Preview
  • The English American

  • A Novel
  • By: Alison Larkin
  • Narrated by: Alison Larkin
  • Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (56 ratings)

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The English American

By: Alison Larkin
Narrated by: Alison Larkin
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Publisher's summary

This AudioFile Earphones Award-winning recording of Alison Larkin's best-selling autobiographical novel about an adopted English woman who finds her birth parents and herself in the US is followed by an exclusive interview with the author.

"Author and narrator Alison Larkin lights up the earphones with her portrayal of Pippa Dunn, a young English woman who discovers that her birth parents are Americans. Pippa decides to go to America to meet them and ends up finding herself-and true love. Larkin's heartfelt narration conveys Pippa's mixed up feelings of confusion and guilt-as well as the story's humor. Larkin moves delightfully between the various British and American accents. With gentle humor, she pokes fun at both American and British cultures while making it clear she loves them both. This audio experience is like watching a great romantic comedy. Have the tissues ready at the end-the romance is that good!" (AudioFile Magazine - Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award)

In addition to being a best-selling novelist and comedienne, Alison Larkin is also the award-winning narrator of over 200 audiobooks including The Complete Novels of Jane Austen, The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll and Peter Pan and The Inconsiderate Waiter by J. M. Barrie.

Larkin's interview with Grammy Award-winning producer Paul Alan Ruben is followed by "The DNA Song", lyrics by Alison Larkin, music by Gary Schreiner, and sung by Alison Larkin.

©2008 Alison Larkin (P)2018 Alison Larkin Presents
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What listeners say about The English American

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

This book is simply perfect.

I do not say this often, but this book is perfect. Based on true events, it is a touching story about an American baby who is adopted by English parents. She is nothing like her adopted parents, although she loves them very much. As an adult she feels the need to find her birth parents in order to answer some questions and find herself. Her Georgia born, free spirited birth-mother could not be more of a contrast to her proper British mother. The story is very well-written, emotionally truthful, and poignant without ever portraying the adopted heorine as a victim. Don't let the perfectly captured emotional scenes fool you. This is a funny, smart, uplifting and inspiring book. The dialogue is hilarious. It is well-paced and perfectly perfomed. The narrator has an excellent singing voice. Often when an author performs her own work, it is a disaster. That is not the case here. She could not have chosen a better narrator than herself for this book.

There is a small amount of swearing that is authentic to the story. Since the heorine (and the author herself) are a result of an adulterous affair, the themes are necessarily adult. With that in mind, the book is relatively clean. No graphic sex. It is appropriate for older teens and adults. The story is amazing. I highly recommend it to every age appropriate person.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

WONDERFUL!

I love this audio book. It's poignant and funny and true and you can't stop listening. I fell in love with Pippa Dunn from the beginning and was rooting for her as she found her roots and herself. I laughed out loud at the cultural comments - the differences between England and America. Plus the interview at the end is fascinating. This book is a wonderful, wonderful listen. No wonder it won so many awards.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fun Funny Sweet and Poignant

The English American is a wonderful story of a personal journey to self discovery.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Slow start - unnecessarily political

The beginning of the book was SO slow - it would have been better if the musings of the past to illustrate how Pippa was different than her adoptive family had been scattered through the actual story of finding her parents.
The anti-conservative rantings were superfluous and indulgent - absolutely unnecessary and off putting.
As this is “autobiographical” and fictional - it’s hard to comment on the story itself but the telling of the story could’ve used some editing. While I don’t understand the “laugh out loud” reviews, the story was told with the lightness and fun of a rom com which held my interest on a long drive.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Interesting Story

I was not a fan of this story at the beginning but as I listened to it and got over the foul language, I really got into the story. The heroine is adopted but although loved she still feels the need to find her real parents. She creates many characters to represent them but nothing beats the actual. The narrator added the emotions but many times she sounded like an American trying to speak British English. Most times she was in character so this did not distract from the story. The end was interesting though. I got this story via audiobook boom and this is my voluntary review.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

absolutely delightful

Truly enjoyed this story. As a Brit living in America it made me smile knowingly many times and miss England terribly.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not for me.

I actually did not like the character in this book. I noticed that all the reviews loved this book but I didn't like it as much as I wanted too.
There is a lot of profanity, which sounded weird coming out the narrators mouth. I felt it was forced, I did not understand why the character need to swear a lot.
This book is not for me but others might like it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!

The English American is one of my all time favorite books. To find out that this award-winning recording has been released with an interview with the author AND the DNA song, which I heard Larkin perform live was a thrill.

Instead of the usual two-dimensional adoptee this novel has an authentic adopted heroine at it's center. Pippa is charming, British, flawed, human, idealistic, talented, untidy, unpredictable and the sort of character you fall in love with. She's a heroine who makes you laugh one minute and cry the next. And the narration! All I can say is WOW! Alison Larkin is a narrator at the very top of her game and in addition to writing a compelling story that makes you laugh one minute and cry the next, her observations about the differences between England and America are hilarious and true. I have spent a lot of time in both countries and I just love the whole thing!

Paul Ruben's interview with Alison Larkin is thoughtful and fascinating. Alison Larkin herself was adopted and the novel is autobiographical. This is very special. I love it.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Hooray for Pippa!

Pippa, the main character, is the best part of this book; she is quirky, funny, and slightly oblivious to herself as she is discovering herself. The story itself was good, but meandered a little long for me; still, it came to a good conclusion. Narration was good.

My only complaint is that once again, conservatives are portrayed as crazy, off the deep end…can we just leave politics out of a good story for a change? It doesn’t occur often here, but enough for me to be annoyed with the typical stereotypes.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The story itself was fantastic.

The first two chapters were a little slow, but it kept me interested enough to keep going. Then I was hooked.

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