A God in Ruins
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Alex Jennings
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By:
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Kate Atkinson
About this listen
The stunning companion to Kate Atkinson's number-one best seller Life After Life, "one of the best novels I've read this century" (Gillian Flynn).
"He had been reconciled to death during the war and then suddenly the war was over and there was a next day and a next day. Part of him never adjusted to having a future."
Kate Atkinson's dazzling Life After Life explored the possibility of infinite chances and the power of choices, following Ursula Todd as she lived through the turbulent events of the last century over and over again.
A God in Ruins tells the dramatic story of the 20th century through Ursula's beloved younger brother, Teddy - would-be poet, heroic pilot, husband, father, and grandfather - as he navigates the perils and progress of a rapidly changing world. After all that Teddy endures in battle, his greatest challenge is living in a future he never expected to have.
An ingenious and moving exploration of one ordinary man's path through extraordinary times, A God in Ruins proves once again that Kate Atkinson is one of the finest novelists of our age.
©2015 Kate Atkinson (P)2015 Hachette AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"[N]arrator Alex Jennings is a master. From the opening lines, his impeccable British accent establishes the scene and captures the persona of the main character, Teddy, and the rest of the diverse cast. Jennings's clear diction and pace advance the action through richly detailed accounts of Teddy's adventures as a WWII bomber pilot as well as quieter dramas of his daily life and family relationships." (AudioFile)
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The Silence of Ghosts
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- By: Jonathan Aycliffe
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Dominic Lancaster hoped to prove himself to his family by excelling in the Navy during World War II. Instead he is wounded while serving as a gunner, and loses his leg. Still recovering from his wounds and the trauma of his amputation when the Blitz begins, Dominic finds himself shuffled off to the countryside by his family, along with his partially deaf sister, Octavia.
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Spooky story. All it lacks is the campfire.
- By DarylP on 10-09-15
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The Lake House
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 21 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Living on her family’s gorgeous lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, clever, inquisitive, innocent, and precociously talented fourteen-year-old who loves to write stories. But the mysteries she pens are no match for the one her family is about to endure ...One midsummer’s eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest son, Theo, has vanished without a trace.
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Enjoyed the writing, but oy vey, this book
- By Jennifer S on 12-28-18
By: Kate Morton
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Sapphire Skies
- By: Belinda Alexandra
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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2000: The wreckage of a downed WWII fighter plane is discovered in the forests near Russia's Ukrainian border.The aircraft belonged to Natalya Azarova, ace pilot and pin-up girl for Soviet propaganda, but the question of her fate remains unanswered. Was she a German spy who faked her own death, as the Kremlin claims? Her lover, Valentin Orlov, now a highly-decorated general, refuses to believe it. Lily, a young Australian woman, has moved to Moscow to escape from tragedy.
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A Disturbing Disappointment
- By Sara on 08-07-14
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The Women in the Castle
- By: Jessica Shattuck
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Set at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society, a powerful and propulsive story of three widows whose lives and fates become intertwined - an affecting, shocking, and ultimately redemptive novel from the author of the New York Times notable book The Hazards of Good Breeding.
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Skating On The Thin Ice Of Life
- By Sara on 04-29-17
By: Jessica Shattuck
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The Bone Clocks
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: Jessica Ball, Leon Williams, Colin Mace, and others
- Length: 24 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Following a scalding row with her mother, 15-year-old Holly Sykes slams the door on her old life. But Holly is no typical teenage runaway: A sensitive child once contacted by voices she knew only as "the radio people," Holly is a lightning rod for psychic phenomena. Now, as she wanders deeper into the English countryside, visions and coincidences reorder her reality until they assume the aura of a nightmare brought to life.
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Not Short Listed, This Time
- By Mel on 09-23-14
By: David Mitchell
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Enemy Brothers (Living History Library)
- By: Constance Savery
- Narrated by: Paul L. Coffey
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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British airman Dym Ingleford is convinced that the young German prisoner, Max Eckermann, is his brother Anthony, who was kidnapped years before. Raised in the Nazi ideology, Tony has by chance tumbled into British hands. Dym has brought him back, at least temporarily, to the family he neither remembers nor will acknowledge as his own.
