
Every Precious and Fragile Thing
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Sara Sheckells
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Marni Penning
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Petrea Burchard
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Sarah Beth Goer
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By:
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Barbara Davis
About this listen
A mother and daughter try desperately to reconcile just as a decades-old secret threatens to shatter their relationship forever in this powerful story from the bestselling author of The Echo of Old Books.
For social worker Mallory Ward, working with at-risk youth is a calling. But when one of her clients is tragically killed, she finds herself at a crossroads. Despite long-held resentments toward her distant mother, Mallory retreats to her childhood home on the Rhode Island coast to contemplate her future. Instead, she’s confronted by her past, not only in the renewed tensions with her mother but in the unexpected appearance of a familiar face—and the wrenching losses that drove her away a decade ago.
Helen Ward’s home is filled with precious keepsakes from her patients, a testament to decades spent caring for the terminally ill. Her work has always come first, though, leaving little time to connect with her daughter. Over the years, the rift between them has become a chasm, so when Mallory appears unannounced, Helen sees it as an opportunity to repair their broken relationship.
But hidden among Helen’s mementos are the keys to her past…and a terrible secret that threatens to destroy the fragile new trust between them forever.
©2025 Barbara Davis. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“If I loved this book anymore, I’d marry it. International bestselling author Barbara Davis outdoes herself with a moving, time-skipping, life-and-death mother-daughter powerhouse that will steep in your mind long after you read it. Beautifully written riveting pages, breathtaking family secrets from a born storyteller…Every Precious and Fragile Thing is a masterpiece.”—Marilyn Simon Rothstein, author of Who Loves You Best
“Every Precious and Fragile Thing will grab readers’ hearts and squeeze. Davis delivers a skillfully woven tale of broken dreams, second chances, and unlikely allies. It’s about letting go of the people and things we need the most and how we love our children so blindly we end up pushing them away. With a shocking twist you won’t see coming, Davis packs a punch and a heaping scoop of forgiveness. Powerful and evocative, this one you feel deep in the heart.”—Rochelle B. Weinstein, bestselling author of This Is Not How It Ends and What You Do To Me
“Every Precious and Fragile Thing was an absolute delight! The über-talented Barbara Davis has a way of notching up your curiosity till you just can’t stand it. And what a marvelous set of characters. I loved following the troubled Mallory as she navigates her return home with all the grace of a bulldozer. Upon wiping away my tears, I’m reminded of how the past is a door to healing if you can sift through the pain.”—Boo Walker, bestselling author of The Stars Don’t Lie and An Echo in Time
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Story
Lizzy Moon never wanted Moon Girl Farm. Eight years ago, she left the land that nine generations of gifted healers had tended, determined to distance herself from the whispers about her family’s strange legacy. But when her beloved grandmother Althea dies, Lizzy must return and face the tragedy still hanging over the farm’s withered lavender fields: the unsolved murders of two young girls, and the cruel accusations that followed Althea to her grave.
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outstanding book
- By Alyssa Amori on 08-03-20
By: Barbara Davis
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The Echo of Old Books
- A Novel
- By: Barbara Davis
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Steve West, Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Rare-book dealer Ashlyn Greer’s affinity for books extends beyond the intoxicating scent of old paper, ink, and leather. She can feel the echoes of the books’ previous owners—an emotional fingerprint only she can read. When Ashlyn discovers a pair of beautifully bound volumes that appear to have never been published, her gift quickly becomes an obsession. Not only is each inscribed with a startling incrimination, but the authors, Hemi and Belle, tell conflicting sides of a tragic romance.
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Couldn’t finish it
- By Lady Chaps on 03-31-23
By: Barbara Davis
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The Keeper of Happy Endings
- By: Barbara Davis
- Narrated by: Robin Siegerman, Hope Newhouse
- Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Soline Roussel is well schooled in the business of happy endings. For generations her family has kept an exclusive bridal salon in Paris, where magic is worked with needle and thread. It’s said that the bride who wears a Roussel gown is guaranteed a lifetime of joy. But devastating losses during World War II leave Soline’s world and heart in ruins and her faith in love shaken. She boxes up her memories, stowing them away, along with her broken dreams, determined to forget.
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French accent
- By Lilya on 10-22-21
By: Barbara Davis
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If We Ever Get There
- A Novel
- By: Laura Barrow
- Narrated by: Megan Tusing
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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When her nineteen-year marriage ends, stay-at-home mom Effie Baker takes the first step into her new life with an extreme makeover. She assumes she’ll wake up with a renewed sense of confidence, not a vision of country music icon Patsy Cline telling her she needs to “set things right.” But like everything else lately, the last thing Effie expected is exactly what she gets.
