Willa’s Grove
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Narrated by:
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Xe Sands
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By:
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Laura Munson
About this listen
You are invited to the rest of your life.
Three women, from coast to coast and in between, open their mailboxes to the same intriguing invitation. Although leading entirely different lives, each has found herself at a similar, jarring crossroads. Right when these women thought they’d be comfortably settling into middle age, their carefully curated futures have turned out to be dead ends.
The sender of the invitation is Willa Silvester, who is reeling from the untimely death of her beloved husband and the reality that she must say goodbye to the small mountain town they founded together. Yet as Willa mourns her losses, an impossible question keeps staring her in the face: So now what?
Struggling to find the answer alone, fiercely independent Willa eventually calls a childhood friend who happens to be in her own world of hurt - and that’s where the idea sparks. They decide to host a weeklong interlude from life, and invite two other friends facing their own quandaries. Soon the four women converge at Willa’s Montana homestead, a place where they can learn from nature and one another as they contemplate their second acts together in the rugged wilderness of big sky country.
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Kachemak Winkel never intended to come back to his hometown of Caboose, Alaska, where his family died in a plane crash 20 years earlier. When he finally musters the courage to return and face his painful memories, he's surprised to find a mysterious young woman living in his abandoned house.
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The Old Old Story
- By Bruce on 06-16-16
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Walking to Listen
- 4,000 Miles Across America, One Story at a Time
- By: Andrew Forsthoefel
- Narrated by: Andrew Forsthoefel
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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At 23, Andrew Forsthoefel headed out the back door of his home in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, with a backpack, an audio recorder, his copies of Whitman and Rilke, and a sign that read "Walking to Listen". He had just graduated from Middlebury College and was ready to begin his adult life, but he didn't know how. So he decided to take a cross-country quest for guidance, one where everyone he met would be his guide. In the year that followed, he faced an Appalachian winter and a Mojave summer. He met beasts inside: fear, loneliness, doubt.
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Transcends the typical trekking story
- By barefoot rabbit on 08-07-18
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The Pull of the Moon
- By: Elizabeth Berg
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Berg
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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In the middle of her life, Nan decides to leave her husband at home and begin an impromptu trek across the country, carrying with her a turquoise leather journal she intends to fill. The Pull of the Moon is a novel about a woman coming to terms with issues of importance to all women. In her journal, Nan addresses the thorniness - and the allure - of marriage, the sweet ties to children, and the gifts and lessons that come from random encounters.
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For women over 50
- By Laura on 07-07-15
By: Elizabeth Berg
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Liberating Paris
- A Novel
- By: Linda Bloodworth Thomason
- Narrated by: Cynthia Darlow
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Woodrow McIlmore, the town's golden boy and local gynecologist, is married to his beautiful high school sweetheart, Milan, and seems by all appearances to be leading the perfect life with his two children and extended family and friends. But when Wood's daughter announces that she is smitten with a college classmate and intends to marry him, her parents are stunned.
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Deeply moving, a great listen
- By Cynthia on 11-27-05
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Wish You Were Here
- By: Sneaky Pie Brown, Rita Mae Brown
- Narrated by: Kate Forbes
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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Curiosity just might be the death of Mrs. Murphy - and her human companion, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen. Small towns are like families: Everyone lives very close together. . .and everyone keeps secrets. Crozet, Virginia, is a typical small town - until its secrets explode into murder. Crozet's thirty-something post-mistress, Mary Minor "Harry" Haristeen, has a tiger cat (Mrs. Murphy) and a Welsh Corgi (Tucker), a pending divorce, and a bad habit of reading postcards not addressed to her.
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Language of the Cats
- By CHo Meir on 01-29-13
By: Sneaky Pie Brown, and others
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The House on Blackberry Hill
- By: Donna Alward
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Abby Foster is a fish out of water in the Maine coastal town of Jewell Cove. The crumbling Foster estate, left to her by a relative she never even knew, has everyone's eyes on her - an eerie reminder of the long-buried family secrets that have haunted her... forever. Single, stunning, and sometimes too strong-willed for her own good, Abby's plan is to sell the house and hightail it back to Nova Scotia.
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AMAZING Story!!!
