
The Forever Girl
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Narrated by:
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Susan Lyons
The author of the best-selling and universally adored No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series now gives us The Forever Girl, a novel about love and following one's heart, and the unexpected places to which this can lead us. Amanda and her husband, David, feel fortunate to be raising their son and daughter in the close-knit community of ex-pats on Grand Cayman Island, an idyllic place for children to grow up. Their firstborn, Sally, has always listened to her heart, deciding at age four that she would rather be called Clover and then, a few years later, falling in love with her best friend, James.
But the comforting embrace of island life can become claustrophobic for adults, especially when they are faced with difficult situations. At the same time that Clover falls in love with James, Amanda realizes that she has fallen out of love with David…and that she is interested in someone else. While Amanda tries to navigate the new path her heart is leading her down, Clover finds, much to her dismay, that James seems to be growing away from her. And when they leave the island for boarding school-- James to England and Clover to Scotland--she feels she may have lost him for good. As Clover moves on to university, seldom seeing James but always carrying him in her heart, she finds herself torn between a desire to go forward with her life and the old feelings that she just can' t shed. Through the lives of Clover and James, and Amanda and David, acclaimed storyteller Alexander McCall Smith tells a tale full of love and heartbreak, humor and melancholy, that beautifully demonstrates the myriad ways in which love shapes our lives.
©2014 Alexander McCall Smith (P)2014 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
"Touchingly conceived.... In the end we see that love unfulfilled still makes a difference." (Library Journal)
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Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
No, probably not. As someone who has read all of AMS's work (except for the number one detective series), this one fell flat. It was almost as if he didn't write it. I shudder to think he would have a factory of writers, but still ..Would you recommend The Forever Girl to your friends? Why or why not?
No. See above.Which character – as performed by Susan Lyons – was your favorite?
I cannot say that I hd a single favorite.If this book were a movie would you go see it?
No, but then I do not go to films.Any additional comments?
I was very excited when I saw this listed and how lovely and long it was. I forced myself to keep listening, thinking it would improve. It did not. It had none of the charm of the 44 Scotland Street or Corduroy Mansions series. Or even the Sunday Philosophers. It did not sound like the author's voice.Bits of the AMS we all love, but lacking in the en
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It seems to go on and on about love and the narrator's tone can sound a bit too pushy, which doesn't help. It gets tiring listening to hours of unattainable love, explaining what love is and how it feels like. Too serious, a little heavy to relate with unattainable love, even depressing. Not fun.
A story about love
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Is there anything you would change about this book?
I'd ask the esteemed Mr. McCall Smith to add in some of his comic irony to decrease the unending sense of tension.What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?
The excellent description of the lives of the rich who live in Cayman. For those of us who touch down on cruise ships, this side of life is invisible.Did the narration match the pace of the story?
The narration was okay, but not outstanding in any way.Was The Forever Girl worth the listening time?
Yes, it was. But if you've not read this author's other works, I'd suggest any of the other titles. This was my least favorite.Comic relief? Too much tension.
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Nonetheless, along the way we're treated to a few of McCall Smith's philosophical asides, insights into human character, and the nature of romantic love. And Susan Lyons does a wonderful job of narration, handling a number of English accents with subtlety and grace.
By Love Obsessed
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He starts the book on the Cayman Islands and goes on from there. I suppose he visited the Islands for a vacation for three or four weeks and from that was able to weave another fabulous story of insights into human nature. He picked up the flavor of the Islands and the humanity that lives there.
The bonus is that the book is longer than Mr. Smith's other books so there is that much pleasure in listening to it.
So, so remarkable!
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it was a VERY mediocre book 😑
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Perseverance
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Not my favorite AMS book!
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I liked the setting because I knew very little about the Cayman Islands before reading the book. I appreciated the discussion of how rich people come to the Caymans and often take advantage of poor people who come to work for them. I do wish we had learned the resolution of one of those situations which is set up in the book. But that is not unusual for this author; he very often sets up little scenarios and then leaves those threads hanging.
I wasn’t too sure for a while whether the “forever girl” was going to be the mother or the daughter, but that becomes clear at the end.
Like others have said here there are times when it gets tiresome to follow the main character as she obsesses with the object of her love. There is some realism in that, but it went on a bit long, and I feel like in real life people would’ve talked about these things rather than letting them go on for so many years.
Well again, I do understand the obsession of the main character, and felt for her, I also was frustrated with what I thought were convoluted actions that she took to achieve her goal.
And after following this difficult storyline for so long, I felt the story ended very abruptly. The dénouement was short and sudden, and then the story cut away to a completely unexpected scene.
I know some of this is kind of vague, but I don’t want to spoil. I do think that it is worth reading, but there are those are going to be frustrated and perhaps board with the repetitive nature of some of the actions taken by. The main characters.
I greatly enjoyed the narration; I have heard this narrator before and really love her work.
I learned a lot about the Cayman Islands
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How does AMS do it?
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