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Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers
- A 44 Scotland Street Novel
- Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
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As summer blooms in Edinburgh's gardens, and Bertie Pollock's birthday appears on the horizon, all at 44 Scotland Street is not cake and sunshine. Newlywed Angus Lordie has been booked by his bride into what he must not call the loony bin; Bruce’s first encounter with hot wax brings more anguish than he bargained for; and Bertie's birthday dreams of scout camp and a penknife look set to be replaced by a game of Royal Weddings and a gender-neutral doll. But fate, an amorous Bedouin, and the Dubai Tourist Authority conspire to transport Bertie's mother, Irene, to a warmer--if not a better--place, and once again on Scotland Street the triumph of human kindness over adversity gives cause for celebration.
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- By: Charlotte Bingham
- Narrated by: Kim Hicks
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Daughters of Eden focuses on the lives and fortunes of four very different young women at the outbreak of the Second World War. Marjorie, left at a boarding school by her emigrating mother; plain Poppy, pushed into marriage with a mean-spirited aristocrat; Kate, despised by her father, but determined to prove herself; and man-mad Lily, who turns out to be the bravest of them all. That all of them are chosen to work undercover for the espionage unit at Eden Park is a surprise, not least to them.
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An amazing book everyone should read.
- By XX on 09-11-05
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A Feast of Carrion
- By: Keith McCarthy
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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St Benjamin's Medical School is the greatest of its kind, any death occurring within its walls would have created ripples within the academic world, but the death of Nikki Exner is far from being ordinary. Raped, and then grotesquely executed, her theatrical murder horrifies everyone. John Eisenmenger, a former forensic pathologist, finds himself dragged unwillingly into the case. Teaming up with solicitor Helena Flemming, Eisenmenger sets out to discover what really did happen to Nikki Exner.
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excellent book
- By Yves on 06-27-09
By: Keith McCarthy
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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
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At Home with the Templetons
- By: Monica McInerney
- Narrated by: Ulli Birve
- Length: 19 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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When the Templeton family from England takes up residence in a stately home in country Australia, they set the locals talking – and with good reason. From the outside, the seven Templetons seem so bohemian, peculiar even. No one is more intrigued by the family than their neighbours, single mother Nina Donovan and her young son Tom. Before long, the two families' lives become entwined in unexpected ways.
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A dreadful mistake
- By Julie on 11-14-10
By: Monica McInerney
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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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Talking It Over
- By: Julian Barnes
- Narrated by: Steven Pacey, Alex Jennings, Clare Higgins
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Introducing Stuart, Gillian and Oliver. One by one they take their turn to speak straight out to the camera - and give their side of a contemporary love triangle. What begins as a comedy of misunderstanding slowly darkens and deepens into a compelling exploration of the quagmires of the heart.
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The Narrative Gimmick Works
- By Alan on 11-22-11
By: Julian Barnes
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Us: A Novel
- By: David Nicholls
- Narrated by: David Haig
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that seduces beautiful Connie into a second date...and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades later, they live more or less happily in the London suburbs with their moody seventeen year-old son, Albie. Then Connie tells him she thinks she wants a divorce. The timing couldn’t be worse. Connie has planned a month-long tour of European capitals, a chance to experience the world’s greatest works of art as a family, and she can’t bring herself to cancel. And maybe going ahead is for the best anyway? Douglas is privately convinced that this landmark trip will rekindle the romance in the marriage, and might even help him to bond with Albie. Narrated from Douglas’s endearingly honest, slyly witty, and at times achingly optimistic point of view, Us is the story of a man trying to rescue his relationship with the woman he loves, and learning how to get closer to a son who’s always felt like a stranger.
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Great novel - my favorite in years
- By Mark on 07-21-15
By: David Nicholls
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Cold Hand in Mine
- By: Robert Aickman
- Narrated by: Reece Shearsmith
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Cold Hand in Mine stands as one of Aickman's best collections and contains eight stories that show off his powers as a 'strange story' writer to the full. The listener is introduced to a variety of characters, from a man who spends the night in a Hospice to a German aristocrat and a woman who sees an image of her own soul. There is also a nod to the conventional vampire story ("Pages from a Young Girl's Journal") but all the stories remain unconventional and inconclusive, which perhaps makes them all the more startling and intriguing.
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Aickman is unique
- By Stark on 08-19-23
By: Robert Aickman
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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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Charlotte Fairlie
- By: D. E. Stevenson
- Narrated by: Hilary Neville
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Charlotte Fairlie is a successful, elegant career woman. Still in her 20s, she has landed a job as headmistress of her old school. She is admired and liked by both staff and pupils - but she begins to feel there is something missing in her well-organised life. Then one summer she goes to stay with a young pupil on the remote Scottish Isle of Targ. In the romantic atmosphere of the Highlands, anything can happen - and even the cool, efficient Charlotte surprises herself.
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Career or romance
- By Jerri C on 05-23-10
By: D. E. Stevenson
What listeners say about Bertie's Guide to Life and Mothers
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Lynne F
- 02-20-15
Bertie turns seven!!!!