- By Purple Emily on 06-26-21
By: Donna Alward
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Love Walked In
- By: Marisa de los Santos
- Narrated by: Jennifer Ikeda
- Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Award-winning poet Marisa de los Santos crafts an irresistibly touching debut novel. Love Walked In is a contemporary tale, steeped in nostalgic, cinematic charm, of love in all its forms. Unapologetically idealistic about love, Cornelia Brown appears to catch the break of a lifetime when the dashing Martin Grace, her own personal Cary Grant, comes strolling into her life. But it is Martin's connection to 11-year-old Clare Hobbes that touches Cornelia's heart in ways she never imagined.
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Dreadful audio quality
- By Marenghi on 09-16-11
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All Manner of Things
- By: Susie Finkbeiner
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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When Annie Jacobson's brother Mike enlists as a medic in the Army in 1967, he hands her a piece of paper with the address of their long-estranged father. If anything should happen to him in Vietnam, Mike says, Annie must let their father know. In Mike's absence, their father returns to face tragedy at home, adding an extra measure of complication to an already tense time. As they work toward healing and pray fervently for Mike's safety overseas, letter by letter the Jacobsons must find a way to pull together as a family, regardless of past hurts.
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Real fiction
- By Katijanae on 01-19-23
By: Susie Finkbeiner
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Dear Carolina
- By: Kristy Woodson Harvey
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer, Meredith Mitchell
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Frances "Khaki" Mason has it all: a thriving interior design career, a loving husband and son, homes in North Carolina and Manhattan - everything except the second child she has always wanted. Jodi, her husband's 19-year-old cousin, is fresh out of rehab, pregnant, and alone.
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A Sweet Summer Read
- By Mona-Alisa on 06-10-20
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What I Carry
- By: Jennifer Longo
- Narrated by: Reba Buhr
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Growing up in foster care, Muir has lived in many houses. And if she's learned one thing, it is to Pack. Light. Carry only what fits in a suitcase. Toothbrush? Yes. Socks? Yes. Emotional attachment to friends? Foster families? A boyfriend? Nope! There's no room for any additional baggage. Muir has just one year left before she ages out of the system. One year before she's free. One year to avoid anything - or anyone - that could get in her way. Then she meets Francine. And Kira. And Sean. And everything changes.
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Enlightening
- By Kindle Customer on 06-09-21
By: Jennifer Longo
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Hannah's Dream
- By: Diane Hammond
- Narrated by: Laura Flanagan
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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For 41 years, Samson Brown has been caring for Hannah, the lone elephant at the down-at-the-heels Max L. Biedelman Zoo. Having vowed not to retire until an equally loving and devoted caretaker is found to replace him, Sam rejoices when smart, compassionate Neva Wilson is hired as the new elephant keeper. But Neva quickly discovers what Sam already knows: that despite their loving care, Hannah is isolated from other elephants and her feet are nearly ruined from standing on hard concrete all day.
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excellent narration, enjoyable story
- By Elizabeth on 05-11-13
By: Diane Hammond
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Rosie’s Travelling Tea Shop
- By: Rebecca Raisin
- Narrated by: Charlie Sanderson
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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The trip of a lifetime! Rosie Lewis has her life together. A swanky job as a Michelin-starred sous chef, a loving husband and future children scheduled for exactly January 2021. That’s until she comes home one day to find her husband’s prepacked bag and a confession that he's had an affair. Heartbroken and devastated, Rosie drowns her sorrows in a glass (or three) of wine, only to discover the following morning that she has spontaneously invested in a bright pink campervan to facilitate her grand plans to travel the country.
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Rosie’s Travelling Tea Shop
- By Thalia on 10-07-19
By: Rebecca Raisin
What listeners say about Willa’s Grove
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Smart, AZ
- 12-07-24
Tedious book. Great narrator, but...
...even Xe Sands can't make this ponderous bag of literary rocks achieve animation. Wayyyy too much focus on religion (for me, personally). I'm an introvert. I sometimes devote *days* to introspection. This book made me want to throw a loud street party. The parts (not nearly enough, descriptive enough or informative enough) out in nature were what interested me. Otherwise? Boring. Predictable.
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-25-23
Will never forget this book!
I picked the book originally for the narrator, love Xe Sands, but was handed a gift I won’t forget. This book touched something in me that was very personal. Many years ago I lost my husband and faced what now. The author led me on a journey that I didn’t want to end. Highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever had or is having a what now.