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More people should read this wonderful story!!!
- By E.F.B. on 08-02-18
By: Constance Savery
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The Woman from Paris
- By: Santa Montefiore
- Narrated by: Tara Ward
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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When Lord Frampton dies in a skiing accident, a beautiful young woman named Phaedra appears at his funeral - claiming to be the Lord’s illegitimate daughter. In his will, Lord Frampton has left the priceless Frampton suite of sapphires to this interloper, confirming her claim and outraging his three adult sons and widow. Eventually, however, Phaedra’s sweet nature thaws the frosty relationships. She becomes the daughter that Antoinette Frampton never had and a wise and compassionate granddaughter to the formidable Dowager Lady Frampton.
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Worth the time...
- By Esther Cunningham on 09-28-16
By: Santa Montefiore
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A Fatal Inversion
- By: Barbara Vine
- Narrated by: William Gaminara
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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In the long, hot summer of 1976, a group of young people is camping in Wyvis Hall. Adam, Rufus, Shiva, Vivien and Zosie hardly ask why they are there or how they are to live; they scavenge, steal and sell the family heirlooms. Ten years later, the bodies of a woman and child are discovered in the Hall’s animal cemetery. Which woman? And whose child?
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Oh my!
- By Jill on 06-15-14
By: Barbara Vine
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Goodnight from London
- A Novel
- By: Jennifer Robson
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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In the summer of 1940, ambitious young American journalist Ruby Sutton gets her big break: the chance to report on the European war as a staff writer for Picture Weekly newsmagazine in London. She jumps at the chance, for it's an opportunity not only to prove herself, but also to start fresh in a city and country that know nothing of her humble origins. But life in besieged Britain tests Ruby in ways she never imagined.
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Light story
- By Bev Holdgate on 08-10-17
By: Jennifer Robson
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Transcription
- A Novel
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Fenella Woolgar
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In 1940, 18-year-old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage. Sent to an obscure department of MI5 tasked with monitoring the comings and goings of British Fascist sympathizers, she discovers the work to be by turns both tedious and terrifying. But after the war has ended, she presumes the events of those years have been relegated to the past forever. Ten years later, now a radio producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat.
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A very satisfying two days!
- By Frances on 09-30-18
By: Kate Atkinson
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Behind the Scenes at the Museum
- A Novel
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Ruby Lennox begins narrating her life at the moment of conception, and from there takes us on a whirlwind tour of the 20th century as seen through the eyes of an English girl determined to learn about her family and its secrets.
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Another Kate Atkinson multi-generational story
- By Satisfied Customer on 11-08-18
By: Kate Atkinson
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Shrines of Gaiety
- A Novel
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Jason Watkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time. The notorious queen of this glittering world is Nellie Coker, ruthless but also ambitious to advance her six children, including the enigmatic eldest, Niven, whose character has been forged in the crucible of the Somme. But success breeds enemies, and Nellie’s empire faces threats from without and within.
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Rich characters of all stripes
- By Glorious Lorius on 11-09-22
By: Kate Atkinson
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Normal Rules Don't Apply
- Stories
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Paterson Joseph
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A dazzling collection of eleven interconnected stories from the bestselling, award-winning author of Shrines of Gaiety and Life After Life, with everything that listeners love about her novels—the inventiveness, the verbal felicity, the sharp observations on human nature, and the deeply satisfying emotional wallop.
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Playful jigsaw puzzle of stories
- By ReallyNelie on 02-24-24
By: Kate Atkinson
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Shine, Pamela! Shine!
- Out of Line collection
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Gwendoline Christie
- Length: 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Pamela is a newly retired teacher with time on her hands. She’s finding it hard to muster enthusiasm for what’s ahead: exhausting postdivorce dating rituals and an uneasy relationship with her emotionally stunted, live-at-home son. But for Pamela, there’s a surprise in store that could challenge the status quo and, against all expectations, make life interesting again.
