Fragile Beasts
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Paul Boehmer
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Laural Merlington
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By:
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Tawni O'Dell
About this listen
When their hard-drinking but loving father dies in a car accident, teenage brothers Kyle and Klint Hayes face a bleak prospect: leaving their Pennsylvania hometown for an uncertain life in Arizona with the mother who ran out on them years ago. But in a strange twist of fate, their town's matriarch, an eccentric, wealthy old woman whose family once owned the county coal mines, hears the boys' story. Candace Jack doesn't have an ounce of maternal instinct, yet for reasons she does not even understand herself, she is compelled to offer Kyle and Klint a home.
Suddenly, the two boys go from living in a small, run-down house on a gravel road to a stately mansion filled with sumptuous furnishings and beautiful artwork - artwork that's predominantly centered, oddly, on bull fighting. And then there's Miss Jack's real-life bull: Ventisco - a regal, hulking, jet-black beast who roams the land she owns with fiery impudence.
Kyle adjusts more easily to the transition. A budding artist, he finds a kindred spirit in Miss Jack. But local baseball hero Klint refuses to warm up to his new benefactress and instead throws himself into his game with a fierceness that troubles his little brother. Klint is not just grieving his father's death; he's carrying a terrible secret that he has never revealed to anyone. Unbeknownst to the world, Candace Jack has a secret too - a tragic, passionate past in Spain that the boys' presence threatens to reveal as she finds herself caring more for them than she ever believed possible.
From the muted, bruised hills of Pennsylvania coal country to the colorful, flamboyant bull rings of southern Spain, Tawni O'Dell takes us on a riveting journey, not only between two completely different lands, but also between seemingly incompatible souls, casting us under a narrative spell in which characters and places are rendered with fragile tenderness.
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Real estate expert Olivia Bellamy reluctantly trades a trendy Manhattan summer for her family's old resort camp in the Catskills, where her primary task will be renovating the bungalow colony for her grandparents, who want one last summer together filled with fun, friends and family. A posh resort in its heyday, the camp is now in disarray and Olivia is forced to hire contractor Connor Davis - a still-smoldering flame from her own summers at camp.
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Finding Love at Summer Camp
- By Pamela Dale Foster on 02-13-15
By: Susan Wiggs
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The House on Main Street
- Apple Valley, Book 1
- By: Shirlee McCoy
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Interior designer Tessa McKenzie has built a good life far from her Washington hometown. She intends to get back to it - as soon as she sells the cluttered Victorian house and antiques shop she inherited from her sister, Emily. But leaving Apple Valley a second time won't be so easy. There's her grieving nephew, Alex, to consider. And there's Sheriff Cade Cunningham, the adolescent crush who could easily break her heart again if she let him.
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good story
- By Amanda Palmer on 02-28-20
By: Shirlee McCoy
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Too Close to the Falls
- A Memoir
- By: Catherine Gildiner
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Welcome to the childhood of Catherine McClure Gildiner. It is the middle of the 1950s in Lewiston, New York, a small and sleepy American town very near Niagara Falls. No one is divorced. Mothers wear high heels to the beauty salon and children pop Pez candy and swing from vines over a local gorge. But at the tender age of four, it becomes clear to her Cathy's parents that their rambunctious daughter is no ordinary child and they soon put her "to work" at her father's pharmacy.
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Brilliant and funny and touching.
- By Kindle Customer on 11-07-19
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Love Walked In
- By: Marisa de los Santos
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Award-winning poet Marisa de los Santos crafts an irresistibly touching debut novel. Love Walked In is a contemporary tale, steeped in nostalgic, cinematic charm, of love in all its forms. Unapologetically idealistic about love, Cornelia Brown appears to catch the break of a lifetime when the dashing Martin Grace, her own personal Cary Grant, comes strolling into her life. But it is Martin's connection to 11-year-old Clare Hobbes that touches Cornelia's heart in ways she never imagined.
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Dreadful audio quality
- By Marenghi on 09-16-11
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Tiger, Tiger
- A Memoir
- By: Margaux Fragoso
- Narrated by: Susan Bennett
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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One summer day, Margaux Fragoso meets Peter Curran at the neighborhood swimming pool, and they begin to play. She is seven; he is 51. When Peter invites her and her mother to his house, the little girl finds a child’s paradise of exotic pets and an elaborate backyard garden. Her mother, beset by mental illness and overwhelmed by caring for Margaux, is grateful for the attention Peter lavishes on her, and he creates an imaginative universe for her, much as Lewis Carroll did for his real-life Alice.
