The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds
An Isabel Dalhousie Novel, Book 9
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Narrated by:
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Davina Porter
About this listen
One afternoon over coffee at Cat’s delicatessen, a friend of Isabel’s shares a call for help from Duncan Munrowe. Crafty thieves have stolen a prized painting from his collection, a work by the celebrated French artist Nicolas Poussin that was earmarked for donation to the Scottish National Gallery. Munrowe has been approached by the thieves and hopes that Isabel will assist him in recovering the painting. Never one to refuse an appeal, she agrees, and discovers that the thieves may be closer to the owner than he ever would have expected.
Against the backdrop of this intriguing case, Isabel copes with life’s issues, large and small. She and Jamie have begun to suspect that their three-year-old son, Charlie, might be a budding mathematical genius. What should be done about it? Then there is the question of whether Isabel should help a young couple who want to move in together - against the wishes of the girl’s parents. The boyfriend is hoping Isabel might intercede. As she wrestles with these problems, Isabel finds herself tested as a parent, a philosopher and a friend.
But, as always, she manages to use the right combination of good sense, quick wits and a kind heart to come to the right solution, proving once again why Isabel Dalhousie has become one of Alexander McCall Smith’s most beloved characters. ©2012 Alexander McCall Smith (P)2012 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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In the Light of What We Know
- By: Zia Haider Rahman
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 21 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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One September morning in 2008, an investment banker approaching forty, his career in collapse and his marriage unraveling, receives a surprise visitor at his West London townhouse. In the disheveled figure of a South Asian male carrying a backpack the banker recognizes a long-lost friend, a mathematics prodigy who disappeared years earlier under mysterious circumstances. The friend has resurfaced to make a confession of unsettling power.
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dreadful
- By sam on 06-05-15
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The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend
- By: Katarina Bivald
- Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham, Lorelei King
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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It all began with a correspondence between two quite different women: 28-year-old Sara from Haninge, Sweden, and 65-year-old Amy from the small town of Broken Wheel, Iowa. After years of exchanging books, letters and thoughts on the meaning of literature and life, Sara, mousy, disheveled, who has never been anywhere in her life--has really lived only for her work in a beloved bookshop, which has just closed its doors for the last time--bravely decides to accept her unknown friend's invitation to visit. But when she arrives, she finds her house empty, the funeral guests just heading home. . .
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Disappointed - no depth & poor narration
- By Kelly on 01-28-16
By: Katarina Bivald
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The Good Liar
- A Novel
- By: Nicholas Searle
- Narrated by: Matthew Brenher
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Veteran con artist Roy spots an obvious easy mark when he meets Betty, a wealthy widow, online. In no time at all, he's moved into Betty's lovely cottage and is preparing to accompany her on a romantic trip to Europe. Betty's grandson disapproves of their blossoming relationship, but Roy is sure this scheme will be a success. He knows what he's doing. As this remarkable feat of storytelling weaves together Roy's and Betty's futures, it also unwinds their pasts.
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Hope the movie is better than the book?
- By S. Smith on 10-17-19
By: Nicholas Searle
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What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours
- Stories
- By: Helen Oyeyemi
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon, Piter Marek, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In "Books and Roses", one special key opens a library, a garden, and clues to at least two lovers' fates. In "Is Your Blood as Red as This?", an unlikely key opens the heart of a student at a puppeteering school. "'Sorry' Doesn't Sweeten Her Tea" involves a "house of locks", where doors can be closed only with a key - with surprising unobservable developments. And in "If a Book Is Locked There's Probably a Good Reason for That Don't You Think", a key keeps a mystical diary locked (for good reason).
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clever
- By jared rogerson on 03-15-18
By: Helen Oyeyemi
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Chocky
- By: John Wyndham
- Narrated by: Daniel Weyman
- Length: 4 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Matthew is a normal 11-year-old boy living with his parents and little sister in Surrey. He's too old and sensible to have an imaginary friend really. Yet when Matthew's parents keep finding him talking and arguing with a strange presence whom Matthew calls Chocky, that's what they believe it must be…at first. But Chocky is oddly sinister, and keeps asking Matthew all sorts of complicated questions about the world and making him behave in unusual and erratic ways. Then Matthew suddenly does something heroic, well beyond his capabilities; the media become interested and the interest in Matthew widens.
