The Heirloom

By: Beverly Lewis

Narrated by: Libby McKnight

Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

This heartwarming prequel to The Shunning is a tender story of love, belonging, and the courage to move forward.

After her widowed father remarries, nineteen-year-old Clara Bender is no longer needed to help run his household. Marriage seems like her best hope of moving out, but there are few young men in her tiny Indiana Amish community. When she comes across letters from her mother's aunt Ella Mae Zook, she sets off to visit Lancaster County's Hickory Hollow to decide where her future lies.

Ella Mae is not quite ready to move from the farmhouse where she and her recently deceased husband spent over fifty happy years, but her children are eager to resettle her, making Clara's visit seem like an answer to prayer. The two women form a warm bond while restoring an heirloom wedding quilt and sharing their lives, with Ella Mae confiding about a tragedy from her courting years. Eventually, Ella Mae suggests Clara stay for the summer, allowing Ella Mae more time with her and giving Clara an opportunity to meet the area's eligible young men. But when the unexpected happens, will Clara find where her heart truly belongs?

©2023 Beverly Lewis (P)2023 Recorded Books

Good Story--Not So Good Narration

The story is pure Beverly Lewis, with her wonderful, descriptive language and character development. She brings the reader right into the culture to where you can almost smell the bread baking! But then there's the narration. Part of the problem for me is that the narrator doesn't seem excited about the book. Her tone is somewhat mechanical and stilted. But my biggest frustration with the narrator is her mispronunciation of places. The story is set in PA. Clearly the characters who live there would know how to pronounce the names of places like Lancaster and Ephrata! Being a Pennsylvania girl, hearing these places mispronounced just grates on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard! Please, audiobook publishers, teach your narrators how to properly pronounce names and places, or edit their work more carefully!

Beverly’s Best Book

I’ve been a passionate fan of Beverly Lewis books for nearly fifteen years. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all of her stories, but The Heirloom is by far my favorite. I absolutely adored getting to see a peek into Ella Mae’s youth. Bravo, Beverly. Five stars are not enough to describe this story.

Sweet story!

The story was great but the narrator was choppy and difficult to listen to. A slight increase in speed helped.

Love this

I have not been able to stop listening. It’s the best. I say this about all her books. But I couldn’t stop this one starting the next I was soon as I’m done.

Uplifting

Sweet and encouraging story about faith and trusting in God's grace. Narration was a bit too slow.

Delightful and Original

Another beloved gem from my favorite Amish fiction author. It was so fascinating to learn more about Ella Mae Zook's earlier years. Clara's storyline was original and unique. I think I will go back and relisten to The Shunning next!

Love the story the narrator was less to be desired

I love Beverly writing the narrator killed the story for me . I almost did not finish the book because of it .

If you can, read the book rather than listen to it

Beverly Lewis has given us an ultimate main character, Ella Mae Zook, in this prequel to The Shunning and couldn't have made a better choice. My concern is, now that the Mrs. Lewis has come full circle, that this is her last book. Please no. I need more books about the families of Hickory Hollow. And, I NEED a different narrator.

While listening to this book, I first thought Beverly Lewis had lost her touch. Then I realized it's not the author, it's the narrator. Once I heard it, I couldn't help but focus on it the entire book. The narrator pauses incorrectly, too long, and in inappropriate places. It doesn't happen just a few times. I had to endure it in almost every paragraph throughout the entire book. What should have been an enjoyable listen was, instead, cringeworthy . Example: Would you like to stop at the ice cream shop?….long pause….he asked. That would be nice….long pause…..she replied. It was a perfect day for a ride down the country lane…..long pause……that led them to town……..long pause….to the ice cream shop.
Then about two thirds of the way in, I decided that some of these inappropriate pauses likely were not the fault of the narrator but how the recording was spliced. Once I settled that in my mind, I was able to ignore them more easily.
Long pauses wasn't the only narrator obstacle I had to overcome. While the voices used for individual characters were fantastic, the voice used for when characters were not thinking/speaking sounded like a news report. This one was easier to get over, but given I was already frustrated by the inappropriate pauses the newscast voice exacerbated the unpleasant experience of listening to this book.

Given the poor narration and poor recording quality, I regret having spent a credit on this book, yet I will not return it because I did listen to the entire book and know the story. If I read this review and my only choice was listening to books I would still listen to it simply because it's Beverly Lewis and if you can get past the narration, it's a wonderful story. If you have a choice and can read print, I would absolutely, positively read this book rather than listen to it.