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A Song for Summer
- Narrated by: Emilia Fox
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
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Story
With the help of her old diaries, Sarah Morris recounts her life story. The daughter of an English vicar, she begins by telling of her happy childhood with her brothers and sister in their country village. As a teenager, Sarah’s brother brings home a friend - Charles, a charming Austrian to whom she quickly becomes close. Over the years they fall in love, but when war breaks out Charles must return to Austria. While she awaits his return, Sarah quietly continues working hard and caring for her family. But she can’t stop wondering if she will ever see her sweetheart again…
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Lovely story
- By Hearth on 08-08-15
By: D. E. Stevenson
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East of the Sun
- By: Julia Gregson
- Narrated by: Tania Rodrigues
- Length: 19 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Autumn 1928. Three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind. Rose, a beautiful but naive bride-to-be, is anxious about leaving her family and marrying a man she hardly knows. Victoria, her bridesmaid couldn't be happier to get away from her overbearing mother, and is determined to find herself a husband. And Viva, their inexperienced chaperone, is in search of the India of her childhood, ghosts from the past and freedom.
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Indian history takes a back seat to 3 young women
- By Richard on 05-24-16
By: Julia Gregson
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Claude & Camille
- A Novel of Monet
- By: Stephanie Cowell
- Narrated by: Christopher Cazenove
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In the mid-19th century, a young man named Claude Monet decided that he would rather endure a difficult life painting landscapes than take over his fathers nautical supplies business in a French seaside town. Against his fathers will, and with nothing but a dream and an insatiable urge to create a new style of art that repudiated the Classical Realism of the time, he set off for Paris.
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As a painter
- By janice hedwall on 03-08-16
By: Stephanie Cowell
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Cold Comfort Farm
- Penguin Classics
- By: Stella Gibbons
- Narrated by: Pearl Mackie
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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When sensible, sophisticated Flora Poste is orphaned at 19, she decides her only choice is to descend upon relatives in deepest Sussex. At the aptly named Cold Comfort Farm, she meets the doomed Starkadders: cousin Judith, heaving with remorse for unspoken wickedness; Amos, preaching fire and damnation; their sons, lustful Seth and despairing Reuben; child of nature Elfine; and crazed old Aunt Ada Doom, who has kept to her bedroom for the last 20 years. But Flora loves nothing better than to organise other people.
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Very, very amusing, a go to if one needs cheering
- By Laura G. Marcantoni on 11-05-20
By: Stella Gibbons
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The Schooldays of Jesus
- By: J. M. Coetzee
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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David is the small boy who is always asking questions. Simon and Ines take care of him in their new town, Estrella. He is learning the language; he has begun to make friends. He has the big dog, Bolivar, to watch over him. But he'll be seven soon, and he should be at school. And so, with the guidance of the three sisters who own the farm where Simon and Ines work, David is enrolled in the Academy of Dance. It's here, in his new golden dancing slippers, that he learns how to call down the numbers from the sky.
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SEXUAL PERVERSION PRESENTED AS BRILLIANT
- By Amazon Customer on 09-29-18
By: J. M. Coetzee
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The Silence of Ghosts
- A Novel
- 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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Green City in the Sun
- By: Barbara Wood
- Narrated by: Edie Tusor
- Length: 27 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1917 Dr. Grace Treverton arrives in Kenya determined to bring modern medicine to the African natives. Her brother, Sir Valentine Treverton, has his own dream for the British protectorate: to establish an agricultural empire to rival any in England. The aspirations of the wealthy Trevertons collide with those of the Mathenge tribe, an African family that has lived on the land for years. Grace soon finds a deadly rival in Mama Wachera, an African medicine woman who fights to maintain native traditions against the encroaching whites.
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Beautifully written
- By nancy wanty on 12-18-23
By: Barbara Wood
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The Girl from the Train
- By: Irma Joubert
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Six-year-old Gretl Schmidt is on a train bound for Auschwitz. Jakób Kowalski is planting a bomb on the tracks. As World War II draws to a close, Jakób fights with the Polish resistance against the crushing forces of Germany and Russia. They mean to destroy a German troop transport, but Gretl's unscheduled train reaches the bomb first. Gretl is the only survivor.
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Excellent story covering the middle of the 20th C.