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Couldn’t Finish This One, It May Deserve a Lot More Stars
- By Jo from Texas on 12-11-24
By: Laura Barrow
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Once You Were Mine
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Langston
- Narrated by: Austenne Grey
- Length: 11 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In a quiet North Carolina town in 1968, a seventeen-year-old girl’s life is forever changed when a summer romance leads to an unplanned pregnancy. She is sent to an abusive “maternity home,” where she is shamed and deceived into signing adoption papers.
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Realistic portrayal of giving your child up for adoption in the late 60s
- By Speed Read on 03-29-25
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Memories of the Lost
- A Novel
- By: Barbara O'Neal
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Months after her mother passes away, artist Tillie Morrisey sees a painting in a gallery that leaves her inexplicably lightheaded and unsteady. When a handsome stranger comes to her aid, their connection is so immediate it seems fated, though Liam is only visiting for a few days. Working on her own art has always been a refuge, but after discovering a document among her mother’s belongings that suggests Tillie’s life has been a lie, she begins to suffer from a series of fugue states, with memories surfacing that she isn’t even sure are her own.
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Fun mystery wrapped in a love story
- By sweeterindawn on 10-14-24
By: Barbara O'Neal
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In the Midnight Rain
- A Novel
- By: Barbara O'Neal
- Narrated by: Kristen Ariza
- Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Biographer Ellie Connor is in Gideon, Texas, to research blues singer Mabel Beauvais who, on the verge of fame, mysteriously disappeared more than forty years ago. Gideon holds another mystery for Ellie. It’s the truth about her parents—a restless mother who died young and a father she never knew. They are an unsettled piece of Ellie’s own past. Somewhere in this town is the answer to both of her quests.
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Good story
- By Carolyn on 07-16-23
By: Barbara O'Neal
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We Are Made of Stars
- A Novel
- By: Rochelle B. Weinstein
- Narrated by: Stephanie Németh-Parker, Ron Butler, David de Vries, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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At the Vis Ta Vie inn, Reneé and Jean-Paul De La Rue face the daunting decision to close their beloved home for good. They’re not the only ones going through a season of change, though. Their guests include three couples in crisis: Hollywood celebs Leo and Penny are spending their silver anniversary together while on the cusp of divorce. Lucy, a practical-minded therapist, and Henry, an astronomer with his head in the stars, are struggling to find common ground.
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Boring
- By Kate Rhoads on 04-07-25
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The Girl in the Midnight Maze
- By: Cathy Hayward
- Narrated by: Bronwen Price
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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For decades Emma Bowen has hoped she and her mother, Margaret, might find a way back into each other’s lives. Even as a child, her strongest connection to her mother was a painting Margaret created before Emma was born, of a little girl lost in a maze. So when Margaret dies, gifting the painting to a total stranger, Emma is consumed by grief—for her mother, the little girl, and the relationship they never had.
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Great read
- By Colette Ivanov on 03-04-25
By: Cathy Hayward
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Fallen Poppies
- A Novel
- By: Deena Thomson
- Narrated by: Sally Barron
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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After fate cruelly takes her parents in a chilling train accident, 14-year-old Jobeth is whisked away to a sinister foster home overshadowed by a nefarious couple with darkness of their own. Thrust into a world where secrets whisper through the walls, an ominous flower marks Jobeth, birthed from violence. Forever tethered together, it refuses to let go, lurking in the darkness, gaining strength with each step she takes. Fleeing, the tendrils of abuse and shattering revelations seek to entangle her. Trying to hold her down. Yet this time, she is not alone.
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The annoying narration.
- By DMS on 03-08-25
By: Deena Thomson
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The Autumn of Ruth Winters
- A Novel
- By: Marshall Fine
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Ruth Winters is retired, widowed, and resigned to spending the rest of her life alone in her suburban home. She likes her routine and uses it to avoid having to spend time with other people. She probably wouldn’t call herself fulfilled, but it’s too late now to go chasing happiness. Then three things happen at once: a beloved niece makes a big announcement, an old flame reaches out, and her estranged sister receives life-changing news.
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Ruth was a realistic character with relatable feelings.
- By Happy customer on 02-02-25
By: Marshall Fine
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All They Need to Know
- A Novel (Gold Creek, Book 1)
- By: Eileen Goudge
- Narrated by: Almarie Guerra
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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On the run from her abusive husband, Kyra Smith hits the road. Destination unknown. With a neglected dog she rescued in tow, she lands in the peaceful California town of Gold Creek and is immediately befriended by an openhearted group of women called the Tattooed Ladies Club. They’re there for Kyra—and for each other.
