The Forgotten Affairs of Youth Audiobook By Alexander McCall Smith cover art

The Forgotten Affairs of Youth

An Isabel Dalhousie Novel

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The Forgotten Affairs of Youth

By: Alexander McCall Smith
Narrated by: Lesley Mackie
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About this listen

The continuing adventures from Isabel Dalhousie, Edinburgh philosopher and curious observer of the behaviour of her fellow man.

©2011 Alexander McCall Smith (P)2011 Hachette Digital Contemporary Fiction Genre Fiction
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Voice was monotonous and I felt like I was being hypnotized and would fall asleep after About 15 minutes

Voice

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This was a light enjoyable read, but the attempt to reproduce an Australian accent was absolutely dreadful. For an Australian living in Sydney to have to listen to this it was painful and irritating. The voice of the Australian character who was looking for information about her natural parents was a blend of a South African twang and broad rough Australian sounds of a centuary ago! Other than that it was a pleasant story but nothing remarkable.

a light enjoyable read

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I have read all in this series and am waiting for the next as Isabel's life unfolds. McCall Smith is a great story teller and the endings are always positive.

More about Isabel Dalhousie

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The story continues the interfering daily life of philosopher Isabel Dalhousie. These are gently entertaining stories with interesting observations of humanity. At times I find myself becoming slightly annoyed at Isabel's intense navel gazing but these times pass. I also get a bit frustrated at the repeated references to the same Auden quotes & other repeated details from previous stories. I understand Isabel is an Auden fan but I'm over the "being in love with a pumping engine" story.
However, with this particular book I found the narrator the biggest issue. Leslie Mackie, a fine actress, reads the book well but her attempts at Australian & New Zealand accents leaves a LOT to be desired. As an Australian, I found these awful accents really grating & the listening hard going. Aussie & Kiwi accents are very different yet Ms Mackie made them sound exactly the same & equally awful. And no Australian pronounces Melbourne, MEL-BORN. Americans call it that. Aussies say MEL-bun!

Gentle Entertainment

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