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Title: The Mistress's Daughter

Author: A. M. Homes

Narrator: Rachel Botchen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-03-09

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

On the day that Homes was born in 1961, she was given up for adoption. Her birth parents were a twenty-two year old woman and an older married man with whom she was having an affair.

Thirty years later, out of the blue, Homes was contacted by a lawyer on behalf of her birth mother and they began to correspond; her biological father contacted her soon after. These two individuals and their effect on the adult Homes are strange and unexpected and the story spirals into something utterly raw and hilarious, heartbreaking and absurd. Along the way, Homes describes the clash between her childhood fantasies of her birth parents and the disappointing reality.

Members Reviews:

Powerful, moving and thought provoking

Incredibly, personal account of a journey back in time to the events that lead to the author's conception. Tracing the threads behind the reason for her existence. Often painful, deeply moving, her biological mother's years of hurt, abandonment and broken promises travel in time to kick the author in her stomach. There follows emotional upheaval, uncertainty, expectations and then the dismal realisation that nothing has indeed changed. The daughter suffers at her father's hands just as her mother had before her.

A book for everyone who questions their existence and why and where genetic and personality comes from!

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Title: Epiphany

Author: David Hewson

Narrator: Peter Marinker

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-16-09

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 11 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

At Christmas 1975 a group of Californian students experiment with LSD. One of them, Michael Quinn kidnaps the son of an English professor. When he is released from jail twenty years later, a mysterious young English woman named Joni Lascelles begins to ask questions that will unravel the past...

©1996 David Hewson; (P)2008 WF Howes Ltd

Members Reviews:

Deeply gloomy listen

Yes David Hewson is a wonderful writer - love his Rome series - but this is a deeply and unrelentingly depressing listen. Maybe it would make more sense on the page but as an audio, it doesn't. Just a jumble of time periods, creepy loser characters. And why must he repeat phrases or words so often... is it a beatnik thing?

Back to the Italian books

This one was, as the other reader says, depressing. The plot is unconvincing - I was gritting my teeth and muttering "of course nobody would do that". Why did they do that? Why did they continue to cover it up? Why did someone not call the cops on day one and save us all the agony? It was a chore to finish and not even a happy ending. I have enjoyed three of David Hewson's Italian books and will continue with that series - after a rest. Oh, and on top of that, I found the narrator irritating.

Can't please all the people all the time.

I loved it. Enjoyed his other books, Italy series is great and I got this on the strength of those. This is in a different league of writing, a cut above a crime thriller. Read and enjoy but make sure that you have the full versions - I do not yet know how this ends since my unabridged version is incomplete!

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Title: The Other Side of the Bridge

Author: Mary Lawson

Narrator: Paul Hecht

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-03-08

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Arthur and Jake are the sons of a farmer in the mid-1930s, when life is tough and another world war is looming. Arthur is solid and dutiful, set to inherit the farm and his father's character; Jake is younger, attractive, mercurial and dangerous to know. A young woman, Laura, comes into the community and tips the fragile balance of sibling rivalry over the edge... And then there is Ian, son of the local doctor, thoughtful, idealistic, and far too sure that he knows the difference between right and wrong. By now it is the 50s, and the world has changed - a little, but not enough...

©2006 Mary Lawson; (P)2008 Recorded Books LLC

Members Reviews:

Characters in Canada you have to care about ...

Moving beautifully between the 30's and the 50s, this story has a depth and breadth that one might not anticipate when reading the brief story description. We hear about the stoicism of parents, of angst and hopes of boys as they grow into men and the impact of World World II on this community. In an almost hypnotic way, Paul Hecht's voice and narration talents brings the individuals to life drawing you in like a fish on a line. The tale evolves and at the end, after heart-breaking tragedy, times of gentle humour and poignant tenderness, you are left satisfyingly content with the balance of it all.

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Title: Folly

Author: Alan Titchmarsh

Narrator: Alan Titchmarsh

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-15-08

Publisher: Hodder Headline Limited

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Alan Titchmarsh reads his most ambitious novel to date. A multi-generational story of intrigue, rivalry and romance between two families auction houses in Bath.

For three generations the family-run auction houses of the Dashwoods and the Kings have been fierce rivals. The grandparents Henry Dashwood and Edward King were once best friends, despite their different backgrounds.

Best friends until they fell for the same girl Eleanor Faraday eventually picked Henry but the seeds had been sown for a bitter feud that flourished between the two clans for over six decades.

But as both firms prepare to celebrate their half century, two of the grandchildren, Jamie Dashwood and Artemis King, decide its time to bury the hatchet and arrange a shared party to which both families are invited. Things dont go according to plan though and revelations at the party rock the foundations of both families as a web of deceit and intrigue, forgery and fraud are ruinously exposed.

Jamie and Artemis uncover secrets that were better left undisturbed, but their discovery brings them closer together and they find themselves falling in love. Will their love be strong enough to survive the scandal they have unwittingly revealed?

Members Reviews:

Delightful, as usual

Would you listen to Folly again? Why?

Always nice to listen to Alan reading his own books

What did you like best about this story?