Oh the joy of visiting Edinburgh with McCall Smith as he observes the absurd, the kind, the lonely, the ridiculous and the obnoxious … all appropriate adjectives for the various characters who reside at, or are former residents of, 44 Scotland Street and its environs. If you have not read this series I strongly recommend that you begin at the beginning and learn to know and, at times, love the various personalities. Bertie seems to be trapped in amber as it has taken him much longer than the average child to reach the lofty age of seven ….. he has been six for years! Get out your Spode china, set a tray for tea (this will make sense as you read the book) and relax as you enter the other worldliness that exists in McCall Smith's Edinburgh … be prepared for laugh out loud moments, poignant moments, and the pure bliss of Cyril getting drunk!
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8 people found this helpful
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- carmen
- 03-28-15
Bertie turns (spoiler)
As Dr McGregor says "even the most dull story can be fascinating". That is Alexander McCall Smith gift to us to make the ordinary extraordinary. Once again I am inspired and saddened by Angus Lordy poetry because that puts an end to another chapter at 44 Scotland St. This time the party is a birthday party for a young man who has wanted to be 7 for a long time. Due to strange and hilarious circumstances he was able to have a little boys party without Irene's interference. Elsewhere: Pat may have found love. Bruce met his match. Matt and Elspeth learns it takes a village (cottage). Even Big Lou may have found unconditional love. Every story was enjoyable.
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4 people found this helpful
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- MidwestGeek
- 10-03-16
Nothing much ever happens. Not my cup of tea!
I saw that readers gave this the most favorable rating of any in this series, so I thought I'd give it a shot. What a disappointment! It seemed more like a collection of character vignettes than a well-formulated novel. Each character seems to be an extreme of some type of personality-a kind of cartoonish caricature. Smith is a good writer, and there are spots of humor, but mostly they take the form of literary slapstick, which gets tiresome very fast. For me, the journey was not rewarding. I probably would not have finished had the narrator (Mackenzie) not been excellent. I won't be trying others in this series.
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2 people found this helpful
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- PG Pug
- 08-07-18
I love all the Bertie books
44 Scotland Street is a wonderful series. Great to read if you’d like to escape to a kinder gentler World
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- Jenny J
- 09-03-16
BOOOOORRRRRIIIIINNNGGGGG!!!!!
Warning: Nothing happens in this book!
For those of you who love McCall Smith's Mma Ramotswe series, this series is not a guarantee. I grant that I jumped in at the end of a series. Even still, it was less eventful than a 1980s sutcom. It is very well written, and the narration was great, but it was SO boring!
Now I'm really going to spoil it for you. In this book, there is gossip among elementary students, a nun comes to visit and bores people with her proverbs, an apartment gets renovated, a guy waxes his chest and decides not to ask the waxer out on a date, and on and on and on, culminating in...a birthday party! snore.
I understand that some people like this sort of everyday story, looking into people's lives. I really love McCall Smith's "No. 1 Ladies' Detective" series, do I thought I would try another series of his. The only the it has in common is that they are both very well-written. I'm returning it, because I'm certainly never going to listen to it again.
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- Sarah
- 10-30-15
My Favorite Book in One of My Favorite Series
I haven't loved all the series McCall Smith has written but this one is fabulous. I don't know how it would be to read the books in print because Robert Ian MacKenzie is a genius at turning words into believable characters. I think he contributes as much as the author. It's the same with the Ladie's Detective series - Lissete Lecat makes the characters come to life.
I have already listened to this audiobook several times, it's that enjoyable.
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- Katherine
- 04-17-15
Can't believe it's the last one!
These people will live on for me and if I can't continue with them, I'll have to try again with the author's other series. I tried at least one and couldn't connect with it. Alexander McCall Smith seems to live in a certain place, where the people are very real to you, yet one accepts that the actual events are a little fanciful. You suspend reality just a little and you're with him all the way. If you actually start worrying about what is happening when there is a problem, taking it for real, you miss all the fun. I suspect if I approach his other series with that attitude, I may like them better. So, I loved this series. The only problem was laughing out loud at unexpected times!
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- Barbara
- 03-09-15
Loved the Humour!
McCall Smith, one of my very favourite writers had fun poking holes in some of our modern day sacred cows. (mixed metaphors here.)
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- Patty Says
- 01-30-23
One of his best
Alexander McFall Smith has outdone himself with this tale of 44 Scotland Street, and Bertie finally becomes seven years old! The story has a bit of joy and a bit of karma for each of our favorite characters. It leaves a few characters free to continue their sometimes bumbling way through Edinburgh life! I look forward to MORE 44 Scotlsnd Street!
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- Jill S.
- 06-25-21
A surprising miss
The stories seem to be getting a bit more saccharine; not as insightful, not as true to character. The performance is superb, as usual. Also surprising is the low recording quality. There were frequent blank gaps in the sound, especially in the last half of the book. I hope the next one is better.
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