Fair and Tender Ladies

De: Lee Smith

Narrado por: Kate Forbes

Author of many novels and short stories, best-selling writer Lee Smith has received numerous awards for her works, including two O. Henry Awards. Fair and Tender Ladies is an epistolary novel that traces the life of Ivy Rowe, born in the isolated Virginia mountain community of Sugar Fork.

Twelve-year-old Ivy writes her first letter to a Dutch pen pal, who never replies. She also writes many more to her sister Sylvaney, who is mentally disabled and illiterate. Gaining more from writing than receiving any replies, Ivy continues a colorful stream of letters during her long life. Through births and deaths, marriages and funerals, the decades of Ivy's life are captured in a rich dialect that carries the sounds and sights of the Appalachians in each syllable.

Lee Smith's genius lies in her ability to create the landscape of a character's mind with economy and grace. Perfectly complementing Smith's talent, narrator Kate Forbes provides a unique voice for Ivy.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Readers will be thoroughly captivated by Ivy Rowe, the narrator of this epistolary novel, and will come to the end of her story with a pang of regret. Smith has produced her best work here, creating a fully rounded heroine and other vivid characters who inhabit Virginia's Appalachia region....In the old tradition of oral storytelling, Smith has fashioned a dramatic, magical, poignantly true-to-life tale." (Publishers Weekly)
"Ivy writes with a verve and immediacy which prove that her creator, Lee Smith, is a storyteller supreme." (School Library Journal)

I fell in love with Ivy Rowe! TY Smith + Forbes!

This is a GEM of a book which I am so grateful to have listened to rather than read on pages of paper, because Kate Forbes so beautifully narrated the accents and phrases popular in Appalachia. I know very little about the region, but when my nephew married a girl from West Virginia this summer I was the guest at the sweetest and most fun wedding I have ever attended. It was filled with music, humor and fun. I fell in love with his new family and I think I have decided that part of their loveliness comes from their home state. All of this led me to pick up a book that I probably would have never bought otherwise and I am so glad that it did. I am hoping that some of them will listen so that they can share with me their thoughts.

The story of Ivy Rowe is told through her letters to friends and family over the course of her life from the late 1800s until the mid 1900s. We meet the people she loves and we see the places she knows. It is a story that unfolds quietly and lyrically. It encompasses many, many characters -- all people that Ivy loves -- and not once did I ever confuse one character with another. Both world wars and the Great Depression are part of the history visited in the story. The mining industry plays a part too. And still, the story isn't about any of that. It is about LOVE -- and Ivy is a fierce, strong, stubborn, uneducated, funny, loyal girl/woman who enchanted me with her zest for life and taciturn acceptance of the difficult moments.

The story is about love. Ivy loves well. And I love Ivy.

If you’ve ever lived in the south……listen

If you’ve ever lived down south and have time to listen closely, you will not be disappointed. This story is so familiar and true to the southern ways in that era. I absolutely loved it. I listen to hundreds of books of all genres and this one is top 5. Ivy Rowe is every kids mamaw. She is so spunky and loveable. I already miss her and I just finished the book.

Love Lee Smith

Never disappointed by Lee Smith’s storytelling. Audible did an amazing job with the reading of this one!

Enchanting

I believe I have a new favorite author in Lee Smith. I highly recommend this book.

Great Story, even better performance!

I have been a recorded books listener for decades and this may be the best performance I've ever heard. Kate Forbes is outstanding reading in the first person of Ivy Rowe, a Virginia mountain girl born at the turn of the twentieth century. The story takes us from Ivey at 12 until she is approximately 75.

Ms. Forbes Does a magnificent job of voicing the 12 year-old as well as the elder Ivy.

Fantastic!