is NOT, even if it wants to be. Here the servants tell the nobility how to solve their problems.
The narrator is good, until she tries to portray the different characters. Her attempt at different accents, is comical & annoying. (This book is not supposed to be a comedy)
I blame the publishers & recording companies who release such mediocre works.
