Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show
A Novel of Ireland
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Narrated by:
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Frank Delaney
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By:
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Frank Delaney
About this listen
"She sprang from the womb and waved to the crowd. Then smiled and took a bow." And so we first meet Venetia Kelly, the beguiling actress at the center of this new, spellbinding, and epic novel by Frank Delaney, the best-selling author of Ireland and Shannon.
January, 1932: While Ireland roils in the run-up to the most important national election in the Republic's short history, Ben MacCarthy and his father watch a vagabond variety revue making a stop in the Irish countryside. After a two-hour kaleidoscope of low comedy, Shakespearean recitations, juggling, tumbling, and other entertainments, Ben's father, mesmerized by Venetia Kelly, the troupe's magnetic headliner, makes a fateful decision: to abandon his family and set off on the road with Miss Kelly and her caravan. Ben's mother, shattered by the desertion, exhorts "find him and bring him back", thereby sending the boy on a Homeric voyage into manhood, a quest that traverses the churning currents of Ireland's fractious society and splinters the MacCarthy family.
Interweaving historical figures including W. B. Yeats and a host of unforgettable creations - "King" Kelly, Venetia's violent, Mephistophelean grandfather; Sarah Kelly, Venetia's mysterious, amoral mother; and even a truth-telling ventriloquist's dummy named Blarney - Frank Delaney unfurls a splendid narrative that spans half the world and a tumultuous, eventful decade.
Teeming with intrigue, pathos, and humor, Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show explores two of Ireland's great national passions: theater and politics. Writing with his signature mastery and lyrical prose, Frank Delaney once again delivers an unforgettable story as big and boisterous as the people and events it chronicles.
©2010 Frank Delaney (P)2010 Random HouseListeners also enjoyed...
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Editorial reviews
Ben McCarthy is a grown man when he sits down to write about the year he was 18: the year he met Venetia Kelly. She was a beautiful 32-year-old woman headlining a stage act the titular entertainment in Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show who so enchanted Ben’s father that he left his wife, his son, and his farm to join the troupe. When Ben’s mother sends Ben out on the road to find his father and bring him home, the entire McCarthy family is drawn into the tangled history of Venetia Kelly, her mother Sarah, and her grandfather King. Author Frank Delaney narrates the story, in a rich, well-paced tone that hits all the story’s emotional notes and offers Ben a one-of-a-kind voice.
Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show is an expansive novel, filled with strong characters from well-meaning neighbors and ruthless criminals to shady politicians and men in love and set against the backdrop of Ireland’s politically tumultuous early ‘30s. As a narrator, Ben makes it clear from the start that he’s prone to digression (blame the Blarney Stone) and that his view of the events has been colored by age; as a reader, Delaney gives “Important Digressions” and “Unimportant Digressions” the same care and emotion he gives to the novel’s dramatic high points. Delaney might be best known for his detailed novels about the Emerald Isle which include the frankly named Shannon, Tipperary, and Ireland but he also spent much of his life working for the BBC, where he covered current events and art, and hosted his own talk show in the early 1980s. His gentle Irish accent and mellow timbre are a charming complement to the novel’s witty prose and clever asides, and he handles the bittersweet ending with the proper blend of resolution and hope. Blythe Copeland
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- By: Sebastian Barry
- Narrated by: Caroline Lennon
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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It is 1959 in Wicklow, Ireland, and Annie and her cousin Sarah are living and working together to keep Sarah’s small farm running. Suddenly, Annie’s young niece and nephew are left in their care. Unprepared for the chaos that two children inevitably bring, but nervously excited nonetheless, Annie finds the interruption of her normal life and her last chance at happiness complicated further by the attention being paid to Sarah by a local man with his eye on the farm.
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Splendid
- By Shady on 06-21-23
By: Sebastian Barry
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Bless This House
- By: Norah Lofts
- Narrated by: Michael Tudor Barnes, Nicolette McKenzie
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The house was built in the Old Queen's time: built for an Elizabethan pirate who was knighted for the plunder he brought home. It survived many eras, many reigns: it saw the passing of Cromwell and the Civil War. It became rich with an Indian Nabob and poor with a 20th century innkeeper. It saw wars, and lovers, and death. Children were born there, both heirs and bastards. It had ghosts and legends and a history that grew stranger with every generation.
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Bless This House - my take
- By Kalona1982 on 04-05-09
By: Norah Lofts
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Wicked
- The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
- By: Gregory Maguire
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Heralded as an instant classic of fantasy literature, Maguire has written a wonderfully imaginative retelling of The Wizard of Oz told from the Wicked Witch's point of view. More than just a fairy tale for adults, Wicked is a meditation on the nature of good and evil.
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It's not easy being green
- By PangaeaReads on 07-30-08
By: Gregory Maguire
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The Pastures of Heaven
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Today, nearly 40 years after his death, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck remains one of America's greatest writers and cultural figures. We have begun publishing his many works for the first time as Penguin Classics. This season we continue with the seven spectacular and influential books East of Eden, Cannery Row, In Dubious Battle, The Long Valley, The Moon Is Down, The Pastures of Heaven, and Tortilla Flat.
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Golden, mythical America
- By Dan Harlow on 07-07-13
By: John Steinbeck
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Gone with the Wind
- By: Margaret Mitchell
- Narrated by: Linda Stephens
- Length: 49 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Literature, Margaret Mitchell's great novel of the South is one of the most popular books ever written. Within six months of its publication in 1936, Gone With the Wind had sold a million copies. To date, it has been translated into 25 languages, and more than 28 million copies have been sold. Here are the characters that have become symbols of passion and desire....
