BBC National Short Story Award 2010 (5 Shortlisted Titles)
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From a Low and Quiet Sea
- By: Donal Ryan
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins, Gerard Doyle, Alan Smyth, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 41
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4 out of 5 stars 39
Three men search for some version of home; their lives move inexorably toward a reckoning that will draw them all together. For Farouk, family is all. He has protected his wife and daughter as best he can from the war and hatred that has torn Syria apart. If they stay, they will lose their freedom. Lampy is distracted; he has too much going on in his small town life in Ireland. He has the city girl for a bit of fun, but she's not Chloe. The game was always the lifeblood coursing through John's veins: manipulating people for his enjoyment. But it was never enough.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Deeply moving and beautifully written.
- By Carrie Arnold on 07-18-18
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The Turning
- By: Tim Winton
- Narrated by: Humphrey Bower, Caroline Lee
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 76
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
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Story4 out of 5 stars 56
Here are turnings of all kinds - changes of heart, nasty surprises, slow awakenings, sudden detours - where people struggle against the terrible weight of the past and challenge the lives they have made for themselves. Beautifully crafted, and as tender as they are confronting, these elegiac stories examine the darkness and frailty of ordinary people and celebrate the moments when the light shines through.
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4 out of 5 stars
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It just got better and better
- By Karen Campbell on 03-02-12
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All We Shall Know
- A Novel
- By: Donal Ryan
- Narrated by: Sonya Macari
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 25
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 23
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Story4 out of 5 stars 23
Melody Shee is alone and in trouble. At 33 years old, she finds herself pregnant with the child of a 17-year-old Traveler boy, Martin Toppy, and not by her husband, Pat. Melody was teaching Martin to read, but now he's gone, and Pat leaves, too, full of rage. She's trying to stay in the moment, but the future is looming, while the past won't let her go. It's a good thing that she meets Mary Crothery when she does.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Breathtakingly beautiful writing.
- By Vistarina on 07-28-17
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Adam's Empire
- By: Evan Green
- Narrated by: Richard Aspel
- Length: 34 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 73
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 67
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Story4 out of 5 stars 68
He thought he had everything until tragedy struck... Adam Ross, orphaned at nine, cherished a dream - that one day he would have land of his own. The opal fields of Coober Pedy offered his first glimpse of riches - and Nellie, a dusky beauty, provided his first taste of love... From the western plains of New South Wales to the balmy waters of Sydney Harbour, from the grinding heat of a West Australian cattle station to the eerie desert shores of Lake Eyre, Adam was driven by his ambition.
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2 out of 5 stars
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A little too long winded
- By Jeanette on 04-03-15
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A Change of Climate
- A Novel
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Sandra Duncan
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
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Story4 out of 5 stars 47
Ralph and Anna Eldred are an exemplary couple, devoting themselves to doing good. 30 years ago as missionaries in Africa, the worst that could happen did. Shattered by their encounter with inexplicable evil, they returned to England, never to speak of it again. But when Ralph falls into an affair, Anna finds no forgiveness in her heart, and 30 years of repressed rage and grief explode, destroying not only a marriage but also their love, their faith, and everything they thought they were.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautifully written
- By Patricia S. on 10-11-15
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A Long Way from Home
- By: Peter Carey
- Narrated by: Colin McPhillamy, Craig Baldwin, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 63
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Story4 out of 5 stars 60
Irene Bobs loves fast driving. Her husband is the best car salesman in southeastern Australia. Together they enter the Redex Trial, a brutal race around the ancient continent, over roads no car will ever quite survive. With them is their lanky, fair-haired navigator, Willie Bachhuber, a quiz show champion and failed schoolteacher who calls the turns and creeks crossings on a map that will remove them, without warning, from the white Australia they all know so well. This is a thrilling high-speed story that starts in one way and then takes you someplace else. It is often funny, more so as the world gets stranger, and always compelling, even as you learn a history these characters never knew themselves.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant, moving, disturbing
- By A Reader on 07-14-18
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From a Low and Quiet Sea
- By: Donal Ryan
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins, Gerard Doyle, Alan Smyth, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 39
Three men search for some version of home; their lives move inexorably toward a reckoning that will draw them all together. For Farouk, family is all. He has protected his wife and daughter as best he can from the war and hatred that has torn Syria apart. If they stay, they will lose their freedom. Lampy is distracted; he has too much going on in his small town life in Ireland. He has the city girl for a bit of fun, but she's not Chloe. The game was always the lifeblood coursing through John's veins: manipulating people for his enjoyment. But it was never enough.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Deeply moving and beautifully written.
