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Nora Webster: A Novel
- Narrated by: Fiona Shaw
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
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Publisher's summary
2015 Audie Award Finalist for Literary Fiction
From one of contemporary literature's best-selling, critically acclaimed and beloved authors, a magnificent new novel set in Ireland, about a fiercely compelling young widow and mother of four, navigating grief and fear, struggling for hope.
Set in Wexford, Ireland, Colm Tóibín's superb seventh novel introduces the formidable, memorable and deeply moving Nora Webster. Widowed at 40, with four children and not enough money, Nora has lost the love of her life, Maurice, the man who rescued her from the stifling world to which she was born. And now she fears she may be drawn back into it. Wounded, strong-willed, clinging to secrecy in a tiny community where everyone knows your business, Nora is drowning in her own sorrow and blind to the suffering of her young sons, who have lost their father. Yet she has moments of stunning empathy and kindness, and when she begins to sing again, after decades, she finds solace, engagement, a haven - herself.
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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 Forgotten Secret
- By: Kathleen McGurl
- Narrated by: Melanie MacHugh
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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It’s the summer of 1919, and Ellen O’Brien has her whole life ahead of her. Young, in love and leaving home for her first job, the future seems full of shining possibility. But war is brewing, and before long, Ellen and everyone around her are swept up by it. As Ireland is torn apart by the turmoil, Ellen finds herself facing the ultimate test of love and loyalty. A hundred years later and Clare Farrell has inherited a dilapidated old farmhouse in County Meath.
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The Forgotten Secret
- By Amazon Customer on 08-31-20
By: Kathleen McGurl
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Maeve's Times
- In Her Own Words
- By: Maeve Binchy
- Narrated by: Kate Binchy
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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From the royal wedding to boring airplane companions, Samuel Beckett to Margaret Thatcher, "senior moments" to life as a waitress, Maeve's Times gives us wonderful insight into a changing Ireland as it celebrates the work of one of our best-loved writers in all its diversity - revealing her characteristic directness, laugh-out-loud humor, and unswerving gaze into the true heart of a matter.
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A GLIMPSE THROUGH MAEVE'S LOOKING GLASS
- By jstrfic on 08-08-17
By: Maeve Binchy
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The Testament of Gideon Mack
- By: James Robertson
- Narrated by: Tom Cotcher
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
For Gideon Mack, faithless minister, unfaithful husband, and troubled soul, the existence of God, let alone the Devil, is no more credible than that of ghosts or fairies - until the day he falls into a gorge and is rescued by someone who might just be Satan.
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Fantastic
- By Christopher on 07-06-08
By: James Robertson
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Under Heaven's Shining Stars
- By: Jean Grainger
- Narrated by: Alan Smyth
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
For three young boys, Liam, Patrick, and Hugo, life in Ireland of the 1960s proves to be both idyllic and flawed. Living in close proximity but leading vastly different lives, the bonds of friendship bind these young men as they grow, dream, and navigate the storms of youth.
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A Modern Irish Catholic Tale
- By Jane Meddaugh on 12-19-20
By: Jean Grainger
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A Narrow Door
- By: Joanne Harris
- Narrated by: Alex Kingston, Steven Pacey
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Rebecca Buckfast has spilled blood to reach this position. Barely 40, she is just starting to reap the harvest of her ambition. As the new regime takes on the old guard, the ground shifts. And with it, the remains of a body are discovered.
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Optional heading
- By TanyaB on 01-17-22
By: Joanne Harris
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The Heart's Invisible Furies
- A Novel
- By: John Boyne
- Narrated by: Stephen Hogan
- Length: 21 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Cyril Avery is not a real Avery - or at least that's what his adoptive parents tell him. And he never will be. But if he isn't a real Avery, then who is he? Born out of wedlock to a teenage girl cast out from her rural Irish community and adopted by a well-to-do if eccentric Dublin couple via the intervention of a hunchbacked Redemptorist nun, Cyril is adrift in the world, anchored only tenuously by his heartfelt friendship with the infinitely more glamourous and dangerous Julian Woodbead.
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Outstanding. A Must listen.
- By Keith G on 09-04-17
By: John Boyne
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Half a Lifelong Romance
- A Novel
- By: Eileen Chang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Manzhen is a young worker in a Shanghai factory where she meets Shijun, the son of wealthy merchants. Despite family complications, they fall in love and begin to dream of a shared life together - until circumstances force them apart. When they are reunited after many years, can they start their relationship again? Or is it destined to be the romance of only half a lifetime?
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super
- By Marcus Aurelius on 10-05-17
By: Eileen Chang
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Shadow of a Century
- By: Jean Grainger
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Mary Doyle arrives in Dublin in 1913, doomed, she fears, to a life of domestic service. Instead, however, she finds herself deeply affected by the social and political turmoil of a fledgling nation struggling for independence. Suddenly, all that was once inevitable is no longer a certainty as she is embroiled in the very heart of the Easter Rising.