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Impressed
- By colleen on 05-16-15
By: John Wyndham
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The Lost Girls of Ireland
- Starlight Cottages, Book 1
- By: Susanne O'Leary
- Narrated by: Jennifer Fitzgerald
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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A heart-warming story about family secrets and one woman’s escape to dreamy Sandy Cove on the stunning west coast of Ireland. The picturesque beach of Wild Rose Bay is the last place Lydia Butler thought she’d be. But having just lost everything, the run-down cottage she inherited from her Great Aunt Nellie is the only place she can take her daughter, Sunny. Hidden away in a tiny Irish village, she can protect Sunny from the gossip in Dublin, and the real reason they have nowhere else to live....
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Great Read
- By Mary k.campbell on 12-02-22
By: Susanne O'Leary
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A Share in Death
- By: Deborah Crombie
- Narrated by: Michael Deehy
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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A week's holiday in a luxurious hotel is just what Scotland Yard's Superintendent Duncan Kincaid needs. But his vacation ends dramatically with the discovery of a dead body in the whirlpool bath. Despite a suspicious lack of cooperation from the local constabulary, Kincaid's keen sense of duty won't allow him to ignore the heinous crime, impelling him to send for his enthusiastic young assistant, Sergeant Gemma James. But the stakes are raised significantly when a second murder occurs....
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series readers, start here
- By connie on 02-09-13
By: Deborah Crombie
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Three Daughters of Eve
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Set across Istanbul and Oxford, from the 1980s to the present day, Three Daughters of Eve is a sweeping tale of faith and friendship, tradition and modernity, love and an unexpected betrayal. Peri, a wealthy Turkish housewife and mother, is on her way to a dinner party at a seaside mansion in Istanbul when a beggar snatches her handbag. As she wrestles to get it back, a photograph falls to the ground - an old polaroid of three young women and their university professor.
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Review 3 daughters of Eve
- By CA on 04-28-18
By: Elif Shafak
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Forbidden Sister
- Forbidden, Book 1
- By: V. C. Andrews
- Narrated by: Amy Rubinate
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Emmie Wilcox was only six when her sister, Roxy, was thrown out of their New York City apartment. Their stern father's military style left no room for rebellion, and Roxy was continually defiant and rebellious. Emmie is obedient, respectful. Two sisters, total opposites - yet Emmie is secretly obsessed with the mystery and imposed silence surrounding Roxy. She wants excitement, and being a good girl all the time is harder than it seems. Finally, Emmie goes behind her father's back to track down and spy on the sister she can't help but be fascinated with.
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I love VC Andrews series !
- By Grace R. on 02-05-18
By: V. C. Andrews
What listeners say about The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kristin Shields
- 01-03-13
Enjoyable
I love the author's clear and concise style. It is always fun to catch up with Isabel's life. I highly recommend the whole series!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Pratan
- 12-24-20
Loved the ambiguity yet clarity of the ending
solved, yet unsolved. just like life. and contemporary ideas too, like VUCA. gives me fresh ways to look at the dilemmas in my daily life, as always
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- Benedict
- 10-29-12
Great story, simply gorgeous narration...
Oftentimes the first thing I do when I log onto Audible is check if there is a new story by Alexander McCall Smith. If there is, I always immediately download and by the next two days I have listened to the whole story.
I really love this series because of the delightful characters and the main character's concern on how to live an ethical life with the situations that come up in front of her, rather than a theoretical situation. I think the author, Smith, does this intentionally.
Not to worry if you are not "down" for ethics in good stories! But if you do decide to get this book, I would suggest starting with the first of the series and moving forward.
The narration by Davina Porter is just so gorgeous!
As an aside, it is simply amazing how the author can invent a three-dimensional, new character and bring the reader along to "get it" on the spot.
I hope you do listen to this book and enjoy it.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Bull
- 11-10-12
Vintage Dalhousie ...
