Mary Coin
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Narrated by:
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Eva Kaminsky
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Alison Fraser
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Mark Zeisler
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By:
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Marisa Silver
About this listen
In her first novel since The God of War, critically acclaimed author Marisa Silver takes Dorothea Lange’s "Migrant Mother" photograph as inspiration for a breathtaking reinvention - a story of two women, one famous and one forgotten, and of the remarkable legacy of their singular encounter.
In 1936, a young mother resting by the side of a road in Central California is spontaneously photographed by a woman documenting the migrant laborers who have taken to America’s farms in search of work - little personal information is exchanged and neither has any way of knowing that their chance encounter has produced the most iconic image of the Great Depression.
Three vibrant characters anchor the narrative of Mary Coin: Mary, the migrant mother herself, who emerges as a woman with deep reserves of courage and nerve, with private passions and carefully guarded secrets. Vera Dare, the photographer wrestling with creative ambition who makes the choice to leave her children in order to pursue her work. And Walker Dodge, a present-day professor of cultural history, who discovers a family mystery embedded in the picture. In luminous, exquisitely observed prose, Silver creates an extraordinary tale from a brief moment in history, and reminds us that though a great photograph can capture the essence of a moment, it only scratches the surface of a life.
©2013 Marisa Silver (P)2013 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Mary Coin is quite simply one of the best novels I have read in years. 'You'll know who you are when you start losing things,' says one character, and the story burns in this quietly emphatic way, only to erupt in moments of excruciating pain and beauty. In her portrayal of a time in American history when survival was often a day-to-day thing, Silver drills down to the absolute essentials: family, love, loss, the perpetual uncertainty of life. Again and again I found myself wondering: How does she know that? Silver's wisdom is rare, and her novel is the work of a master." (Ben Fountain, author of the 2012 National Book Award winner Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk)
“Gorgeous.... This narrative of mid-century hope, loss, and disenchantment is both universal and deeply personal. With writing that is sensual and rich, [Silver] shines a light on the parts of personal history not shared and stops time without destroying the moment.” (Publisher’s Weekly, starred review)
“Marisa Silver’s transfixing new novel...deftly sprinkles historical fact into her fictional narrative...a raw and emotional tale that leaves readers with a lingering question: Do photographs illuminate or blur the truth?” (O, The Oprah Magazine)
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Told through the eyes of the Leongs' secret-keeping daughters and wives and spanning the Boxer Rebellion to Pearl Harbor to 1960s Hawaii, Diamond Head is a breathtakingly powerful tale of tragic love, shocking lies, poignant compromise, aching loss, heroic acts of sacrifice, and miraculous hope.
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- By Gina on 09-06-15
By: Cecily Wong
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Paradise
- By: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Toni Morrison
- Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In Paradise - her first novel since she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature - Toni Morrison gives us a bravura performance. As the book begins deep in Oklahoma early one morning in 1976, nine men from Ruby (pop. 360), in defense of "the one all-black town worth the pain", assault the nearby Convent and the women in it. From the town's ancestral origins in 1890 to the fateful day of the assault, Paradise tells the story of a people ever mindful of the relationship between their spectacular history and a void.
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MORRISON AT HER MOST COMPLEX
- By Kennedi Hill on 11-07-19
By: Toni Morrison
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The Waiting
- The True Story of a Lost Child, a Lifetime of Longing, and a Miracle for a Mother Who Never Gave Up
- By: Cathy LaGrow, Cindy Coloma - contributor
- Narrated by: Pamela Klein
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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In the summer of 1928, sixteen-year-old Minka was looking forward to a sewing class picnic. This would be a rare chance to put aside farm chores, don a pretty dress, and enjoy an outing with other girls. It would be a day to remember. And it was - but not in the way Minka had dreamed. Cornered by a stranger in the woods, the young girl was assaulted. Minka still believed that the stork brought babies; she would not discover for months that she was pregnant.
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Captivating and fantastic
- By John alexander on 10-03-19
By: Cathy LaGrow, and others
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Charms for the Easy Life
- By: Kaye Gibbons
- Narrated by: Kate Fleming
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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A family without men, the Birches live gloriously offbeat lives in the lush, green backwoods of North Carolina. Radiant, headstrong Sophia and her shy, brilliant daughter, Margaret, possess powerful charms to ward off loneliness, despair, and the human misery that often beats a path to their door. And they are protected by the eccentric wisdom and muscular love of the remarkable matriarch Charlie Kate, a solid, uncompromising, self-taught healer who treats everything from boils to broken bones to broken hearts.
