• Children of Fortune

  • By: Val Wood
  • Narrated by: Anne Dover
  • Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
  • 4.0 out of 5 stars (3 ratings)

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Children of Fortune  By  cover art

Children of Fortune

By: Val Wood
Narrated by: Anne Dover
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Publisher's Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

1864: following the untimely death of her cold-hearted husband, Beatrix and her three children are finally free. While Ambrose has already determined his path in life, eldest son Laurie's future is less certain. With the responsibility of the family estate on his shoulders, Laurie must decide between staying in Yorkshire to farm the family land and following his dreams.

Meanwhile, headstrong and independent Alicia is defying expectation and excelling at school. There, she befriends the enigmatic Olivia Snowdon and they quickly become inseparable. But Olivia's family past is shrouded in mystery and as she begins to dig deeper secrets come tumbling out....

Can the two families overcome the challenges that lie ahead?

©2021 Val Wood (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

"A heart-warming story filled with compelling action." (Rosie Goodwin)

"Hull's answer to Catherine Cookson." (BBC Radio 4's Front Row

"Wonderfully fully-fleshed characters are the mainstay of [Val Wood's] stories." (Peterborough Telegraph)

What listeners say about Children of Fortune

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    2 out of 5 stars

Sugary Sweet

No irony in the title. They are children of fortune. Everyone loves everyone. Everything turns out perfectly for everyone. I finished the story just in case a meteor fell on all of them gathered at the end. But no. It felt like a reading of old fashioned letter writing where letters contained everything from the weather to who came to visit to how the crops are doing. Would have been more interesting to me had the story started with Beatrix, her loveless marriage and Edward’s unrequited love.

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Engaging characters!

We loved the story, really cared about the characters. Good capturing of a time gone by.

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  • A. Richards
  • 12-28-21

fabulous

All about a woman and her children and how they excelled in their education to accomplish their dreams and lives.

1 person found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • Andrew
  • 01-25-23

Disappointing

Ann Dover's narration was excellent, as always. Unfortunately, I found the storyline rather shallow. It can be summed up with: Description of the growing up and life choices (partners and lines of work) of the family's children. Oh, and Olivia finds out about her birth parents. That's it. I only listened to the end because I felt I was too far into the story to return it.

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  • Lynne Armstrong
  • 01-03-23

Another fantastic story

Another Valarie Wood fantastic story as expected from this author. I like the way it mentions characters from previous books, but it doesn't matter if this is the reader's first Val Wood book. I also enjoy the fact that it is set in my local area.

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 10-15-22

So sorry to have finished this lovely story.

Having finished the first I had the second to look forward to. Oh dear, now what. Please write more of the same Val Wood.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Natalie
  • 09-09-22

disappointed

couldn't get into it. total waste of credit. don't waste your time. very disappointing

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • sean.mcgowan
  • 08-16-22

Not up to standard

Found this story extremely boring. Not up to usual standard. Not enough story content or happening. I didn’t finish it go tidy time I’ve never finished a val wood book.

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  • JEM
  • 02-01-22

A little bit dull.

A very gentle and slow paced novel about family life and educating children. But not very exciting.