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a weirdly loving diatribe against pervs.
- By Dane Flakeman on 05-21-11
By: Margaux Fragoso
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The Road Home
- By: Ford Michael Thomas Ford
- Narrated by: Blake Somerset
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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When a car accident leaves photographer Burke Crenshaw in need of temporary full-time care, he finds himself back in the one place no forty-year-old chooses to be--his childhood bedroom. There, in the Vermont home where he grew up, Burke begins the long process of recuperation, and watches as his widowed father finds happiness in a new relationship that's a constant reminder of everything Burke wants and lacks. Exploring local history, Burke discovers an intriguing series of letters from a Civil War soldier to his fianc.
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No need to check your scepticism at the door!
- By Orlando on 08-23-13
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Lifted by the Great Nothing
- By: Karim Dimechkie
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Max doesn't remember his mother, who was murdered by burglars before they emigrated from Beirut to New Jersey. He lives with his father, Rasheed, who is enamored of his concept of American culture - baseball and barbeques - and tries to shed his Lebanese heritage completely.
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Excellent
- By Cheyenne on 06-13-15
By: Karim Dimechkie
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Ain't She Sweet?
- By: Susan Elizabeth Phillips
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The girl everybody loves to hate has returned to the town she'd sworn to leave behind forever. As the rich, spoiled princess of Parrish, Mississippi, Sugar Beth Carey had broken hearts, ruined friendships, and destroyed reputations. But 15 years have passed, and now she's come home - broke, desperate, and too proud to show it. The people of Parrish don't believe in forgive and forget. But none of them have reckoned on the unexpected strength of a woman who's learned survival the hard way.
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wonderfully read
- By older reader on 06-14-20
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Ain't Misbehaving
- By: Molly Cannon
- Narrated by: Susan Bennett
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Sometimes even good girls need to be a little bad.... Marla Jean Bandy might be down, but she's not out. Even though her no-good ex-husband left her for another woman - a Bookmobile -driving librarian 20 years her senior - Marla Jean won't settle for another lonely night. She's not ready for Mr. Right, but why not have a little fun with Mr. Right Now? The only wrench in her plan is her childhood crush, Jake - and the memory of the one toe-curling kiss they shared on a hot summer night years ago....
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Absolutely Awesome!!!!
- By Kristin on 04-02-13
By: Molly Cannon
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Bring on the Blessings
- A Novel
- By: Beverly Jenkins
- Narrated by: Lynnette R. Freeman
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Bernadine Brown is a woman with money to spend. Henry Adams is a town in desperate need of cash. But after Bernadine puts up the money, she has some ideas about how the town should be run. Will the townspeople be willing to shake up their comfortable lives to share the gift they’ve been given with others who really need it?
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Not my idea of a Christian story
- By DJ Stevenson on 04-12-21
By: Beverly Jenkins
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Disgruntled
- By: Asali Solomon
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Kenya Curtis is only eight years old, but she knows that she's different, even if she can't put her finger on how or why. It's not because she's black - most of the other students in the fourth-grade class at her West Philadelphia elementary school are, too. Maybe it's because she calls her father - a housepainter-slash-philosopher - "Baba" or because her parents' friends gather to pour out libations "from the Creator, for the Martyrs" and discuss "the community".
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Loved It!!!
- By ayodele higgs on 05-20-15
By: Asali Solomon
What listeners say about Fragile Beasts
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jennifer Lane
- 11-14-24
Fragile Families
I read this story as a print book in 2010 and loved it so much that I chose it for my new book club in 2024, this time as an audiobook. Listening to the story made it even richer. I liked Paul Boehmer's narration of Luis better than of Kyle, but it would be tough for one narrator to nail both roles as they are so discrepant. Laural Merlington voiced a wonderful Candace.
Original review:
I love stories about dysfunctional families, and this was one of the best I've read in a long time.
Fragile Beasts opens with the narration of Kyle Hayes, a 15 year-old boy who adores his older brother (Pennsylvania high-school baseball standout Klint) as well as his younger sister, Krystal. Kyle's attended every one of Klint's baseball games, and he has drawn countless pictures for Krystal. Problem is, Krystal now lives far away in Arizona after their mom scooped her up and left their father for another man. An even bigger problem is that Kyle's father just inadvertently killed himself in a drunk-driving accident.