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So Lovely!
- By Doodle slave on 01-04-17
By: Kaye Gibbons
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The Vine of Desire
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Anju and Sudha formed an astounding, almost psychic connection during their childhood in India. When Anju invites Sudha, a single mother in Calcutta, to come live with her and her husband, Sunil, in California, Sudha foolishly accepts, knowing full well that Sunil has long desired her. As Sunil's attraction rises to the surface, the trio must struggle to make sense of the freedoms of America - and of the ties that bind them to India and to one another.
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Vine of desire
- By Mz Shantay on 03-27-21
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Grand Central
- Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion
- By: Melanie Benjamin, Amanda Hodgkinson, Pam Jenoff, and others
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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On any particular day, thousands upon thousands of people pass through New York City's Grand Central Terminal, through the whispering gallery, beneath the ceiling of stars, and past the information booth and its beckoning four-faced clock, to whatever destination is calling them. It is a place where people come to say hello and good-bye. And each person has a story to tell.
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Grand Central: Memories
- By ZacharyKindle Customer on 05-03-17
By: Melanie Benjamin, and others
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The Magic of Ordinary Days
- A Novel
- By: Ann Howard Creel
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Olivia Dunne, a studious minister's daughter who dreams of being an archaeologist, never thought that the drama of World War II would affect her quiet life in Denver. An exhilarating flirtation reshapes her life, though, and she finds herself banished to a rural Colorado outpost, married to a man she hardly knows. Overwhelmed by loneliness, Olivia tentatively tries to establish a new life, finding much-needed friendship and solace in two Japanese American sisters who are living at a nearby internment camp.
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I purchased this audio book not 15 minutes ago...
- By Kim on 09-15-16
By: Ann Howard Creel
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
- By: Maya Angelou
- Narrated by: Maya Angelou
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age - and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. But years later, she learns about love for herself and the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors.
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Emotional & Powerful
- By Miss Toni on 06-30-13
By: Maya Angelou
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Without a Map
- A Memoir
- By: Meredith Hall
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Meredith Hall's moving but unsentimental memoir begins in 1965, when she becomes pregnant at sixteen. Shunned by her insular New Hampshire community, she is then kicked out of the house by her mother. Her father and stepmother reluctantly take her in, hiding her before they finally banish her altogether. After giving her baby up for adoption, Hall wanders recklessly through the Middle East, where she survives by selling her possessions and finally her blood.
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Not Your Average "16 and Pregnant"
- By Susie on 12-11-12
By: Meredith Hall
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I'm Supposed to Protect You from All This
- A Memoir
- By: Nadja Spiegelman
- Narrated by: Nadja Spiegelman
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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For a long time, Nadja Spiegelman believed her mother was a fairy. More than her famous father, Maus creator Art Spiegelman, and even more than most mothers, hers - French-born New Yorker art director Françoise Mouly - exerted a force over reality that was both dazzling and daunting. As Nadja's body changed and "began to whisper to the adults around me in a language I did not understand", their relationship grew tense.
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Aweful
- By Haley Abreu on 07-05-17
By: Nadja Spiegelman
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One Amazing Thing
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Purva Bedi, Soneela Nankani, Neil Shah
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Winner of a Pushcart Prize for poetry and an American Book Award for her short stories, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores themes of women, immigration, and her vibrant Indian culture to great effect. Divakaruni expands on these ideas in One Amazing Thing, a project long in the making and full of electric prose.
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An ok way to kill some time
- By R.Reader on 11-07-12
What listeners say about Mary Coin
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Brenda Cole
- 06-25-16
Great story, narration at times distracting
I enjoyed this story very much. The ability to weave together disparate pieces of history into a compelling story is a gift. Kudos to Marisa Silver! At times, the narration caused me to focus more on the voices than on the story. Definitely worth the listen, though.
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- Paula
- 03-13-13
Engaging, Inventive . . . Still I Wanted More!
As a reader who loved Grapes of Wrath, you might understand why I selected this book and perhaps, what I expected from it. I got quite a lot, but still sound myself wanting something more. Better narration for one, greater character depth for another.
That said, this is a remarkable work of fiction that weaves the lives and choices of three main characters in ways that seem plausible and realistic. I can imagine that it could have happened just the way the author portends. And what a great story it was. There are surprising choices and decisions made by each of the three characters that they carry with them through life. So it is with all of us.
