Bel Lamington

By: D. E. Stevenson

Narrated by: Patience Tomlinson

Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

Bel Lamington finds London a very lonely place - until a young artist literally drops in on her rooftop garden....

Bel, an orphan daughter of an Army colonel, is brought up in an English village and flung into the whirl of London life to earn a hard living as a secretary while attempting to navigate romance, unexpected friendships and urban life. Shy and sensitive, she is unaware of the pitfalls that surround her. When Bel is offered a chance to leave London and venture to a fishing hotel in Scotland for a much needed holiday with an old school friend, things begin to change. There she learns that you cannot escape from your troubles by running away from them…

©1961 D. E. Stevenson (P)2021 Soundings

wonderful story, terrib;e nnrration

A lovely gentle romance ruined by a terrible narrator. Her voice interpretations were awful. I have read the book many times and was very disappointed in the narration

good book.. good narrator

I love books by de Stevenson. this book is good. not as good as the "miss Buncle" series (which is my favorite).. regardless, this is an enjoyable easy listen

Good story

The narrator wasn’t the best but I managed to enjoy the story anyway.
It was good to have the story tie in with the characters at Muirith and Tassynoe (no idea how these places are spelled.)
Overall it was a pleasant story.

Another holiday in Scotland

D. E. Stevenson often takes readers on a delightful holiday in Scotland. Well, before Bel gets her holiday in Scotland, she spends some time in London working as secretary in a firm that imports goods into England. From a small town background, she finds London lonely much of the time, finding comfort in a tiny garden she creates on a flat roof she reaches through a window in her top story flat (apartment). While her boss is away on an extended business trip (in days when communications were far more difficult than today), the man in charge of the office fires Bel. She joins friends on a holiday in Scotland, and while there decides what is really important to her. The holiday in Scotland takes place in the area used as setting for two earlier novels by this author, Music in the Hills and Winter and Rough Weather (alt. title Shoulder the Sky) and we get glimpses of some characters from those novels. However this book can stand alone.

The narrator does a pretty good job, although some of the voices of the male characters could be better. On the whole a worthwhile addition to my D. E. Stevenson listening library.

Gentle reading from an era long gone

"Bel Lamington" - that is the girl's name and has nothing to do with sponge cake cut into squares dipped in chocolate icing and rolled in coconut - helped make a mundane task I was needing to complete so much more enjoyable.
While Bel is not my favourite D.E. Stevenson character, she's not too sappy and has moments of spunk. I liked Bel more than her bossy, knows-what-is-best-for-everyone, friend Louise. I'm so thankful that the Aunt that raised her was loving and loved by Bel in return.

This book is a perfect follow on after book three, "Winter and Rough Weather", in the Drumberley/Dering series. I enjoyed catching up with Mamie and Jock Johnstone, and, James and Rhoda Dering.

Delightful!

I just love the sweet stories by DE Stevenson ❤️ What better way to get away from the everyday.

lovely characters

Ended too soon . Time to buy another D. E. Stevenson novel. I'm so glad more are coming available. In these dark days, it's lovely to have novels like hers to turn to.

NOT EXCITING, BUT AN O.K. LISTEN

The story is very dated and simple. Good casual listening while doing work around the house.