Vanessa and Her Sister
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Emilia Fox
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Clare Corbett
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Julian Rhind-Tutt
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Daniel Pirrie
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Anthony Calf
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By:
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Priya Parmar
About this listen
For fans of The Paris Wife and Loving Frank comes a captivating novel that offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of Vanessa Bell, her sister Virginia Woolf, and the controversial and popular circle of intellectuals known as the Bloomsbury Group.
London, 1905: The city is alight with change, and the Stephen siblings are at the forefront. Vanessa, Virginia, Thoby, and Adrian are leaving behind their childhood home and taking a house in the leafy heart of avant-garde Bloomsbury. There they bring together a glittering circle of bright, outrageous artistic friends who will grow into legend and come to be known as the Bloomsbury Group. And at the center of this charmed circle are the devoted, gifted sisters: Vanessa, the painter, and Virginia, the writer.
Each member of the group will go on to earn fame and success, but so far Vanessa Bell has never sold a painting. Virginia Woolf's book review has just been turned down by The Times. Lytton Strachey has not published anything. E. M. Forster has finished his first novel but does not like the title. Leonard Woolf is still a civil servant in Ceylon, and John Maynard Keynes is looking for a job. Together, this sparkling coterie of artists and intellectuals throw away convention and embrace the wild freedom of being young, single bohemians in London.
But the landscape shifts when Vanessa unexpectedly falls in love and her sister feels dangerously abandoned. Eerily possessive, charismatic, manipulative, and brilliant, Virginia has always lived in the shelter of Vanessa's constant attention and encouragement. Without it, she careens toward self-destruction and madness. As tragedy and betrayal threaten to destroy the family, Vanessa must decide if it is finally time to protect her own happiness above all else.
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Jerusha Abbott is the oldest orphan in the John Grier Home. Every day she helps scrub and dress the younger children - all 97 of them. Soon she will graduate from high school and be on her own. Where will she go, and how will she support herself? When an anonymous wealthy donor decides to send her to college, Jerusha can hardly believe her good fortune. All she must do in return is send him a letter once a month. With all the excitement of college life - classes, parties, new friends, and a special gentleman - Jerusha can hardly stop writing!
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Delightful
- By Greg and Sara Masarik on 04-06-15
By: Jean Webster
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Now, Voyager
- Femmes Fatales
- By: Olive Higgins Prouty
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Boston blueblood Charlotte Vale has led an unhappy, sheltered life. Lonely, dowdy, repressed, and pushing 40, Charlotte finds salvation at a sanitarium, where she undergoes an emotional and physical transformation. After her extreme makeover, the new Charlotte tests her mettle by embarking on a cruise and finds herself in a torrid love affair with a married man which ends at the conclusion of the voyage. But only then can the real journey begin, as Charlotte is forced to navigate a new life for herself.
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The Inspiration for The Movie Classic
- By Susie on 12-17-12
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The Last Summer
- By: Judith Kinghorn
- Narrated by: Jane Wymark
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Clarissa is almost 17 when the spell of her childhood is broken. It is 1914, the beginning of a blissful, golden summer - and the end of an era. Deyning Park is in its heyday, the large country house filled with the laughter and excitement of privileged youth preparing for a weekend party. When Clarissa meets Tom Cuthbert, home from university and staying with his mother, the housekeeper, she is dazzled.
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The Last Summer Delivers
- By Carmen dela Cruz on 05-22-16
By: Judith Kinghorn
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My Real Children
- By: Jo Walton
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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It's 2015, and Patricia Cowan is very old. "Confused today," read the notes clipped to the end of her bed. She forgets things she should know - what year it is, major events in the lives of her children. But she remembers things that don't seem possible. She remembers marrying Mark and having four children. And she remembers not marrying Mark and raising three children with Bee instead.
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A strange take on an otherwise simple story.
- By Lauren on 01-08-15
By: Jo Walton
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The Enchanted April
- By: Elizabeth von Arnim
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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This is a journey of both escape and discovery for four exquisitely different women, a month of bliss and privacy for four weary souls. Their refuge on the Italian Riviera provides the perfect backdrop for a story about the search for spiritual harmony within and without.