- By Carrie Arnold on 07-18-18
-
The Turning
- By: Tim Winton
- Narrated by: Humphrey Bower, Caroline Lee
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 76
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 56
Here are turnings of all kinds - changes of heart, nasty surprises, slow awakenings, sudden detours - where people struggle against the terrible weight of the past and challenge the lives they have made for themselves. Beautifully crafted, and as tender as they are confronting, these elegiac stories examine the darkness and frailty of ordinary people and celebrate the moments when the light shines through.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
It just got better and better
- By Karen Campbell on 03-02-12
-
All We Shall Know
- A Novel
- By: Donal Ryan
- Narrated by: Sonya Macari
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 25
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 23
Melody Shee is alone and in trouble. At 33 years old, she finds herself pregnant with the child of a 17-year-old Traveler boy, Martin Toppy, and not by her husband, Pat. Melody was teaching Martin to read, but now he's gone, and Pat leaves, too, full of rage. She's trying to stay in the moment, but the future is looming, while the past won't let her go. It's a good thing that she meets Mary Crothery when she does.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Breathtakingly beautiful writing.
- By Vistarina on 07-28-17
-
Adam's Empire
- By: Evan Green
- Narrated by: Richard Aspel
- Length: 34 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 73
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 68
He thought he had everything until tragedy struck... Adam Ross, orphaned at nine, cherished a dream - that one day he would have land of his own. The opal fields of Coober Pedy offered his first glimpse of riches - and Nellie, a dusky beauty, provided his first taste of love... From the western plains of New South Wales to the balmy waters of Sydney Harbour, from the grinding heat of a West Australian cattle station to the eerie desert shores of Lake Eyre, Adam was driven by his ambition.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
A little too long winded
- By Jeanette on 04-03-15
-
A Change of Climate
- A Novel
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Sandra Duncan
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 47
Ralph and Anna Eldred are an exemplary couple, devoting themselves to doing good. 30 years ago as missionaries in Africa, the worst that could happen did. Shattered by their encounter with inexplicable evil, they returned to England, never to speak of it again. But when Ralph falls into an affair, Anna finds no forgiveness in her heart, and 30 years of repressed rage and grief explode, destroying not only a marriage but also their love, their faith, and everything they thought they were.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully written
- By Patricia S. on 10-11-15
-
A Long Way from Home
- By: Peter Carey
- Narrated by: Colin McPhillamy, Craig Baldwin, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 68
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 60
Irene Bobs loves fast driving. Her husband is the best car salesman in southeastern Australia. Together they enter the Redex Trial, a brutal race around the ancient continent, over roads no car will ever quite survive. With them is their lanky, fair-haired navigator, Willie Bachhuber, a quiz show champion and failed schoolteacher who calls the turns and creeks crossings on a map that will remove them, without warning, from the white Australia they all know so well. This is a thrilling high-speed story that starts in one way and then takes you someplace else. It is often funny, more so as the world gets stranger, and always compelling, even as you learn a history these characters never knew themselves.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant, moving, disturbing
- By A Reader on 07-14-18
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The Blackhouse
- By: Peter May
- Narrated by: Peter Forbes
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 440
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 401
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 396
When a grisly murder occurs on the Isle of Lewis that bears similarities to a brutal killing on the mainland, Edinburgh detective Fin Macleod is dispatched to the Outer Hebrides to investigate, embarking at the same time on a voyage into his own troubled past. As Fin reconnects with the people and places of his tortured childhood, the beautiful island and its ancient customs once again begin to assert their grip on his psyche. Every step toward solving the case brings Fin closer to a confrontation with the dark events of the past that shaped - and nearly destroyed - his life.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Miscategorized
- By Constance Jenkins on 08-17-18
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Elmet
- By: Fiona Mozley
- Narrated by: Gareth Bennett Ryan
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 492
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 460
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Story4 out of 5 stars 460
In this atmospheric and profoundly moving debut, Cathy and Daniel live with their father, John, in the remote woods of Yorkshire, in a house the three of them built themselves. John is a gentle brute of a man, a former enforcer who fights for money when he has to, but who otherwise just wants to be left alone to raise his children. When a local landowner shows up on their doorstep, their precarious existence is threatened, and a series of actions is set in motion that can only end in violence.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Strains credibility
- By DM on 01-06-18
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The Hired Man
- By: Aminatta Forna
- Narrated by: Mark Leadbetter
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 58
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4 out of 5 stars 52
The new novel from the winner of the Commonwealth Writer's Prize, The Hired Man, is a taut, powerful novel of a small town and its dark wartime secrets, unwittingly brought into the light by a family of outsiders. Aminatta Forna has established herself as one of our most perceptive and uncompromising chroniclers of war and the way it reverberates, sometimes imperceptibly, in the daily lives of those touched by it.