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Good Story. . . But
- By Jo from Texas on 11-18-24
By: Eileen Goudge
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A Borrowed Path
- By: Imogen Clark
- Narrated by: Billie Fulford-Brown
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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When Eve returns to her family home Fox House, the tension with her mother, Agatha, is palpable. But when Eve’s daughter, Lyra, and her granddaughter, Skye, arrive unexpectedly, four generations of women under one roof set the stage for explosive revelations. Lyra seems troubled, but refuses to explain why. And when she lays claim to the crumbling cottage on the estate, Agatha drops a bombshell – she’s already promised it to a mysterious man named Dylan.
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Enjoyed the book
- By Mya Edwards on 03-09-25
By: Imogen Clark
What listeners say about Every Precious and Fragile Thing
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- Stacy
- 02-23-25
Beautiful story, but chapter 51 is missing
There is much to love about this book, and I found myself thinking about the characters when I had to walk away from it. Unfortunately, chapter 51, Mallory‘s final and pivotal chapter, is missing from the recording. Chapter 52, which is Estelle‘s chapter, is Inserted into the recording twice. I don’t really want to have to purchase the print book in order to figure out how Mallory went from saying goodbye to Aiden to what happens in chapter 52. Here’s hoping that this mistake can be rectified.
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- pdaake
- 03-15-25
Wow!
Starts a little slow but when it warms up it is awesome! These characters are flawed and it makes the storyline flow beautifully.
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- Lisa Van
- 02-25-25
Chapter 51 is missing!!
I loved the story and was furious when I'd listened to nearly 14 hours only to discover that all of Chapter 51 was missing and Chapter 52 was repeated twice! I didn't pay to have an entire chapter missing. Very disappointed in Audible.
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- Joyce A. Dawley
- 04-09-25
Too many plot lines
The performance was well done and the story was mildly interesting. Those multiple plot lines were pulled together in the end in a very predictable fashion.
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- Briana
- 03-02-25
Terrible narration/producing
I'm a few hours in and the quivering sappy narration voice for every sad/ sentimental/ nostalgic chapter is grating on my nerves. I'm going to switch over to read it on Kindle unlimited, especially since there is a chapter apparently missing at the end of the narrated book! I'll give the narrator another chance with another book because it could be the producer telling her how to verbally transcribe it, but it's terrible!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Tobey
- 04-12-25
Love and atonement
That love finds a way if we are able to get out of our own way. A good illustration of ways different people are healed by forgiveness.
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- PR Local
- 03-28-25
Raw and complicated
I love the complexity of this book. I had no expectations when I began listening, but the reader did an excellent job of changing up the voices of the characters, and I was soon drawn in. I can’t say that there wasn’t some confusion, but I caught on quickly. I may go back and read it again to make sure that I didn’t miss something between the characters and the time changes. This story goes to the core of what it means to be a woman, a mother, and a daughter. I fought tears many times as the story unfolds, and many of the scenes made me feel like forwarding the book to my daughters with the message “SEE, it isn’t just me!” Many passages had me thinking, and questioning my relationship with my own mother, and regretful that I didn’t ask more questions when I had the chance. There is more internal reflection in this book than descriptions of place or physical situations. It’s very raw and personal, and yes, it reminds me that nothing is as it seems on the surface. Everyone has a story, and most people will never know it.
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- k.vano
- 04-26-25
Spectacular
This book got me right in the feels from the beginning. It was heartbreaking and beautiful all at the same time. Love this author.
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- Penny Poston
- 03-14-25
Prepare yourself for a beautiful story!
It took 2-3 chapters to really grab me and then really had me glued to it! And just as I thought I had it figured out it took a big twist! I loved it! A bit of a mystery with lots of love thrown in.
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- David C Taylor
- 02-23-25
Thoroughly entertaining story!
A little over a year ago I read/listened to the Echo of Old Books. This was my introduction to the story telling of Barbra Davis. At the time I was struck by how she wove so many elements into an immersive entertainment experience.
When I saw Every Precious and Fragile Thing show up in Kindle Unlimited four days ago, I immediately borrowed a copy that included the audiobook. This book sat in my library for one day while I finished the book I was reading at the time. About all I can say after reading/listening to this book is wow, I’m blown away. If I thought the Echo of Old Books was created with several elements, this book easily carried six separate points of view throughout the entire story. I was allowed to experience just as many lives and their progressions through several experiences that left each character damaged in diverse ways.
This book took my emotions on an unending roller coaster ride from the opening right up to the epilogue. I honestly can’t remember a book that kept my eyes lubricated as much as Every Precious and Fragile Thing.
To be honest this book isn’t in one of my preferred genres, but since Barbara Davis wrote it, I had no doubt I was going to enjoy the entertainment I would experience by reading/listening to her latest offering.
Speaking of the listening experience, each of the four narrators did an excellent job of keeping the story moving through their pacing and character voices. Honestly, I didn’t realize there was more than one narrator until I looked at the book information as I was writing my review.
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