The Damnable Legacy

De: G. Elizabeth Kretchmer

Narrado por: Jannie Meisberger

Lynn Van Swol still regrets the decision she made 30 years ago to place her daughter up for adoption so she could climb the highest mountains of the world. Frankie Rizzoni is the troubled biological granddaughter Lynn has never known. And Beth Mahoney is a minister's wife with terminal cancer and the only one who knows the relationship between the two. She designs a plan upon her deathbed to bring Lynn and Frankie together, but now, narrating from the afterlife, she must helplessly watch as her legacy threatens to unravel. The Damnable Legacy is a story about both love and survival, exploring the importance of attachment, place, and faith, and asking how far we should go to achieve our goals - and at what cost.

©2016 G. Elizabeth Kretchmer (P)2017 G. Elizabeth Kretchmer

DYNAMITE PLOT, GREAT CHARACTERS

Where does The Damnable Legacy rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is a wonderful, complex, character-driven novel with a dynamite plot. If you like psychological, dramatic fiction, on the order of Sue Miller, Anne Tyler and Scott Spencer, you'll love this book as much as I do! Kretchmer's original new novel is narrated from the afterlife by a minister's wife and tells the fascinating story of a mountain climbing expedition at Denali and the woman who gave up her child for adoption years ago and does not know she has a granddaughter. A riveting, beautifully written story with a great cast of quirky characters. Absorbing and definitely worth reading! Beautifully read by Jannie Meisberger. Be sure to check it out!

Great Story

A great story that weaves a story between the after life and the present. There was mystery, danger, love and death. Jannie Meisberger did a great job portraying the characters. I recommend this book/audio to anyone. “I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

Overall 3.5; performance 4.5; story 3.5 :)

What did you like best about The Damnable Legacy? What did you like least?

Well, it's not a book I'd usually read or listen to; I'd call it a family drama mixed with Christian prose...

As I am not a very religious person, some parts of the story felt a bit too religious for me... Not in the sense that I don't like reading about people's faith, I admire those who have strong religious beliefs - as long as they do not impose them on others. This is where my problem with the book lies: some parts were "overspiritual"... I had a feeling the author wanted to explain her understanding of ideas such as redemption, mourning, loneliness, or faith so much that she overdid it and started preaching... It might be partly coming from the fact that the narrator of the story is a spirit of the dead wife of one of the characters (a former minister). Some of her "comments" on what is happening just sounded too judgemental for me...

That said, I have to admit the story was really engaging in many parts. There were scenes and situations that moved me a lot and evoked strong emotions, some positive, some negative...
One of the tricks that helped the pace were frequent shifts between the two basic plotlines. I liked the plotline following Lynn's climb on Denali better, with the descriptions of the hardships and dangers such a climb inevitably involves. The plotline following Frankie, although also quite interesting, at times felt a little erratic and forced.

Generally I liked the book as it was something different for me, I would rate it 3.5 if I could.
I also think it could be interesting for those who like to read about complex relationships, broken families, emotional burden that giving children for adoption/being adopted brings...
To sum it up - it's worth giving a try.

Which character – as performed by Jannie Meisberger – was your favorite?

I generally liked Ms Meisberger interpretation of the female characters, I did not like, however, the male characters so much.

Ms Meisberger has such a nice voice that when she lowers the pitch she sounds too unnatural - trying to sound more masculine she slows down the speech which has the effect of the character being - at least to my ears :) - on drugs (like Ryan) or furious all the time (like Brad). But I have to admit, the task wasn't easy as there are a lot of male characters for the narrator to read...

On the other hand the way she differentiates female characters is brilliant: Frankie is young and arrogant, Lynn sounds much older and harsh, and Beth, the narrator, at times helpless and worried, at times full of hope - they all sound just about right.

If I could, I would give this interpretation 4.5 stars...

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I would probably prefer to watch it on DVD at home - I'd definitely like to see the Denali climb, but I would be too moved to watch it at the cinema (I hate crying in public and I would definitely cry watching some scenes from the book on screen).

Any additional comments?

I was voluntarily provided this review copy audiobook at no charge by the author, publisher and/or narrator.

A good read

I was gifted this audio ARC for a honest and unbiased review from the author/narrator.
G.ELIZABETH KRETCHMER wrote a good story of mystery, intrigue,adventure, suspense, a bit of romance, and even a touch of supernatural. Her writing skill is extremely well versed.
JANNIE MEISBERGER made the story flow along at a great place where no adjustments needed to be made.
I highly recommend this audio book to anyone

Two Parallel Universes

This story is told through Beth, a pastor's wife who has passed on. Even in death, she questions where she is and what she needs to do to help a young teenage girl, Frankie. She travels back and fourth between two realms.

In one realm, we meet Lynn. Lynn is a climbing instructor who is working side by side with another instructor leading two other climbers. We learn that one of the climbers is in fact the pastor who Beth was married to. We also learn Beth had a divine intervention in setting this up in order to create the connection between Lynn and Frankie.

The other realm consists of Frankie. Frankie is a troubled teenager who is questioning just who she is and where she came from. Beth follows Frankie along her journey and is determined to make sure she is alright. She watches hoping that the two realms will come together.

Jannie Meisberber is an enjoyable narrator. She has a soft, gorgeous British accent. She's clear, articulate and easy on the ears.