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3 out of 5 stars
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disapointing
- By Vincent on 03-30-19
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Now & Then
- By: Jacqueline Sheehan
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 44
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Story4 out of 5 stars 35
Anna O’Shea has failed at marriage, shed her job at a law firm, and she’s trying to re-create herself when she and her recalcitrant nephew are summoned to the past in a manner that nearly destroys them. Her twenty-first-century skills pale as she struggles to find her nephew in nineteenth-century Ireland. For one of them, the past is brutally difficult, filled with hunger and struggle. For the other, the past is filled with privilege, status, and a reprieve from the crushing pain of present-day life. For both Anna and her nephew, the past offers them a chance at love.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Fantasy of Time Travel
- By Linda L Davis on 11-27-19
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Leaving Lucy Pear
- By: Anna Solomon
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4 out of 5 stars 59
One night in 1917, Beatrice Haven sneaks out of her uncle's house on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, leaves her newborn baby at the foot of a pear tree, and watches as another woman claims the infant as her own. The unwed daughter of wealthy Jewish industrialists and a gifted pianist bound for Radcliffe, Bea plans to leave her shameful secret behind and make a fresh start. Ten years later Prohibition is in full swing; post-World War I America is in the grips of rampant xenophobia, and Bea's hopes for her future remain unfulfilled.
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3 out of 5 stars
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big problem
- By Barbara Johansen on 11-11-17
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Tipperary
- A Novel of Ireland
- By: Frank Delaney
- Narrated by: Frank Delaney
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 240
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 175
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 178
Born into a respected Irish-Anglo family in 1860, Charles loves his native land and its long-suffering but irrepressible people. As a healer, he travels the countryside dispensing traditional cures while soaking up stories and legends of bygone times - and witnessing the painful, often violent birth of land-reform measures destined to lead to Irish independence. At the age of 40, summoned to Paris to treat his dying countryman - the infamous Oscar Wilde - Charles experiences the fateful moment of his life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Delightful
- By Kathy on 12-08-07
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Circling the Sun
- A Novel
- By: Paula McLain
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,861
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,483
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,478
Brought to Kenya from England as a child and then abandoned by her mother, Beryl is raised by both her father and the native Kipsigis tribe, who share his estate. Her unconventional upbringing transforms Beryl into a bold young woman with a fierce love of all things wild and an inherent understanding of nature's delicate balance. But even the wild child must grow up, and when everything Beryl knows and trusts dissolves, she is catapulted into a string of disastrous relationships.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Pro: It made me want to read "West With the Night"
- By Ilana on 08-01-15
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When God Was a Rabbit
- By: Sarah Winman
- Narrated by: Sarah Winman
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 126
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 108
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Story4 out of 5 stars 109
This is a story about a brother and a sister. It's a story about childhood and growing up, friendships and families, triumph and tragedy, and everything in between. More than anything, it's a story about love in all its forms.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Poorly Executed
- By FanB14 on 05-24-12
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The Pearl Thief
- By: Elizabeth Wein
- Narrated by: Maggie Service
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,221
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,130
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,124