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Excellent book, excellent narrator
- By Amazon Customer on 02-26-05
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The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
- By: R. A. Dick
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Jasicki
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Burdened by debt after her husband's death, Lucy Muir insists on moving into the very cheap Gull Cottage in the quaint seaside village of Whitecliff, despite multiple warnings that the house is haunted. Upon discovering the rumors to be true, the young widow ends up forming a special companionship with the ghost of handsome former sea captain Daniel Gregg. Lucy finds in her secret relationship with Captain Gregg a comfort and blossoming love she never could have predicted.
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Bias Review Warning
- By Michael on 09-22-19
By: R. A. Dick
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Sarah Morris Remembers
- By: D. E. Stevenson
- Narrated by: Patience Tomlinson
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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With the help of her old diaries, Sarah Morris recounts her life story. The daughter of an English vicar, she begins by telling of her happy childhood with her brothers and sister in their country village. As a teenager, Sarah’s brother brings home a friend - Charles, a charming Austrian to whom she quickly becomes close. Over the years they fall in love, but when war breaks out Charles must return to Austria. While she awaits his return, Sarah quietly continues working hard and caring for her family. But she can’t stop wondering if she will ever see her sweetheart again…
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Lovely story
- By Hearth on 08-08-15
By: D. E. Stevenson
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Rebecca
- By: Daphne du Maurier
- Narrated by: Anna Massey
- Length: 14 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.... The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage. Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives - presenting her with a lingering evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.
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Easily the best audiobook I have ever heard!
- By Kid at Heart on 11-10-18
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Clara Callan
- By: Richard B. Wright
- Narrated by: Anne Twomey, Joanna P. Adler
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Abridged
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Two sisters, small-town Ontario, 1934. Canadian author Richard Wright tells their story, from the ordinary to the extraoridinary with an eye for the commonplace and poignant sense of the larger undercurrents that change people's lives.
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charming intimate refreshing
- By L on 09-10-04
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The Young Clementina
- By: D. E. Stevenson
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
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Charlotte Dean enjoys nothing more than the solitude of her London flat and the monotonous days of her work at a travel bookshop. But when her younger sister unceremoniously bursts into her quiet life one afternoon, Charlotte's world turns topsy-turvy. Beloved author D. E. Stevenson captures the intricacies of post-World War I England with a light, comic touch that perfectly embodies the spirit of the time. Alternatively heartbreaking and witty, The Young Clementina is a touching tale of love, loss and redemption through friendship.
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Miss Dean's Dilemma
- By Jerri C on 05-02-18
By: D. E. Stevenson
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Late in the Day
- A Novel
- By: Tessa Hadley
- Narrated by: Abigail Thaw
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Alexandr and Christine and Zachary and Lydia have been friends since they first met in their 20s. Thirty years later, Alex and Christine are spending a leisurely summer’s evening at home when they receive a call from a distraught Lydia: She is at the hospital. Zach is dead. In the wake of this profound loss, the three friends find themselves unmoored; all agree that Zach, with his generous, grounded spirit, was the irreplaceable one they couldn’t afford to lose. Inconsolable, Lydia moves in with Alex and Christine. The loss warps their relationships.
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It's all in the performance
- By RueRue on 02-08-19
By: Tessa Hadley
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Staying On
- By: Paul Scott
- Narrated by: Paul Shelley
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Tusker and Lily Smalley stayed on in India. Given the chance to return ‘home’ when Tusker, once a Colonel in the British Army, retired, they chose instead to remain in the small hill town of Pankot, with its eccentric inhabitants and archaic rituals left over from the days of the Empire. Only the tyranny of their imposing landlady threatens to upset the quiet rhythm of their days.