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Loved this book!
- By Amazon Customer on 11-14-20
By: Jean Grainger
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Girl Alone
- By: Cathy Glass
- Narrated by: Denica Fairman
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Aged nine Joss came home from school to discover her father's suicide. She's never got over it. This is the true story of Joss, 13 who is angry and out of control. At the age of nine, Joss finds her father's dead body. He has committed suicide. Then more recently her mother remarries and Joss bitterly resents her step-father who abuses her mentally and physically.
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Great!
- By Lexi on 06-22-18
By: Cathy Glass
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hated it
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Power. Control. Restraint.
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Terrific listening experience
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Eamon Redmond is a judge in Ireland’s high court, a completely legal creature who is just beginning to discover how painfully unconnected he is from other human beings. With effortless fluency, Colm Tóibín reconstructs the history of Eamon’s relationships - with his father, his first "girl", his wife, and the children who barely know him - and he writes about Eamon’s affection for the Irish coast with such painterly skill that the land itself becomes a character. The result is a novel of stunning power.
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During the winter solstice, on the shortest day and longest night of the year, the ancient burial chamber at Newgrange is empowered. Its mystifying source is a haunting tale told by locals. Professor O’Kelly believes an archaeologist’s job is to make known only what can be proved. He is undeterred by ghost stories, idle speculation, and caution. Much to the chagrin of the living souls in County Meath. As well as those entombed in the sacred darkness of Newgrange itself. They’re determined to protect the secret of the light, guarded for more than 5,000 years.
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Terrible
- By Amazon Customer on 05-17-23
By: Colm Tóibín
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Brooklyn
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“One of the most unforgettable characters in contemporary literature” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Eilis Lacey has come of age in small-town Ireland in the hard years following World War Two. When an Irish priest from Brooklyn offers to sponsor Eilis in America, she decides she must go, leaving her fragile mother and her charismatic sister behind. Eilis finds work in a department store on Fulton Street, and when she least expects it, finds love. Tony, who loves the Dodgers and his big Italian family, slowly wins her over with patient charm.
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Human frailty 
- By Monte on 11-08-24
By: Colm Toibin
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Mothers and Sons
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This beautifully written, intensely intimate collection explores a subject of nearly universal experience: the psychological push and pull between a mother and a son.
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Good Reader, Odd Endings
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Elegant, profound, and riveting, Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know illuminates not only the complex relationships between three of the greatest writers in the English language and their fathers, but also illustrates the surprising ways these men surface in their work. Through these stories of fathers and sons, Tóibín recounts the resistance to English cultural domination, the birth of modern Irish cultural identity, and the extraordinary contributions of these complex and masterful authors.
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Eminently re-readable
- By Ellen-A on 01-02-19
By: Colm Toibin
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The Empty Family
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Story
In the captivating stories that make up The Empty Family, Colm Tibn delineates with a tender and unique sensibility, lives of unspoken or unconscious longing, of individuals often willingly cast adrift from their history. From the young Pakistani immigrant who seeks some kind of permanence in a strange town, to the Irish woman reluctantly returning to Dublin and discovering a city that refuses to acknowledge her long absence, each of Tibn's stories manage to contain whole worlds.
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Love, Loss, and Longing
- By Cariola on 01-02-12
By: Colm Toibin
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A Guest at the Feast
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“IT ALL STARTED WITH MY BALLS.” So begins Colm Tóibín’s fabulously compelling essay, laced with humor, about his diagnosis and treatment for cancer. Tóibín survives, but he has entered, as he says, “the age of one ball.” Tóibín describes his education by priests, several of whom were condemned years later for abuse. He writes about Irish history and literature, and about the long, tragic journey toward legal and social acceptance of homosexuality. A Guest at the Feast is both an intimate encounter with a creative artist and a glorious celebration of writing.
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Excellent writing and interesting insights.
- By Tom on 02-11-24
By: Colm Toibin
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On Elizabeth Bishop
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In this book novelist Colm Tóibín offers a deeply personal introduction to the work and life of one of his most important literary influences - the American poet Elizabeth Bishop. Ranging across her poetry, prose, letters, and biography, Tóibín creates a vivid picture of Bishop while also revealing how her work has helped shape his sensibility as a novelist and how her experiences of loss and exile resonate with his own.
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ELIZABETH BISHOP
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 05-19-16
By: Colm Tóibín
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At Home with the Templetons
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Overall
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Story
When the Templeton family from England takes up residence in a stately home in country Australia, they set the locals talking – and with good reason. From the outside, the seven Templetons seem so bohemian, peculiar even. No one is more intrigued by the family than their neighbours, single mother Nina Donovan and her young son Tom. Before long, the two families' lives become entwined in unexpected ways.