- By john on 04-12-16
By: Irma Joubert
What listeners say about A Song for Summer
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Millamant
- 04-08-10
Poor Abridgement
This book was quite nicely read by Emilia Fox, but gets its low rating from me on account of the poor abridgement. It has been so savagely and insensitively cut that at times the story barely makes sense. Far too much has been taken out, and it jumps all over the place, making for a rather unsatisfactory experience if you have not read the original novel.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Liz
- 05-08-16
Abridging Ibbotson is sacrilegous!
What disappointed you about A Song for Summer?
Despite my unending love for all of Eva Ibbotson's work, the audio abridgment of this one ripped the soul out of it. The reduction of gilded descriptions of a world verging on fairytale fantasy removes the very essence of Ibbotson's writing, making it almost cringey to listen to at places.
What was most disappointing about Eva Ibbotson’s story?
Nothing is disappointing about the story, her writing is beautiful, it is simply the abridgment of it I abhor. If you listened to this with no prior knowledge of Ibbotson's writing, please do yourself the favour of reading her books, they are far, far more wonderful than this portrayed them.
How could the performance have been better?
Make it unabridged!
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3 people found this helpful
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- Robin
- 01-17-13
Wish it had been Unabridged
What disappointed you about A Song for Summer?
The stripping out of all the incidental notes, the character details to bring it down to an abridged form really did kill this tale for me. The little, "unnecessary" details removal took away the feeling one develops for Ibbotson's characters and the depth that the original text bestows on the lives of the cast.
What could Eva Ibbotson have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Eva Ibbotson does a fine job - had it been the full tale I am sure I would have enjoyed it.
What do you think the narrator could have done better?
Overall the Narrator was pleasant enough. Her voice isn't as listenable as some of the other narrators I've heard but that is a personal preference.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Disappointment
Any additional comments?
I look forward to if and when an unabridged copy of this becomes available.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Christin
- 05-31-16
A Gentle, Uplifting Book
Would you consider the audio edition of A Song for Summer to be better than the print version?
There are not many books I would consider better as an audiobook than a print book, but this one just may be. Emilia Fox does this story just right. Her voice is perfect for the characters and the feel of the story and adds to the experience in every way. In this case, listening instead of reading allows you to loose yourself in the world of the characters even more fully than reading it on your own does.
What other book might you compare A Song for Summer to and why?
Many of Eva Ibbotson's other titles: The Secret Countess, Magic Flutes, A Company of Swans, The Morning Gift, The Star of Kazan, The Reluctant Heiress, A Countess Bellow Stairs,
Any additional comments?
THE BOOK: This is a lovely, well written book, which keeps the reader engaged and connected to the characters.
AUTHOR:
Eva Ibbotson writes a number of books in the same style as this one - about romance and friendship and secret royalty, all taking place just before World War II in Europe (often in Vienna). The main character is always a young woman who is just coming of age and she is always a highly likable character - a kind hearted, generous and basically good human being trying to live her life with integrity, to be true to herself, and to improve the lives of everyone she comes into contact with. These are lovely books - some of my favorites and ones I return to re-read often.
GENTLE:
I consider these books to be some of the best examples of a genre I made up for my own use, which I call Gentle. In this genre, the main characters are always good people, trying to do right in the world. They are people you come to love and rejoice in. And while the stories may deal with cruelty or painful events, these are not jarring or raw or abrasive. In these books, good ultimately triumphs, and the story always ends in a way that is uplifting and moving and leaves you bursting with happiness and warmth. These are stories you don’t have to guard yourself against - you can loose yourself fully in their world because you can trust that they are not going to spring something shocking or raw that will wound you. You can trust that in the end they will build you up and make you feel the good side of the world.
This is not to say that other genres are not valuable. I love a lot of books which are jarring or upsetting, which leave me shaken and raw, or which are simply exciting and fast paced with lots of action, violence or death. But I created the Gentle genre because I have found that there are times when I need to loose myself in a book which I can trust to be Gentle with me - a book which will nurture me, lift me up and heal me, letting me loose myself for a time in a world in which people are good and good people win in the end; A book which is like a hot bath by candlelight - safe, gentle, healing and warm. With a book like this I can truly surrender to the story - relax into it and let myself go without needing to protect myself from what I might find there.
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