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Golden Earrings  By  cover art

Golden Earrings

By: Belinda Alexandra
Narrated by: Caroline Lee
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Publisher's summary

Catalina, the grand-daughter of Spanish refugees is a disciplined student with the School of the Paris Opera Ballet. Little gets inthe way of her career until the visit of an otherworldly being, who leaves her a mysterious pair of golden earrings.

Given a quest, Catalina realises she must explore her own Spanish heritage and makes the connection between the visitor and ‘La Rusa’, a young Andalusian flamenco star.

La Rusa died in exile in Paris in 1952, her death ruled as suicide. But as Catalina begins to discover, there were those in the Spanish émigré community, amongst them her grandmother, who had good reason for wanting La Rusa dead.

©2011 Belinda Alexandra (P)2011 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

What listeners say about Golden Earrings

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous story

I loved this story and was so sorry when it finished. Belinda Alexandra is a fabulous story teller and this is yet another of wonderful story. This time set in Spain and Paris which is quite different to her previous novels. I did not know much about the Spanish civil war or Spanish culture and I found this fascinating. It was well researched. The characters are varied and complex. I am hoping that there will be many more novels written by this author.
Highly recommended.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • CB
  • 07-27-14

Needed to get halfway through to begin enjoying it

I kept with this book, even though the first half bored me. I normally love Caroline Lee as a narrator, but she kept falling out of the accent (for example, sometimes rolling her Rs, sometimes not, in the same sentence). That, along with too much emphasis on describing ladies' dresses and such, made the book seem shallow for quite some time. Halfway through, the plot began to thicken and I began to feel a bit more empathy for the characters. A good listen, if you can make it to that point.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Distracting narration of beautiful tale

Is there anything you would change about this book?

More about the narration. Many of the passages in the book shift between the three main characters. Bolinda Audio has many talented female narrators (Caroline Lee, Kate Hood, Deirdre Rubenstein, and others), so it would have been a better listening experience having the points of view shift between multiple narrators.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Caroline Lee is normally a good narrator, but her accents and dialogue in this book are not up to par. As both a French- and Spanish-speaker, I am a stickler about pronunciation. This book has so much potential, but a better narration would have gone a long way.

Could you see Golden Earrings being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Definitely... a historical drama, with the riots and the dancing... it would make an amazing movie.

Any additional comments?

I will read this one in print, and listen to Caroline Lee's other performances with greater caution.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

painfully poor Spanish pronunciation

Would you consider the audio edition of Golden Earrings to be better than the print version?

I wish I had read instead of listening. The painfully bad Spanish pronunciation, especially of the names of some primary characters, was a constant irritant to the listening experience.

What did you like best about this story?

Rich and interesting story that unfolds beautifully.

Would you be willing to try another one of Caroline Lee’s performances?

Not if she had to pronounce Spanish words!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enchanting!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I would because it is a good story about a time and place in history few of my friends know little about. I loved how we get carried into te history of the Spanish civil war in all its grusomeness.

What did you like best about this story?

The author's formidable knowledge of history, and her ability to tell it in an interesting way. I also loved her way of describing the family relations, and I loved how all the little mysteries all comes together in the end.

What about Caroline Lee’s performance did you like?

I like that she manages to keep the story interesting!

If you could take any character from Golden Earrings out to dinner, who would it be and why?

La Rusa! She is an interesting woman with an interesting history, and maybe she could have finished off the meal with a little dance?

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Too much political storyline!

As a woman of Spanish decent, I was so excited to be reading a story I thought would go more into the details of Spanish life both present and past; however, their was so much one dimensional political story telling that I was left blah and somewhat disheartened. several times I had decided not to finish the book, but the basic story was good and intriguing. I have loved the other books I have read maybe because the unrest of the characters were not so close to home. Maybe because my father's account of Franco was different. oh well I still look forward to another one of Belinda's books.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Half of everything would have been still enough

I really loved to listen to this book. The story, the narrator, the characters… really awesome and magical BUT… half of the bodies, half of the halos, half of the neverending loves, half of the superhuman talents and half of [whatever] would have done the story good. Some of the cruel death scenarios even made me laugh towards the end. That was just too much in my opionion.
Anyway, the book is really worth the time and a great listen! I warmly recommend it to lovers of long stories.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best stories ever!

Amazing story. Well researched, well written and keeps your attention the entire time. I want more!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent reading of history and mystery.

Where does Golden Earrings rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Very high....I couldn't put this down at some points. There was a surprise around every corner.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the history and location of the story. I have visited Florence and knew the places mentioned in the story.

Have you listened to any of Caroline Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Caroline Lee is always an exceptional reader.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Beautiful Beautiful story

Where does Golden Earrings rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Rght up there . Very long but really good.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Golden Earrings?

The twist near the end,I didnt see coming though in hindsight it was staring at me.

Any additional comments?

Little bit hard to keep up with the numerous characters and which era you are in but worth persevering.

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1 person found this helpful