A House Divided

Publisher's Summary

Life is close to perfect for the Reverend Curtis Black and his wife, Charlotte - except their son, Matthew, and his girlfriend, Racquel, are about to become parents at the tender age of 18. Even though Curtis and Charlotte wish Matthew could focus on Harvard instead of fatherhood, they are determined to welcome their new grandson with open arms. But for Charlotte, welcoming her future in-laws is another story. Try as she might, Charlotte can't stand Racquel's mother, Vanessa - and the feeling appears to be mutual.

When the tension between Charlotte and Vanessa finally erupts, the stress sends an already-fragile Racquel into early labor. Everyone is quick to blame Charlotte, including Matthew and Curtis. That her own husband would side with someone else infuriates Charlotte and strains the relationship they've only recently been able to repair. Her one ally is Racquel's father, but that brings problems of its own.

While Charlotte schemes against Vanessa, Curtis is consumed with his own concerns about Deliverance Outreach. A mysterious figure from his past has been sending Curtis cryptic messages threatening to take away Curtis' coveted position as senior pastor and destroy everything he has worked so hard for. But who could hate Curtis that much? And how can he fight an enemy he can't even name?

Times of trouble are descending upon the Black family in more ways than one. Will they be able to overcome their challenges and stand together against someone who could take it all away? Or is the Black family finally out of miracles?

©2013 Kimberla Lawson Roby (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Surprisingly disappointing

I was surprised at this performance of the latest Curtis Black novel. The performance really took away from the story line, making it very hard to complete this novel. I would not recommend this as a listen for anyone. Gwen Hughes was not a good fit for the narration of this novel and because of it, I'm considering getting my credit back. I have enjoyed all of the other Curtis Black novels and have decided to try another avenue to read this book.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Performance sold melodrama of story

Is there anything you would change about this book?

It's a little melodramatic, but nevertheless, you can't help wanting to know how it ends, it's such a crazy story with such crazy out of control characters. I felt like Gwen Hughes was as into the story as the listener is, trying to make Charlotte seem like a real person. I felt for the son.

Would you be willing to try another book from Kimberla Lawson Roby? Why or why not?

Probably not, but I liked this one.

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

No. This was only one. She has a nice voice.

Was A House Divided worth the listening time?

Sure.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Only if there's nothing else

Would you try another book from Kimberla Lawson Roby and/or Gwen Hughes?

Sure, I always look for her books, even waited for this one. But THIS PARTICULAR BOOK WILL NOT HAVE ME WAITING FOR THE NEXT.

Would you be willing to try another book from Kimberla Lawson Roby? Why or why not?

Yes, but in my opinion, she didnt keep up with the character's character. I mean Charlotte wouldn't behave this way. She never had before, now a change in personality. Repeat readers know all of her characters. We know the difference, a turn off.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

No, not her fault.

Do you think A House Divided needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Nope, Its time to retire the family, and give up something else.

Any additional comments?

let it go already.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Didn't like the narrator

It took me a while to get through this one. I didn't like how the narrator made every woman sound like they were whining except Charlotte. Choose a different narrator.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

My least favorite book in the Curtis Black series

I'm a huge fan of Kimberla Lawson Roby and was sooooooo looking forward to her next book in the Curtis Black series. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed. The writing style seemed a bit different then the other books (in this series)....more conservative I guess. Something seemed to be missing :(. The story line was okay, but no where near comparable to the previous ones.

I'm still and will ALWAYS be a fan of Kimberla's, however this book was mediocre at best in my opinion.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Narration painful

I love the Curtis Black series but the narration is painful. I’m going t have to skip and figure out what I missed. I can’t listen. The delivery is why I like audiobooks. I don’t know how this happened.

Narrator

I like this series and imagining each character grow and mature in different areas of their life. However the narrator on this particular book did a horrible job with the voices. There was no consistency from character to character and they all sounded like robots.

Very involved plot

I enjoyed the plot as a pastor's wife these events are not far fetched at all but I don't think delivery of the story was good. Her voice and animation didn't fit.

Great storyline but the narrator is HORRIBLE!

Kimberla never fails when it comes to the Black family! Twist and turns with every chapter. But the narrator announced my soul. It was a little difficult to differentiate the characters as their voices were too close in sound. Especially going between men and women. She did okay, but I think they should've kept their prior narrators

narrator

it was a struggle getting through this book listening to the narrator. the way the word were drawn out and how slow she spoke was like torture. I did not care about the book that much either, when the ex wife came back out of nowhere I was confused. it had been too many years in between for her to hold so much anger.