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not to miss audible experience
- By dallas on 12-08-09
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All the Lives We Never Lived
- By: Anuradha Roy
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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From the Man Booker Prize-nominated author of Sleeping on Jupiter, The Folded Earth, and An Atlas of Impossible Longing, a poignant and sweeping novel set in India during World War II and the present day about a son’s quest to uncover the truth about his mother....
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Beautiful book
- By Sonia S. on 12-13-19
By: Anuradha Roy
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Silver Wattle
- By: Belinda Alexandra
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 16 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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In fear for their lives after the sudden death of their mother, Adéla and Klára must flee Prague to find refuge with their uncle in Australia. Later, Adéla becomes a film director at a time when the local industry is starting to feel the competition from Hollywood. But even while success is imminent, the issues of family and an impossible love are never far away.
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a really terrific read
- By Paddington on 06-21-11
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
- By: Maya Angelou
- Narrated by: Maya Angelou
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age - and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. But years later, she learns about love for herself and the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors.
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Emotional & Powerful
- By Miss Toni on 06-30-13
By: Maya Angelou
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The Women in the Castle
- By: Jessica Shattuck
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Set at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society, a powerful and propulsive story of three widows whose lives and fates become intertwined - an affecting, shocking, and ultimately redemptive novel from the author of the New York Times notable book The Hazards of Good Breeding.
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Skating On The Thin Ice Of Life
- By Sara on 04-29-17
By: Jessica Shattuck
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One of Ours
- By: Willa Cather
- Narrated by: Kristen Underwood
- Length: 13 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Claude Wheeler resembles the youngest son of an American fairy tale. His fortune is ready-made for him, but he refuses to settle for it. Alienated from his crass father and pious mother, all but rejected by a wife who reserves her ardor for missionary work, and dissatisfied with farming, Claude is an idealist without an ideal to cling to. It is only when his country enters the First World War that Claude finds what he has been searching for all his life.
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Cather's writing is impeccable
- By Kelly on 12-20-19
By: Willa Cather
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The Invisible Wall
- A Love Story That Broke Barriers
- By: Harry Bernstein
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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This enchanting true story, written when the author was 93, is a moving tale of working-class life, the social divide, and forbidden love on the eve of the first World War. The narrow street on which Harry grew up appeared identical to countless other working-class English neighborhoods, except for the invisible wall that ran down the center of the street, dividing the Jewish families on one side from the Christians on the other.
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A Powerful Tale
- By Sara on 11-29-13
By: Harry Bernstein
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Varina
- A Novel
- By: Charles Frazier
- Narrated by: Molly Parker
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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With her marriage prospects limited, teenage Varina Howell agrees to wed the much-older widower Jefferson Davis, with whom she expects a life of security as a landowner. He instead pursues a career in politics and is eventually appointed president of the Confederacy, placing Varina at the white-hot center of one of the darkest moments in American history - culpable regardless of her intentions. The Confederacy falling, her marriage in tatters, and the country divided, Varina and her children escape Richmond and travel south on their own, now fugitives.
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Read it rather than listen
- By Anonymous on 08-31-18
By: Charles Frazier
What listeners say about Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Avid Reader
- 03-19-15
Remarkable story well told
Frank Delaney is a master storyteller. Each of his books is well worth reading. This one is no exception. I look forward to reading the second book in the series
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- Sarah B. Readin
- 06-07-17
I have found a new favorite author!
And now I intend to read everything I can find by Frank Delaney. This book was captivating.
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- Zoé
- 10-07-19
one of my fav's
love his stories, love his voice, meter and delivery. he makes me wish i could live 12 lives in Ireland in 12 different eras
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- Mary
- 01-02-19
My absolute Favorite Author and Narrator
My Fourth Book if Mr. Delaney’s and will seek out my next by him.
Truly Wonderful!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Virginia
- 11-08-16
Another fantastic story by Frank Delaney
Once again, weaving through the Irish countryside, I walked through another world created by Frank Delaney, one of my favorite authors & storytellers ... I loved every minute of it. The characters developing through his magical words gave life to my commute and stretched my imagination along with my heart and my understanding of human nature and pain and forgiveness and compassion and love. Thank you, Frank & Audible!
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- Martin Lowenthal
- 03-13-13
Story of the Irish writ large and small
What did you love best about Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show?
Delaney wonderfully weaves together the spirit and complexities of personal loves and relationships with the national story of the emerging Irish nation.
What does Frank Delaney bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Frank Delaney is a great reader who brings the rhythms of the language to life. I read the book and listened to it and each experience complemented the other.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Sharonia
- 02-16-11
A beautiful and poignant tale
This is the fourth book I've read by Frank Delaney. I was smitten by "Ireland" and knew I had to have this new novel and it does not disappoint. What a consummate story teller! How adroitly he weaves into his stories the lore and politics of Ireland, of which he is eminently knowledgeable. He manages to make the twists and turns of the plot believable and the characters are so colorful. He does his own reading and it is superb, with his inimitable Irish accent, yet bringing to life German characters like the adorable housekeeper, Mrs. Haas. The ending is indeed bittersweet, yet somehow he manages to make us accept it, and brings the novel to a close so gently. I'm left wanting to savor it for days before I start another book.
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4 people found this helpful
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- California Vegan
- 10-13-11
What a joy!
Once again, Frank Delaney has demonstrated that time travel IS possible. Delaney's reading of his own work transports the listener to Ireland at one of the most turbulent times in its resent past. Delaney is, without a doubt, the premier storyteller of our time, or should I say, Seanachai? Love this guy!
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5 people found this helpful
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- stephen m jech
- 04-11-16
a glimpse to the past
frank delaney is a gift that keeps on giving intellectually and aurally.
i lost my self in this one.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jayne
- 11-14-24
Well done Storytelling
Loved everything about it, the vocabulary, the creativity, the characters - all highly entertaining - makes you go looking for more books written by Frank Delaney
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