I wanted better narration for the "voice" of Mary Coin. I wanted to understand her just a little better. I loved the narration for Professor Dodge and Vera Dare, but again, something hard to put my finger on was missing from their characterizations and descriptions that left me wanting.
Despite this, I enjoyed the book and found it offering much to think about. I recommend!
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7 people found this helpful
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- Gail
- 07-21-22
Exceptional writing, moving story, great narration
This is an exceptional novel. Brilliantly written. So many creative phrases which convey a whole world. Really noteworthy. Marisa Silver takes a famous photograph and weaves a meaningful narrative about it. Not gimmicky, only (seemingly) true statement after true statement. I loved the narration. Each narrator contributed just the right tone to their part of the story. The book really should have won prizes. Maybe it did?? I'm sure I will be rereading it in years to come. What a gift to the world. A real find and a real pleasure.
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- Janet A Dobrowolski
- 07-16-15
Enjoyable listen
The author has a beautiful, but clever writing style. There were many phrases that I wrote down - something I hardly ever do. Vera's story is almost identical to that of Dorothea Lange and I enjoyed revisiting it. I have to admit that I didn't figure out how the story's were tied together until I was well into the book.
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- Elizabeth
- 10-24-13
Mary Coin brings the historic photo alive
Where does Mary Coin rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This is a very enjoyable book, well written and with an interesting premise. The story is based on real-life FSA photographer Dorothea Lange, Vera Dare in the novel, and the subject of her most famous photograph, the Migrant Mother -- Florence Owens Thompson (Mary Coin).Silver does an excellent job of bringing the two women alive and giving listeners a window both into their lives which were quite different but which were influenced profoundly by this image.I could have done without the Walter Dodge part of the story -- it didn't ring as true as the relationship and lives of Vera Dare and
Who was your favorite character and why?
Vera Dare/Dorothea Lange -- she was one of the few of the women photographers who worked for the Farm Service Administration. Her life story is fictionalized in the book but is based on real life events.
Any additional comments?
Definitely worth listening to!
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- Ela B.
- 10-19-20
Don't hesitate! A winner in every way.
Intelligent and beautifully written, this finely constructed narrative will take you on a journey that you will be sad to complete. A novel of heart and a of history, interwoven. Don't hesitate with this one. Wonderfully narrated and even though three interwoven stories, you won't get confused.
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- JDel
- 08-28-13
Good Listen
Great story and great narration. Did not know there was a story behind this famous photo. Interesting read in these modern day times where we have so many (in my opinion) social programs in place. This story tells of a time when there were no government "safety nets" available.
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- Carol R. Rodgers
- 11-19-16
Poetry
This book is gorgeously written. So many startling phrases that take you to a new place. Having just finished Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, which was full of trite and hackneyed writing, Silver's skill with the written word was heaven.
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-30-13
Narration does not do this book justice
The narrator for Vera was good, but the other two were not. The man had no inflection to speak of and ended every sentence in the same tone. The voice for Mary did the same; every sentence ended in a dramatic whisper and did not convey this character and killed the male voices. Otherwise, the book itself was absolutely stunning!!!! The themes were beautifully interwoven - time, history, family, parenting, self awareness. I am listening again despite my disappointment in the narration.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Emmy
- 10-13-22
Devoured it; loved it.
Marisa Silver has done something amazing with this book— she has managed to weave together many recognizable aspects of American life during the depression era to create a fictional-but-historically-accurate narrative about “that woman from the famous photograph.” I cannot count the number of references that tickled deeper historical connections in my mind, or helped me to understand a theme of that history from a new perspective.
Of course there are creative liberties taken, the major one being the reinvention of the photographer’s identity. But regardless, this novel draws on period-specific notions of class, gender, labor, and even race, as well as the relationship between them, and brings to light the depth of emotion, rooted in circumstances, which would have surrounded and shaped the experiences of those who lived it.
As a bonus, the underlying ode to the study of history, and the evolution of the historiography that shapes our understanding of it, is exquisite. Silver leaves the reader with an understanding of the significance of the every-day lives of all different types of “ordinary people”, and the information that evidence of their experiences can provide.
This book is a gift to the discipline of History, both in terms of its literary content conveying serious historical relevance, as well as its eloquent reinforcement of the importance of a curious mind, and human connection, in the pursuit of historical truth. 11/10.
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1 person found this helpful