A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar

A Novel

De: Suzanne Joinson

Narrado por: Susan Duerden

It is 1923. Evangeline (Eva) English and her sister Lizzie are missionaries heading for the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar. Though Lizzie is on fire with her religious calling, Eva's motives are not quite as noble, but with her green bicycle and a commission from a publisher to write A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar, she is ready for adventure.

In present day London, a young woman, Frieda, returns from a long trip abroad to find a man sleeping outside her front door. She gives him a blanket and a pillow, and in the morning finds the bedding neatly folded and an exquisite drawing of a bird with a long feathery tail, some delicate Arabic writing, and a boat made out of a flock of seagulls on her wall. Tayeb, in flight from his Yemeni homeland, befriends Frieda and, when she learns she has inherited the contents of an apartment belonging to a dead woman she has never heard of, they embark on an unexpected journey together.

A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar explores the fault lines that appear when traditions from different parts of an increasingly globalized world crash into one other. Beautifully written and peopled by a cast of unforgettable characters, the novel interweaves the stories of Frieda and Eva, gradually revealing the links between them and the ways in which they each challenge and negotiate the restrictions of their societies as they make their hard-won way toward home.

A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar marks the debut of Suzanne Joinson, a wonderfully talented new writer.

©2012 Suzanne Joinson (P)2012 Tantor

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Beautifully written in language too taut, piercing, and smartly observed to be called lyrical, this atmospheric first novel immediately engages, nicely reminding us that odd twists of fate sometimes aren't that odd." ( Library Journal)

A multi-cultural, multi-generational portrait

This title had a dreamy, watercolor-like quality. It follows two strong women living one hundred years apart, both British but spending much of their lives in far-off locales under challenging conditions. I didn't expect to like this title as much as I did. After hearing it I now want to visit China. A bonus: I could listen to Susan Duerden's gorgeous voice all day long.

Great story, terrible narration

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

yes, great story

How could the performance have been better?

terrible monotone performance, the worst narrator I have heard on audible

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes, despite the terrible narration

Any additional comments?

definitely worth listening too, despite the narration

Returned!

I ended up returning this book because the narration was so strange. The narrator seems like she is trying to do an unnatural voice, and sounds so breathy and faint.

Step Away From the Bike!

Normally I am the guy who writes a review defending a book that other people gave a poor review, but this time the shoe is on the other foot. I admit, I didn’t do my research before I started this book. I just read the title and thought, “I like bicycles, travel logs, the Silk Road, Ladies, and even a little Chic-Lit, I will give this book a try!” Sadly, there is almost none of those things in this book. A better title would have been "All Relationships Suck; No Really, They Do." Reading this book, I am not sure if there is anything Suzanne Joinson likes. I am also not sure if she was just trying to shock the reader or if someone should sit her down with a drink and tell her ‘things aren’t that bad.’ It’s not even that Ms Joinson lacks talent, or even that the idea is bad, this book just doesn’t work.

The narrator, Susan Duerden, also did a dismal job, which is sad because she has a nice voice. My biggest problem is that she put inflection at the end of 99.9% of the sentences. It was like she was asking me questions for ten and a half hours instead of telling me a story. I have to admit that she either got better after about 5 hours or I just got used to it, but I don’t want to waste the time to go back and check.

Run Away!

Would you consider the audio edition of A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar to be better than the print version?

I was warned. Oh, how bad could it be? It's bad. Really bad. The performance by Susan Duerdan was spectacularly....bad. Listen to the sample and multiply it by 100 on the annoyance scale. I didn't like any of the characters, but I really think that it was due to Duerdan's performance rather than the characters themselves. Trust me--read the book.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She spoke as if she was talking to a servant. Her voice rose ON EVERY SENTENCE!