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- cls1789
- 06-02-20
What a fabulous book
I adored this book. It was an excellent exploration of the question of “what next” for each of the characters who were all at a midlife crossroads but who truly faced different futures from their last and from each other. Her writing was captivating and gripping, and I was swept up in the emotional journey. It was both cathartic and healing. I highly recommend it, and the narrator was outstanding.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Lynda Wolters
- 01-12-24
A bit laborious, but well worth the read
Sometimes sad and honest are synonymous and Willa’s Grove is both. Upon the sudden death of her husband, Willa Sylvester is faced with the reality that she will have to sell her husband’s dream, the town he named after his beloved wife: Willa, Montana.
Thirty-five people reside in Willa, Montana, and Jack and Willa employed, assisted, housed, or otherwise cared for each one of them. Once Jack passed, Willa’s grief holed her up in their home and away from their friends, the residents of Willa. Months later, after crawling out of her grief enough to come up for air, Willa learns Jack’s secret: They are broke. There is no money.
At the behest of her oldest friend, Bliss, Willa invites three women, a friend of a friend situation, to join her for the final week before the auction that will sell the town of Willa, Montana. The women converge on Willa’s home and learn the intricacies and beauty of wilderness, Montana, and being a middle-aged woman. And each carries their demons of their mid-life with them, hoping to find a resolution.
Bliss: desperately wants a child but has recently been abandoned by her husband. Harriette has fallen from the public’s grace as a motivational personality and is living as a hermit, and Jane has it all, a doting husband, four perfect children, wealth, community, society, and a lover. She will have to figure out what makes her happy: family or freedom.
Willa’s Grove is difficult to read in that it is a story about real life, the actual raw realism that befalls women of a certain age - we have lost ourselves to the “supposed to” of life. This was supposed to have happened, or that was supposed to have worked out, or he was supposed to have been with me to the end, or my children or career were supposed to have fulfilled me.
There were times when I wondered why am I still reading? It would have been easier on me to have DNF’d this one, but then I would have missed out on the community of the book, the “I am not alone” feelings, the “It’s okay to just be and be where I am” understanding that came with finishing the book.
Beautifully written, I feel that Willa’s Grove will fly under the radar because of its difficult storyline, but the storyline is exactly why it needs to be read.
I want to give this book a 4/5 because it made me uncomfortable, and for that reason alone I realize it is a solid 5/5. We need to read (and do) more uncomfortable things.
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- Jackie
- 03-26-24
Amazing
Such a beautiful message. Gift this book to a few friends who are at their "So now what?".
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- yoga mom
- 02-23-22
Oh, So Good!
For me, when I see XE Sands is narrating a book, I am almost always ensured the story is rich. ‘Willa’s Grove’ is no exception to my experiences. Despite the 11 hours this story uses to capture its characters’ essences and elaborate on the intricacies of their lives, I completed listening in 2 days. Needless to say, I only walked away to take care of the essential parts of my day to day Life! If you are drawn to the meaningful crafting of words about the realistic challenges adult women navigate, spend time listening to ‘Willa’s Grove’; you will be satisfied.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 09-22-21
Simply amazing a true gift
I would never have picked up this book on my own it was suggested I read it and to be frank, it was an absolutely amazing read, full of heart and soul full of wisdom full of love. Laura is an amazing writer who makes every word on every page stand out, who makes the story come alive. in the end the reader knows how important it is to live one's heart to the fullest thank you Laura Munson. anyone who reads your book will truly live with an heart open.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Vicki
- 12-26-23
Inspiring in this age of lonliness
I absolutely loved the premise of this book. In this time of epidemic loneliness, this book echoes how we all desperately need connection and a way we might find to do it. I always enjoy Xe Sands as a narrator and often look for books where she is the narrator - I find her voice soothing in some way.
I highly recommend this book. It has inspired me and I hope it will inspire you, too, to reach out to others and perhaps widen, or open yourself up to a new circle of friends. Let the ripple of support begin with each of us and spread far and wide.
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- Maggie Terry
- 11-13-22
Dragged on forever…
Ugh. Dragged and dragged but it hung on to the end because I wanted to find out what happened. The narrator was very good but the story was like a heavy blanket.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Barbara K.
- 03-17-22
Forever grateful to Laura for this gift
I stumbled onto this book while researching the possibility of a writer’s retreat to attend this year. What a powerful labor of love!! A story that grips the heart on so many levels, yet delivered with such tenderness. Bravo to the author.
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