The way it switched from the past to the present; two stories in one

What does the narrator bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

His relaxed style and the fondness for his characters. He really sounds as though he likes these people and forgives their foibles

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

yes, but to say what it was would be a spoiler - good thing I had tissues in the car

Any additional comments?

Never been a book of Alan's that I haven't liked. They are always charming.

An Entertaining 'Page Turner'

Set in two time scales, Folly was fairly easy to follow although it did jump about a lot and I would have liked each bit to be developed more before

jumping time frames again, but I think this was due to the abridgement.

Even so, things I liked about Folly; it was a 'page turner', I liked that quality to it. The insights into the art world and art dealing (and even fiddling) were entertaining. It had some humour in it as well. Also the main characters were likeable. And although I thought the final twist let it down, I like a happy ending and this did have one!

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Title: Portobello

Author: Ruth Rendell

Narrator: Nigel Anthony

Format: Abridged

Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-13-08

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Eugene Wren inherited an art gallery from his father near an arcade that now sells cashmere, handmade soaps and children's clothes. But he decided to move to a more upmarket site in Kensington Church Street. Eugene was fifty, with prematurely white hair. He was, perhaps, too secretive for his own good. He also had an addictive personality. But he had cut back radically on his alcohol consumption and had given up cigarettes. Which was just as well, considering he was going out with a doctor. For all his good intentions, though, there was something he didn't want her to know about.

On a shopping trip one day, Eugene, quite by chance, came across an envelope containing money. He picked it up. For some reason, rather than report the matter to the police, he wrote a note and stuck it up on lamppost near his house:

"Found in Chepstow Villas, a sum of money between eighty and a hundred and sixty pounds. Anyone who has lost such a sum should apply to the phone number below."

This note would link the lives of a number of very different people - each with their obsessions, problems and dreams and despairs. And through it all the hectic life of Portobello would bustle on.

Members Reviews:

not her best

left me unsatisfied at the end for some reason

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Title: Farther Afield

Author: Miss Read

Narrator: Carole Boyd

Format: Abridged

Length: 3 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-07-08

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Limited

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

So it is for Miss Read - but on the very first day of the long summer holiday, she falls and breaks her arm. Instantly, all her plans for the holidays are in tatters. But Miss Read's friend, Amy, comes up with a plan: and so it is that the two of them leave Fairacre for the island of Crete.

The change of scene provides a welcome break for both women, giving Miss Read the opportunity to recuperate, and for them both to discuss the merits of single and married life. And when Miss Read returns, refreshed, to Fairacre, she is ready to tackle the problems which await her.

Members Reviews:

Very Enjoyable

Carole Boyd is a wonderful narrator and she enhanced the book considerably as she brought all the characters to life. The story is good and the only reason I only gave it 4 stars is that some of the other Miss Reed books are even better. This book was the perfect antidote to a very stressful week, it's lovely gentle story was just what I needed.

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Title: Secrets of the Sea

Author: Nicholas Shakespeare

Narrator: Stan Pretty

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-09-08

Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Longing for children, they take in a teenage castaway, whose presence begins to unravel their tenuously forged happiness, while at the same time offering the prospect of a much greater fulfilment.

Critic Reviews:

"Expertly crafted, the novel illuminates love's craggy depths." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Great reading

Just a little difficult to follow the first few pages then one of the best stories I've read in a long time. The characters are complex, interesting and believable. The story builds and builds. Just a great read. I've all ready bought it for 2 other friends. Highly rec this novel. May be better than " The Dancer Upstairs".

secrets of the sea

I loved this book. He writes like a native Australian. Insightful and moving. It was all tied together despite the story taking so many different directions. I will be reading more Nicholas Shakespeare.

"You'd better start living. We're dead an awfully long time."

(4.5 stars) Set on the remote southeast coast of Tasmania, the isolated island at the southernmost tip of Australia, Nicholas Shakespeare's latest novel examines the lives of Alex and Merridy Dove as they try to create satisfying lives, cope with traumatic childhood memories, and ultimately decide that "[We'd] better start living. We're dead an awfully long time." Wellington Point, the fictional town in which they live on Tasmania's southeast coast, faces Oyster Bay, a battered shoreline open to ferocious gales coming from the nearest land mass to the south--Antarctica--a place where only the hardiest and most independent souls manage to wrest a living from the land or the sea.

Alex and Merridy Dove have both faced tragedy. Alex lost both of his parents when he was only eleven, after which he was sent to England. Returning twelve years later, he meets and falls in love with Merridy, whose much-adored brother vanished when he was seven and she was five. Though she does not love Alex when they are married, she believes that she will learn to love him, and they look forward to having a family and living on the farm.

Shakespeare, who lives in Tasmania for four months a year, creates a vibrant picture of life at Wellington Point, and of the connections the inhabitants forge with each other and with the land and the sea. Moving back and forth in time, the novel provides the individual backgrounds of all the characters, their courtships and love affairs, their hopes for the future, and their personal interests. As Alex, the realist-farmer, and his wife, the believer in dreams, await the arrival of children who do not arrive, their lives and their marriage are tested.