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Really terrible
- By Teatime2 on 09-13-20
By: Kate Atkinson
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The Perfect Home
- By: Natasha Boydell
- Narrated by: Julie Maisey
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When we move into the exclusive Westford Park housing estate, we feel safe at last. More like a country club, it has everything we might need – beautiful houses with big gardens, a pool, a boating lake, extensive grounds. It’s also got 24/7 security. Our new neighbours are lovely too. We start to make friendships that feel like they could last a lifetime. It feels like nothing could possibly go wrong here. It’s like our secrets haven’t followed us here. Or that’s what we think at first…
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Just okay
- By Kate on 07-15-24
By: Natasha Boydell
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Transcription
- A Novel
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Fenella Woolgar
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1940, 18-year-old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage. Sent to an obscure department of MI5 tasked with monitoring the comings and goings of British Fascist sympathizers, she discovers the work to be by turns both tedious and terrifying. But after the war has ended, she presumes the events of those years have been relegated to the past forever. Ten years later, now a radio producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat.
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A very satisfying two days!
- By Frances on 09-30-18
By: Kate Atkinson
-
Behind the Scenes at the Museum
- A Novel
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ruby Lennox begins narrating her life at the moment of conception, and from there takes us on a whirlwind tour of the 20th century as seen through the eyes of an English girl determined to learn about her family and its secrets.
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Another Kate Atkinson multi-generational story
- By Satisfied Customer on 11-08-18
By: Kate Atkinson
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Shrines of Gaiety
- A Novel
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Jason Watkins
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time. The notorious queen of this glittering world is Nellie Coker, ruthless but also ambitious to advance her six children, including the enigmatic eldest, Niven, whose character has been forged in the crucible of the Somme. But success breeds enemies, and Nellie’s empire faces threats from without and within.
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Rich characters of all stripes
- By Glorious Lorius on 11-09-22
By: Kate Atkinson
-
Normal Rules Don't Apply
- Stories
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Paterson Joseph
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A dazzling collection of eleven interconnected stories from the bestselling, award-winning author of Shrines of Gaiety and Life After Life, with everything that listeners love about her novels—the inventiveness, the verbal felicity, the sharp observations on human nature, and the deeply satisfying emotional wallop.
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-
Playful jigsaw puzzle of stories
- By ReallyNelie on 02-24-24
By: Kate Atkinson
-
Shine, Pamela! Shine!
- Out of Line collection
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Gwendoline Christie
- Length: 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
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Performance
-
Story
Pamela is a newly retired teacher with time on her hands. She’s finding it hard to muster enthusiasm for what’s ahead: exhausting postdivorce dating rituals and an uneasy relationship with her emotionally stunted, live-at-home son. But for Pamela, there’s a surprise in store that could challenge the status quo and, against all expectations, make life interesting again.
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Really terrible
- By Teatime2 on 09-13-20
By: Kate Atkinson
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The Perfect Home
- By: Natasha Boydell
- Narrated by: Julie Maisey
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When we move into the exclusive Westford Park housing estate, we feel safe at last. More like a country club, it has everything we might need – beautiful houses with big gardens, a pool, a boating lake, extensive grounds. It’s also got 24/7 security. Our new neighbours are lovely too. We start to make friendships that feel like they could last a lifetime. It feels like nothing could possibly go wrong here. It’s like our secrets haven’t followed us here. Or that’s what we think at first…
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Just okay
- By Kate on 07-15-24
By: Natasha Boydell
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An American in Scotland
- Scottish Isle Mysteries, Book 1
- By: Lucy Connelly
- Narrated by: Kimberly M. Wetherell
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Sea Isle was supposed to be the fresh start Dr. Emilia McRoy dreamed of. Far from the busy emergency room across the Atlantic in Seattle, she hoped to settle down and begin this new chapter as a small-town doctor to the quirky residents who immediately welcomed her. When she stumbles across a dead body, she starts to think that she may not be as Scot free of the drama and intrigue as she initially thought.