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A dreadful mistake
- By Julie on 11-14-10
By: Monica McInerney
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The Magic Toyshop
- By: Angela Carter
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This Audible Exclusive adaptation of Angela Carter's The Magic Toyshop, is brought expertly to life by multi-award winning actress, Fiona Shaw. A coming of age tale which extends the nature and boundaries of love, as seen through the eyes of the youthful and naïve Melanie, The Magic Toyshop was enormously successful and cemented Angela Carter's status as one of England's greatest and most daring writers.
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Great reading by Fiona Shaw.
- By Patrick Zircher on 06-12-24
By: Angela Carter
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Long Island
- By: Colm Tóibín
- Narrated by: Katja Danowski
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Erste Liebe, zweite Chancen: Ein Mann und eine Frau treffen sich nach fast zwanzig Jahren wieder - und stehen noch einmal vor der Entscheidung ihres Lebens. Eilis lebt in Long Island mit ihren Kindern und Tony, für den sie ihre Jugendliebe Jim in Irland zurückließ. Als sie erfährt, dass Tony sein uneheliches Kind in der gemeinsamen Familie aufziehen will, bricht sie in ihre Heimat auf.
By: Colm Tóibín
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Saints for All Occasions
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- By: J. Courtney Sullivan
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
Nora and Theresa Flynn are 21 and 17 when they leave their small village in Ireland and journey to America. Nora is the responsible sister; she's shy and serious and engaged to a man she isn't sure that she loves. Theresa is gregarious; she is thrilled by their new life in Boston and besotted with the fashionable dresses and dance halls on Dudley Street. But when Theresa ends up pregnant, Nora is forced to come up with a plan - a decision with repercussions they are both far too young to understand.
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The narration ruined it
- By Janis Reynolds on 06-12-17
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Abide with Me
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Strout
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In the late 1950s, in a small New England town, Reverend Tyler Caskey has suffered a terrible loss and finds it hard to be the person he once was. He struggles to find the right words in his sermons and in his conversations with those facing crises of their own, and to bring his five-year-old daughter, Katherine, out of the silence she has observed in the wake of the family’s tragedy.
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Understated and powerful
- By Kathryn on 10-18-07
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What listeners say about Nora Webster: A Novel
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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- Ricabod
- 06-25-17
Over too soon, but a great snapshot of her life.
Fiona Shaw is absolutely incredible, as I expected. Any performance of hers is completely flawless.
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- Kathleen Ann Knox
- 08-14-22
A favorite
Beautifully written, intimate and subtle. A simply gorgeous book. The reader’s talent is as astonishing as the writer’s.
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- Susan Finch
- 11-06-14
Couldn't finish it, I just didn't care
Would you try another book from Colm Toibin and/or Fiona Shaw?
Fiona Shaw was an excellent narrator. The problem was the story. It was boring and depressing and I never felt compelled to care about Nora. I finally just gave up. I gave it three stars only because he narration was good.
Would you ever listen to anything by Colm Toibin again?
I might, some reviews say his other books are much better but then many reviewers loved this book. People praise the excellent writing. I guess I am a reader that is more concerned with the story. Everyone likes something different. This just wasn't for me.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Disappointment!
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9 people found this helpful
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- Autodidact
- 08-15-17
beautiful and simple
The description of a woman's life unfolding after being suddenly widowed. The circumscription of a small Irish town in the 1970's and the many subtle ways we watch her grow into herself as an individual, with family yet, as we all are, alone.
Beautiful. This book puts me in mind of the many novels by Edna O'Brian.
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4 people found this helpful
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Story
- MommoSa
- 09-20-24
Not really sure about this book by one of my favorite authors.
Like the stories about ‘the troubles” between the 2 halves of Ireland. Wasn’t sure what I thought about the story.
Liked Aunt Josie.
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- susan
- 08-24-15
Stick with it
This book had a slow start and when I became involved in Nora,s transformation of herself I couldn't put the book down And Fiona Shaw isa marvelous actor
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Performance
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- S. lamy
- 07-21-19
Mixed Feelings
I enjoyed the writing. I also enjoyed the performance. But, Not enough of a plot.
This is the story of a woman dealing with the grief of the death of her husband. It gets a bit dreary after awhile. I kept waiting for some sort of action. But, nothing much happens.
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- Zerbe
- 09-21-15
Nobody does it better
Colm toibin gets women . I can't think of any other male writer who delves so deeply into the mind and emotions of his female characters. Nora Webster is proof of this. His depiction of a woman emerging from grief and finding new footing in the world is exquisite. Too bad Fiona Shaw's reading didn't measure up for me. She made everyone but Nora sound old and simple minded. Have liked her work in the past, but this was disappointing.
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- Valerie
- 03-25-15
Exquisite portrait
Colm Toibim has written a detailed, perfectly paced, intimate story of a woman who is a mother, wife, daughter, sister, employee, and member of her community and culture during her transitions following the death of her husband. Subtle and truthful.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Karen
- 01-31-16
Beautiful story well told
Great story of strength, pain, growth, and self-knowledge. Nora's dreads and simultaneous willingness to move forward are both inspiring and true. Excellent reader.
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