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A Pleasant Meander
- By Ian C Robertson on 09-22-14
By: Paul Scott
What listeners say about Vanessa and Her Sister
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- old lady reader
- 11-07-16
unimpressed
the story was so so but the narrator was good. the characters were also interesting.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Jeanne O'Gorman
- 02-19-23
Captivating
Such complex personalities, the story is clearly laid out and an engagingly performed.
Such a rarified atmosphere!
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Overall
- M. J. Dana
- 01-20-15
Vanessa and her Sister
Very good book. Draws in the reader, immerses the reader in the historical art and literary scene of the day. It was quite interesting to have a glimpse of Virginia Wolfe as a sibling might have viewed her.
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5 people found this helpful
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- C.S. Zimmer
- 08-29-17
Beautifully written.
A book you never want to end. It's as though the author inhabited Bloomsbury, intimately knowing the characters and values their place and contributions to early 20th century art, literature and culture.
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- Lynn
- 05-21-20
Fascinating!
I was always intrigued by the Bloomsbury Group,
but had no actual knowledge about who was in the group. I knew of Virginia Woolf, but not of her sister Vanessa Bell. I'm obsessed now.
As an artist, this was the perfect listen while painting in my studio.
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- Jen Turrell
- 06-07-15
Loved the letters and multiple voices.
Fantastic reading with great accents. I could listen to the woman who read Nessa's letters forever. Beautiful voice.
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- JGillSt
- 05-07-16
Artistic Women of the Early 20th Century
What did you love best about Vanessa and Her Sister?
I really enjoyed Vanessa and Her Sister a whole lot. Granted, my enjoyment of the book may be influenced by my life experiences. I did a study aboard to London in college and one of the classes I took there was "World War I and Modernism." We read two books by Virginia Woolf, saw Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant's paintings in person, and walked through Bloomsbury where all the figures in this novel lived and from whence the name of the group derives. I also read articles by Clive Bell and Roger Fry during my art history studies, and I've read Howard's End by E.M Forster and have seen multiple film version of A Room With a View. I admit that I was well prepped for this novel. But, I still was amazed by how much I liked it. Priya Parmar's book had a really nice, quiet feel to it and felt very period appropriate.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
I loved listening to this book. It was really interesting to get to know the Bloomsbury Group on a personal level. The letter format was slightly confusing in audio form until I got used to it and then I loved it. I love how personal Vanessa's voice is. The letters from the other characters help to round out the story. (Lytton Strachey's are often quite entertaining.) I also thought found the period elements of this book to be really well done. I think fans of Downton Abbey might enjoy this book. I loved the traveling and the cozy feel of the first half of the book. The reading experience reminded me a little of A Brief History of Montmarey just in terms of the overall atmosphere and tone (and also because the Thobys reminded me of each other).
Any additional comments?
The ending of this book feels a little incomplete. (But, really, how do you create a conclusion to novel about the lives of real people if you don't want to write a book that goes to the ends of their lives?) I would actually love to listen to a sequel. I wouldn't mind continuing with Vanessa as the main character (how does she end up with Duncan Grant?) or switching over to Virginia and seeing her point of view as she marries, begins publishing novels, has an affair with Vita Sackville West, struggles with mental illness. It could be really great.
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- T
- 07-08-16
Scandalous in an era gone bye
Fantastic depiction of Vanessa and Virginia and their lives and Bloomsbury Group of friends.
I loved the scandal especially in the time.
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- Audy Meadow Davison LMT
- 09-29-18
Beautiful writing, amazing women
This book was a pleasure to hear. There are wonderful moments of beautiful thoughtful writing and the characters are larger than life,(though of course, they are real characters). I hadn't known anything about Vanessa Bell and now I have discovered her, and her paintings. We all know that women painters never receive the recognition that male artist receive. So she is a hidden treasure. Their world was full of amazing people who are famous and remarkable in many areas. Most of us know the basic outline of Virginia Wolf's life, but the story and narration give her a vivid presence that is hard to forget.
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- PHYLLIS ABRAMS
- 03-09-15
Lovely
Read it very good and very informative
You will never like virginia. Woolf
Abu
She is s
Really awful
Oooioooo
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