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It’s a Childrens Book
- By Karen on 09-05-23
By: Lucy Connelly
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The Baker's Secret
- A Novel
- By: Stephen P. Kiernan
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Only 22, Emma learned to bake at the side of a master, Ezra Kuchen, the village baker since before she was born. Apprenticed to Ezra at 13, Emma watched with shame and anger as her kind mentor was forced to wear the six-pointed yellow star on his clothing. She was likewise powerless to help when they pulled Ezra from his shop at gunpoint, the first of many villagers stolen away and never seen again. In the years that her sleepy coastal village has suffered under the enemy, Emma has silently, stealthily fought back.
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Help is really on the way
- By Georgia on 07-15-17
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Homecoming
- By: Kate Morton
- Narrated by: Claire Foy
- Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Adelaide Hills, Christmas Eve, 1959. At the end of a scorching hot day, a local deliveryman makes a terrible discovery. A police investigation is called, and the small town of Tambilla becomes embroiled in one of the most shocking and perplexing murder cases in the history of South Australia. Many years later and thousands of miles away, Jess is a journalist in search of a story. Having lived and worked in London for nearly two decades, she now finds herself laid off from her full-time job and struggling to make ends meet. Until a phone call out of nowhere summons her back to Sydney.
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Loved the compelling audiobook version!
- By Melissas Bookshelf on 04-07-23
By: Kate Morton
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The White Lady
- A Novel
- By: Jacqueline Winspear
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
A reluctant ex-spy with demons of her own, Elinor finds herself facing down one of the most dangerous organized crime gangs in London, ultimately exposing corruption from Scotland Yard to the highest levels of government. The private, quiet “Miss White" as Elinor is known, lives in a village in rural Kent, England, and to her fellow villagers seems something of an enigma. Well she might, as Elinor occupies a "grace and favor" property, a rare privilege offered to faithful servants of the Crown for services to the nation.
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Mystery Maven
- By Mystery Maven on 03-24-23
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The Bone Clocks
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: Jessica Ball, Leon Williams, Colin Mace, and others
- Length: 24 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Following a scalding row with her mother, 15-year-old Holly Sykes slams the door on her old life. But Holly is no typical teenage runaway: A sensitive child once contacted by voices she knew only as "the radio people," Holly is a lightning rod for psychic phenomena. Now, as she wanders deeper into the English countryside, visions and coincidences reorder her reality until they assume the aura of a nightmare brought to life.
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Not Short Listed, This Time
- By Mel on 09-23-14
By: David Mitchell
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Butter
- A Novel of Food and Murder
- By: Asako Yuzuki
- Narrated by: Hanako Footman
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in the Tokyo Detention House convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, whom she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination, but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew, and Kajii can’t resist writing back.
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Interesting look at societal pressure in Japan
- By john w straus on 11-18-24
By: Asako Yuzuki
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The Magnolia Palace
- A Novel
- By: Fiona Davis
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Eight months since losing her mother in the Spanish flu outbreak of 1919, 21-year-old Lillian Carter's life has completely fallen apart. For the past six years, under the moniker Angelica, Lillian was one of the most sought-after artists' models in New York City, with statues based on her figure gracing landmarks from the Plaza Hotel to the Brooklyn Bridge
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This isn't my favorite but entertaining
- By Linda on 02-01-22
By: Fiona Davis
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An Accidental Death
- A DC Smith Investigation Series, Book 1
- By: Peter Grainger
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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The story opens with the apparently accidental drowning of a sixth form student in the Norfolk countryside. As a matter of routine, or so it seems, the case passes across the desk of Detective Sergeant Smith, recently returned to work after an internal investigation into another case that has led to tensions between officers at Kings Lake police headquarters. As an ex-DCI, Smith could have retired by now, and it is clear that some of his superiors wish that he would do so.