... Though with fewer twists and moral dilemmas than the others in this series. No ethical questions that require more than a brief consideration from Isabel, and she never gets herself into one of her famous pickles. I believe I read somewhere that these books are consolidations of serial installments McCall Smith wrote for "The Scotsman" newspaper. He may have been a little behind deadline on a couple of the episodes, here chapters, and they don't all have the richness and depth we've come to expect.
I love all of McCall Smith's Edinburgh novels. Besides being hugely entertaining they are all narrated by three of the greats in Audible's stable. Simon Prebble does the Corduroy Mansions series, Robert Ian Mackenzie the 44 Scotland Street series, and Davina Porter does Isabel Dalhousie. It's going to be a sad day if Audible ever casts a different narrator for Isabel, she's is pitch perfect.
The other two Edinburgh series are to be highly recommended as well, as they feature dogs, and I like dogs: Angus Lordie's dog Cyril (with the gold tooth) and Freddie de la Hay in Corduroy Mansions. Those series have, I believe, a richer cast of characters as well, ranging from hoodlums (Lard O'Connor) and precocious kids (Bertie).
A good read. At just over eight hours, it's just about perfect for a medium-range road trip.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Lee
- 01-07-13
Light and lovely
These books have the feeling of visiting with an old friend. We get to see the little ups and downs of Isabel's life, she dabbles in a puzzle of some sort, we check in with Grace, Charlie, Jaime and Kat- then we're done until our next visit over a cup of tea. Couldn't be better.
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2 people found this helpful
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- JJE
- 01-30-13
Awesome book terrible audio
If you could sum up The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds in three words, what would they be?
I loved the book however the audio needs to be changed. I was constantly having to adjust the volume or just miss out on what was said. Loud then normal then what sounded like mumbling - voice was too low.
What did you like best about this story?
Everything! I love AMS!
What didn’t you like about Davina Porter’s performance?
I didn't. Read above.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I listen while I drive.
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- Carol Prickett
- 11-19-12
Another Isabel winner!
Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?
The plots of the Isabel Dalhousie novels are subtle: more about human nature and interactions than action or events. That said, this one held together very well and kept me moving forward as interesting things were revealed and just when I (or Isabel) thought I knew something, it was likely to be revealed that maybe we were off base. Nicely done!
Which character – as performed by Davina Porter – was your favorite?
Oh, Isabel is always my favorite. I always listen to Porter's performances because her accent gives just the right flavor. To me, she IS Isabel.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I don't listen to this series to get an extreme reaction. I listen because getting inside Isabel's head, where most of the story takes place, reveals things to me about my own interior monologues, both generous and sometimes a tad too quick to intellectualize and draw conclusions.
Any additional comments?
Eagerly awaiting the next Isabel Dalhousie novel! Each gets better than the last.
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4 people found this helpful
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- slund
- 11-03-15
Charming and thought provoking.
This is only the 2nd book I have read in this series. I loved it! I guess Im reading in reverse order, but Isabel, Jamie and the people they encounter are so beloved. They are charming and thought provoking.
Nothing mundane about them. Always a Scottish twist.
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- Rebeca Ramirez
- 09-21-15
Entertaining book, bad audio
What did you like best about The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds? What did you like least?
I like Alexander McCall Smiths books. They are smart and entertaining and although this one is not the best of them all, it is still a pretty good one.
However, I almost could not make it past the first chapter due to the audio. There are piecing high pitches that make the sound unpleasant. Too bad because the narrator is actually pretty skilled.
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- Jean
- 02-17-13
watching clouds
Another great story from Alexander McCall Smith. I enjoy Isabel's self dialogue she goes through more ethical problems in her when she should be listening to someone talk. This story has here again a Cat's delicatessen helping out when Cat is sick and staff has a problem. Jami is busy with his music and Charlie is being taught mathematics by Grace which results in a problem with Isabel. Duncan Munrowe asks Isabel to help him recover his stolen painting by French artist Nicolas Poussin. Isabel can find the most unique ways of solving problems. Davina Porter and her slight Scottish accent is Isabel. She is a delight to listen to. Can not wait for the next book.
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4 people found this helpful