The leisurely pace of this seemingly domestic novel quickens with the arrival of Kish, a teenage orphan whom Alex and Merridy rescue from a ferocious storm. Kish is part of a program to give young boys in trouble a chance to learn from their experiences on a three-month sail around the island. Merridy and Alex give Kish a place to stay and a job, each of them trying to force Kish into their memories of the past and their dreams for the future. Ultimately, all three of them feel betrayed.

The novel, which has been rooted in reality for about three quarters of its length, changes dramatically with the arrival of Kish, as various characters begin to experience illusions and see ghosts of the past.

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Title: The Outcast

Author: Sadie Jones

Narrator: Dan Stevens

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-09-08

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

A decade earlier, his father's homecoming casts a different shape. The war is over, and Gilbert has recently been demobbed. He reverts easily to suburban life - cocktails at six-thirty, church on Sundays - but his wife and young son resist the stuffy routine.

Lewis and his mother escape to the woods for picnics, just as they did in wartime days. Nobody is surprised that Gilbert's wife counters convention, but they are all shocked when, after one of their jaunts, Lewis comes back without her.

Not far away, Kit Carmichael keeps watch. She has always understood more than most, not least from what she has been dealt by her own father's hand. Lewis's grief and burgeoning rage are all too plain, and Kit makes a private vow to help. But in her attempts to set them both free, she fails to predict the painful and horrifying secrets that must first be forced into the open.

As menacing as it is beautiful, The Outcast is a devastating portrait of small-town hypocrisy from an astonishing new voice.

The Outcast has been selected as Richards and Judy's first book for their summer reading promotion.

Critic Reviews:

"[A] superb debut novel....Jones's prose is fluid, and Lewis's suffering comes across as achingly real." [Publishers Weekly]

Members Reviews:

excellent

a great book - so atmospheric of its era you could reach out and touch the stilted atmosphere of the times. the painful story of the young man's relationship with his father, the woman's relationship with her new husband - quite astounding. I was carried away listening to it- This is the sort of book that needs applause. I will look out for more of Sadie Jones

Wow!

It took me a little while to get into this book but once I was in there was no coming out! The book is brilliantly read and the characters completely come to life. There were times when I found myself yelling at them I was so involved. The events happen over 9 years and the era is caught beautifully in the narration and descriptions. I really recommend this book.

Well written and read

Great story very well told. One really got in to the characters and willed them on.

Gripping,sad, beautifully written and read story.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes I couldn't turn it off

What did you like best about this story?

The way it was read Narrator was excellent.

Fascinating account of a young boys life

Have you listened to any of Dan Stevenss other performances? How does this one compare?

No

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes but wasn't possible with my schedule

Any additional comments?

Will look out for more read by Dan Stevens

It's a love-hate thing

I'm not sure whether I loved this book, or hated it.

The writing style was so irritating, I almost switched it off several times... but then there was the story that just had to be heard to the end.

Fabulous portrayal of a difficult time.

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Title: Over the Gate

Author: Miss Read

Narrator: Carole Boyd

Format: Abridged

Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-15-08

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group Limited

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

From an unusual weight-losing recipe found in an old notebook - and used with alarming consequences - to the queen of copy-cats who drives her neighbour mad with anger, Over The Gate is a hugely entertaining collection of tales from Fairacre, past and present.

Miss Read, the school mistress, continues to attract odd stories and village folklore, and retells them with her characteristic compassion and humour.

Members Reviews:

If you like a mellow but entertaining read

This is a very enjoyable series. If you like a mellow but entertaining read, give these a try!

When the world was a better place .

A simpler time when friends were family; when kindness was how you lived your life. Americans visit England and expect the thatched cottages, Cotswold stone and small villages that are in their hearts after reading her books.. They are all beautiful. I am always sad when they end.

Good book

Always like Miss Read

Nice Miss Read story

Nice Miss Read story, as usual; but this digital edition has more typos than I have ever seen in a Amazon book. If that bothers you, you had better pass this one up.

lovely book

Oh, these books. I am a Mitford series fan and these books are sweet like Mitford. A gentle read that leaves me peaceful. I adore them.

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Title: Sundays at Tiffany's

Author: James Patterson, Gabrielle Charbonnet

Narrator: Ellen Archer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-20-08

Publisher: Random House AudioBooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

He follows her every move, until one day, he has to leave her to lead her own life. "When you grow up, you won't remember me, Audrey." Yet Audrey always remembered Michael; she thought of him often. Leading a lonely life, she never really found a real friend who could match up to him.

Twenty years later, he's back. On the surface, it seems as if he hasn't changed at all, but now her 30-something Prince Charming can feel pain, both physical and emotional, and he can experience true love.

Sundays at Tiffany's is a heart-warming romance about a girl who, until now, has lived her life on the sidelines, about what it feels like to fall in love, a tale of soulmates and even guardian angels.

Members Reviews:

Beautiful

This is a beautiful love story, and i cried. Worth a listen.

Enjoyable

Really enjoyed this book, love the connection between Michael and Jane. It was pleasant to listen to and really good if you just want a nice, feel good story.