It's quite a dilemma about where Kyle and Klint will live after their father's funeral. Their dad was a blue-collar drunk, but he looks like "Parent of the Year" compared to their cruel, cold mother. Enter the wealthy, childless Candace Jack. Miss Jack agrees to take in the boys on, mostly to spite her nephew (the owner of the local coal company), but also to protect the boys from their mother.
Candace Jack has an intricate history of her own, and her family rivals the Hayes for putting the fun in dysfunction. She has a Spaniard, Luis, living with her, and she decorates her large home in the brilliant colors and bullfighting paintings of Spain. It turns out that Candace had loved one of Spain’s most artistic torreos, Manuel Obrador. His death in the bullfighting ring in 1959 left her bereft, and she’s never recovered. But she did bring back to Pennsylvania the bull that killed Manuel, and the bull’s grandson now lives on her estate.
I adore the character of Kyle. He’s one of the sweetest teenage boys I’ve ever met. He’s inquisitive, artistic, empathic, and kind, but he still maintains the voracious appetite and ogling of girls characteristic of his age and gender.
Klint, on the other hand, is not so sweet. He’s morose and haunted, harboring a life-threatening secret.
Tawni O’Dell is a master of metaphor. Here are some of my favorites:
“All three of the (bulls) are massive coal-black monsters with sharply pointed upturned white horns that look like they’d slide through a grown man’s chest as easily as a power drill through butter” (p. 137)
“…time passes more slowly at the beginning and ends of our lives. As children time is thick and sweet like syrup yet we can’t wait to get older. We enter adulthood and time escapes like water through an open hand. Then it slows again in the twilight years, becoming the congealed consistency of fat skimmed off a stewed chicken, and we have nothing left but to wait for death” (p. 288)
I also loved the author’s exploration of artists, whether they be bullfighters, painters, or baseball players.
“An artist doesn’t create in order to get money, or fame, or acceptance, or love. It’s a force inside him, something he must do or his soul will shrivel up and die” (p. 142)
I’m a former college athlete, and Ms. O'Dell totally nailed what happens to athletes who are depressed or suffering some sort of malaise:
“An accountant can be down in the dumps and still add up his daily figures. A teacher can be concerned about her sick mother and still assign chapters for her students to read. A truck driver can be angry at his spouse and still cover all the miles on his route. But an artist’s self is his work. If something is wrong with one, the other falls into decay. I imagine it’s the same for an athlete and his performance” (p. 152).
My only criticism is that the plot sagged a bit at the end of the second act. While I loved Candace and Luis, I didn’t find their points of view as appealing as Kyle’s.
Brilliant characterization, gripping emotions, a plot with depth and heart – this novel is a must read.
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- amazon member
- 01-31-13
Predictable story, but entertaining.
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Paul Boehmer and Laural Merlington ?
I did not like the male narrator. He was good as Louise, but as Kyle he was so annoying I could barely listen to him. The woman narrator was excellent!
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- Daniel
- 07-16-10
Both character driven and plot driven.
The first little bit of the listen seems off, until you get into the story. A great listen that will be good for those who like simpler easy reads (Grisham etc) and those who like a little more "meat" in their books (Richard Russo).
Both narrators are top notch.
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- Sarah B.
- 01-24-17
A MUST READ!!!
This story was so heart wrenching and gripping on so many levels. The emotional investment I made was astronomical. The narration was outstanding. I beg you, please do not pass Fragile Beasts up without giving it a chance! You will refuse to put it down! I am forever indebted to Tawni O'Dell! Her perspective is quite unique and wildly insightful.
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1 person found this helpful
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- bette
- 09-20-10
Tawni O'Dell Fan
I never know whether to trust reviewers or not, but you can trust that this is an excellent book to listen to in audio form. I am very unhappy that it is over and wish I could find something to enjoy as much as I have this book. All of her books except "Sister" have been page turners. She is a real story teller; don't expect "Crime and Punishment" but she is a good technical writer and never talks down. Her characters have realistic, not-contrived dialogue.You can't go wrong!
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- Stacey Melotte
- 06-01-17
fabulous!
it's a study in HUMANS as I haven't read but in a few books, a joy!
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1 person found this helpful