From the internationally acclaimed best-selling author of Code Name Verity comes a stunning new story of pearls, love and murder. Sixteen-year-old Julie Beaufort-Stuart is returning to her family's ancestral home in Perthshire for one last summer. It is not an idyllic return to childhood. Her grandfather's death has forced the sale of the house and estate, and this will be a summer of good-byes. Not least to the McEwen family - Highland travellers who have been part of the landscape for as long as anyone can remember.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Freshwater Pearls and Scottish Plaid
- By Cynthia on 08-14-17
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I'll Keep You Safe
- By: Peter May
- Narrated by: Anna Murray, Peter Forbes
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 200
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 179
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Story4 out of 5 stars 180
Lovers and business partners Niamh and Ruairidh are owners of a small Hebridean company, Ranish Tweed. Their fabrics have become internationally sought-after in the world of fashion. But the threads of their relationship are beginning to fray. As they prepare for an important showing at a Parisian fabric fair, Niamh accuses Ruairidh of having an affair with a Russian fashion designer they work with - a fight that ends with Ruairidh storming off. Moments later, Niamh watches in horror as the car containing her life partner explodes in a ball of flame. With Niamh a prime suspect in the murder, the Parisian police hound her....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Another page turner.
- By Cathy Parker on 09-18-18
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TransAtlantic
- A Novel
- By: Colum McCann
- Narrated by: Geraldine Hughes
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 650
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 566
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Story4 out of 5 stars 570
In the National Book Award-winning Let the Great World Spin, Colum McCann thrilled readers with a marvelous high-wire act of fiction that The New York Times Book Review called "an emotional tour de force". Now McCann demonstrates once again why he is one of the most acclaimed and essential authors of his generation with a soaring novel that spans continents, leaps centuries, and unites a cast of deftly rendered characters, both real and imagined.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Too breathtaking to read just once...
- By Annie M. on 06-18-13
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The Circle of Reason
- By: Amitav Ghosh
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 44
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 36
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Story4 out of 5 stars 38
Amitav Ghosh’s extraordinary first novel makes a claim on literary turf held by Gabriel García Márquez and Salman Rushdie. In a vivid and magical story, The Circle of Reason traces the misadventures of Alu, a young master weaver in a small Bengali village who is falsely accused of terrorism. Alu flees his home, traveling through Bombay to the Persian Gulf to North Africa with a bird-watching policeman in pursuit.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Ghosh, I was disappointed
- By Gwen on 03-04-13
Publisher's Summary
The 5 shortlisted titles for the BBC National Short Story Award 2010 administered in partnership with Booktrust, containing:
Tea at the Midland by David Constantine, David Constantine 2010
Haywards Heath by Aminatta Forna, Aminatta Forna 2010
Butcher’s Perfume by Sarah Hall, Sarah Hall 2010
If It Keeps on Raining by Jon McGregor, Jon McGregor 2010
My Daughter the Racist by Helen Oyeyemi, Helen Oyeyemi 2010
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Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Jeremy
- 02-23-11
Short & Sweet - 5 Brilliant Stories!
Each story is a deserved winner, and 5 very varied scenarios reflecting with themes such as lost love, amnesia, aloneness, madness, justice, betrayal and solidarity (pity there are only 5 stories in all)!
Overall, the collection is less than 2 hrs listening time, and at the end I was left wanting more. My only slight complaint is that on my iPhone, each story is just an anonymous chapter.
I don't know who won, but for me 'My Daughter, the Racist' is the most thought provoking and contemporary account I have heard or read in a long time. It made me weep for the human condition.
6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 06-08-11
Great collection and well narrated
Loced these stories - they are all very different but equally well narrated and thought provoking
4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- gregfclare
- 05-12-15
Great contemporary writing
Accessible stories i could relate to, beautifully written. So refreshing to have these collections available. A change from the rather staid writers in some of the 20 century collections. I will be listening to more from the BBC Short Story titles.
2 people found this helpful