The Girls of August Audiobook By Anne Rivers Siddons cover art

The Girls of August

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The Girls of August

By: Anne Rivers Siddons
Narrated by: Kate Reading
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Every August, four women would gather together to spend a week at the beach, renting a new house each year. The ritual began when they were in their 20s and their husbands were in medical school, and became a mainstay of every summer thereafter. Their only criteria was oceanfront and isolation, their only desire to strengthen their far-flung friendships. They called themselves the Girls of August. But when one of the Girls dies tragically, the group slowly drifts apart and their vacations together are brought to a halt. Years later, a new marriage reunites them and they decide to come together once again on a remote barrier island off the South Carolina coast. There, far from civilization, the women make startling discoveries that will change them in ways they never expected.

©2014 Anne Rivers Siddons (P)2014 Hachette Audio Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Small Town & Rural Women's Fiction Marriage

Critic reviews

"One doesn't read Anne Rivers Siddons's books, one dwells in them." ( Chicago Tribune
"Bravura writing...This is Siddons's best, maybe the book she was born to write." (Stephen King)
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come together to spend 2 weeks together at a house on an island owned by the newest member of the group, a young, beautiful, flighty third wife of one of the group's friends.

A Special Group of Friends

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I came across Ms. Siddons many years ago and loved her work from the the first chapter I read. I have all of her books and read them all at least twice. I grew up in Mountain Brook,Al., a suburb of Birmingham. Her voice is so familiar to me. She truly evokes the voice of the South that I connect with. I really enjoyed this book. She gave me insight into several characters. I hope she will give us another book. I know time is catching up with her and writing is a very difficult process, but I can hope!

Also, so many of her books are abridged in Audible. Wish Audible would see if any unabridged copies of these books are out there.

New book from an old friend

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Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

It was a pretty good story, but I got sick of the language used.

The Low Class Girls of August

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Did I read the categories wrong? Pre-teen would work except for the sexual references. Young adult doesn't fit; I don't know any young adult who is immature enough for this book. Adult? None of them to be found among the "girls". I don't suppose there is a category for soppy, silly, poorly read books. Dumb is the kindest word I can find for this one.

Ugh

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Would you try another book from Anne Rivers Siddons and/or Kate Reading?

Not after reading this book! I was so looking forward to reading a new book by Anne Rivers Siddons because I hadn't read a book of hers for a while and used to REALLY love her books. It was almost as if this was written by a different author. I was so disappointed......

What was most disappointing about Anne Rivers Siddons’s story?

The characters were flat.....lifeless....people you didn't really care about as there was no substance to them....nothing to interest you in them or their lives. It was a huge non-story. The ending was absolutely ridiculous. I'm not happy that I wasted one of my credits on this book. But, I did read it to the end just to see if it got any better. It only got worse. Bad characters, bad storyline and unnecessary bad language.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The narration was terrible....especially Baby! Just awful!

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Girls of August?

All of them!

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!

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What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

There was no plot and the characters drew very little interest for me. The story went nowhere!!!

What didn’t you like about Kate Reading’s performance?

All the voices sounded the same, except Baby's and the narrator whined all the way through

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I was very disappointed in this Anne River Siddons novel. In the past I have enjoyed her fiction, but I kept listening for some plot and story and there was none.

Any additional comments?

I would be interested to see what other readers say about this book

Claire

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The women in this story are mean hearted and vindictive. The reconciling at the end does not justify 7 hours of listening to these horrible women abuse the only character worthy of empathy in the whole story. I used to love Anne Rivers Siddons. For her sake, I hope this is not autobiographical. I will not read another book by her.

Horrible characters

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