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Excellent British Mystery
- By Customer on 09-07-16
By: Peter Grainger
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Wives Like Us
- A Novel
- By: Plum Sykes
- Narrated by: Annabel Mullion
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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If you think the English countryside is all green wellies, muddy Land Rovers, and grey-haired ladies in tweed, then you’ve never visited The Bottoms. Welcome to the rose-strewn county of Oxfordshire, and the tony Cotswold villages of Little Bottom, Middle Bottom, Great Bottom, and Monkton Bottom, recently annexed by a glittering new breed of female: the Country Princess.
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Well written. Witty. Entertaining. Liked it!
- By MidwestLady on 10-17-24
By: Plum Sykes
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The Word Is Murder
- A Novel
- By: Anthony Horowitz
- Narrated by: Rory Kinnear
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The New York Times best-selling author of Magpie Murders and Moriarty brilliantly reinvents the classic crime novel once again with this clever and inventive mystery starring a fictional version of the author himself as the Watson to a modern-day Holmes, investigating a case involving buried secrets, murder, and a trail of bloody clues.
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Something New
- By Alice on 06-26-18
By: Anthony Horowitz
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The Memory Police
- A Novel
- By: Yoko Ogawa, Stephen Snyder - translator
- Narrated by: Traci Kato-Kiriyama
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses - until things become much more serious. Most of the island's inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten. When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards.
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A Calm, Quiet Dystopian
- By Booky Nooky on 12-13-19
By: Yoko Ogawa, and others
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Random Family
- Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx
- By: Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
- Narrated by: Roxana Ortega
- Length: 20 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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In her extraordinary best seller, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc immerses listeners in the intricacies of the ghetto, revealing the true sagas lurking behind the headlines of gangsta glamour, gold-drenched drug dealers, and street-corner society. Focusing on two romances - Jessica's dizzying infatuation with a hugely successful young heroin dealer, Boy George; and Coco's first love with Jessica's little brother, Cesar - Random Family is the story of young people trying to outrun their destinies.
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Speechless
- By Amazon Customer on 09-02-19
What listeners say about A God in Ruins
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Bonny
- 05-20-15
Beautiful writing, but . . .
I love Kate Atkinson, have read everything she's published, and will continue to do so. This is beautifully written, and sections of it are extremely engaging and moving. I think I would have done better with this book had I read it instead of listened to it.
I wasn't thrilled with Alex Jennings' narration for two reasons: (a) his voicing of women, particularly Teddy's daughter Viola, and (b) his reading of quotations in the voice of the characters who said them. As in, when Teddy is thinking of something his wife or daughter said, it is spoken in his wife or daughter's voice. I understand the intent but found that it kept jarring me out of Teddy's thoughts. It gave the quotes an affected, somewhat sarcastic tone.
The book jumps around in time, particularly at the beginning, and that made it difficult for me to feel a strong connection to Teddy. I never really did, which is one of my problems with the book. He's a kind, sweet, moral man, but I didn't find him very interesting. His daughter Viola is such a pill that it's hard to believe anybody could be this unpleasant, and I found the voicing of her difficult to listen to. There's only so much time one wants to spend listening to this kind of person! The sections dealing with Teddy's war and his bombing raids are marvelous, as is the section about Teddy's grandson Sunny's childhood.
Some of the book's characters resemble archetypes more than people; their actions and personalities are so extreme and without redeeming factors. Viola, her husband Dominic, and Dominic's mother are difficult to swallow as real people.
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23 people found this helpful
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- Cheryl
- 06-25-17
Great author but Not this author's best
We all loved Life After Life in my book group. Several of the members suggested Atkinson's mysteries. I listened to Case Histories by her. It was fantastic. This one however was not interesting. None of the characters were likable.
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- Louise T Jones
- 07-04-15
Interesting twist at the end.
I wasn't expecting that. The flight imagery was beautiful. Actually all the imagery was intense.
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- Susan
- 05-21-20
Kate Atkinson is one of my favorite authors.
This book, along with its companion piece, Life After Life, is a splendid study of Britain just before, during, and in the years after WWII. I recommend it to anyone interested in this period.
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- Kathryn Coffman
- 03-21-18
Outstanding!!!
This is an extraordinary book! It really should be read with it’s companion book - Life After Life , although it can stand on own. The narration in both is exceptionally good. I am so sorry to have come to the end! Give it a try - Ursula and Teddy will stay with you for a very long time.
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- Kdmd
- 01-24-20
Perfection!
Listening to both “Life after life” and “A god in ruins” has been such a transforming experience. I have loved Ms Atkinson’s other books, but these companion books just blew me away! There aren’t enough words ( or, it would take pages ) to describe how they made me feel, think and expand after listening to them. My recommendation - listen to them one after another! Fantastic story, writing and narration!
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- Annie M.
- 05-13-15
Masterful follow-up to "Life After Life"
What made the experience of listening to A God in Ruins the most enjoyable?
Atkinson is a literary writer of the highest caliber, a magician with words and story. When I heard there was a follow-up to her supremely artful and wondrous "Life After Life," I RAN to Audible. A GOD IN RUINS is yet another feast for lovers of carefully culled words, and deeply developed characters. My only complaint is that, at 16 hours, it STILL wasn't long enough for me.
What other book might you compare A God in Ruins to and why?
Obviously, it is Atkinson's LIFE AFTER LIFE, where we first fell in love with Teddy Todd, now the protagonist of A GOD IN RUINS. But I also put this book in a the same category as Anthony Doer's ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, as well as any of Pat Barker's brilliant WWI books, and also Louisa Young's MY DEAR, I WANTED TO TELL YOU, and LOVE AND TREASURE. I might even add to that UNBROKEN.
What does Alex Jennings bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
You can tell that Kate Atkinson puts great and careful thought into each word she chooses to put on the page. Alex Jennings does honor to the author by beautifully voicing each character--and not getting in the way.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I did. I listened in a two-day period. All the while thinking, "Don't listen. Stay away. Let it last."I'm taking a week off and then starting it over. Unlike a fine wine that is gone once it's been consumed, I can thankfully listen to A GOD IN RUINS over and over.
Any additional comments?
I really loved the fact that at the end of this book, Atkinson actually discusses how she came to do a follow-up to LIFE AFTER LIFE, and then why she put it into the format she did. She explained her desire to write a book specifically about the British bombing raids of WWII. If you have not read LIFE AFTER LIFE, you might still enjoy this book. But if you read this book first, I am almost positive you'll want to then go back and read LIFE AFTER LIFE.I am so grateful to have read this touching, introspective, thought provoking look at the moral dilemmas of those fighting "the good war." I wish I could give it ten stars.
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36 people found this helpful
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- Susanne Sytsma
- 06-08-18
Good but sad
I almost stopped the book because it made me so sad. Teddy was such a great character that was going through the motions of life not necessarily enjoying any part of it
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-03-20
Well-written, but annoying storyline
I loved the first book, LIFE AFTER LIFE, and the diction in both books, but the characters in this book were mostly depressing and with few redeeming qualities. Teddy, who seemed so charming, hopeful and... touched by goodness... was pathetic and weak in this book. Maybe that's the point. Maybe it's the reality of life as one grows up, that things aren't always so pretty or gifted or "touched". I found his marriage, his children and his entire post-war life so... sad. I want to give this book 3 ☆ because I didn't like the people, but that's probably not fair. Any book that elicits a strong reaction to characters and plot is a good book with good writing, no? Everything about this book, subject matter, research, word choice, flow, structure, diction, everything is very good. I just didn't like the people as I thought I would. Though the ending was almost a relief, in response. So 4☆.
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- Dione Anderson
- 05-26-15
Another Atkinson home-run.
Be prepared to cry your eyes out during the last hour of this book. I have listened to "Life after Life" over and over again since it came out and I imagine I will do the same with "A God in Ruins". Both readers were excellent and Kate Atkinson has become my very favorite writer in the last decade. In particular, these two books prove to me that Atkinson is a magical thinker.
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