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Flowers from the Storm  By  cover art

Flowers from the Storm

By: Laura Kinsale
Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
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Publisher's summary

He's a duke. He's a mathematical genius. He can't talk and he's locked in a lunatic asylum. Only a modest Quaker girl can reach him, but when she helps him to escape, she's swept into his glittering aristocratic world, her life torn apart by his desperate attempt to save himself.

Laura Kinsale personally chose the exceptional talent of Nicholas Boulton to narrate her classic romance Flowers from the Storm - cited by readers of The Washington Post and Glamour magazine as "one of the greatest love stories of all time" - creating a fresh and unique work that brings all the power and intensity of the original to audio.

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  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: Erotica

What listeners say about Flowers from the Storm

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    5 out of 5 stars

~COMPELLING!!~ Love This Author! Love This Book!

After listening and loving the book "My Sweet Folly" I knew I had to listen to other books by Laura Kinsale.

"Flowers From The Storm" is a captivating romance with heart. The characters seem so real & true to life and main characters of Christian and Maddy are written with integrity and dimension. The story weaves a tale of "in sickness and in health" as it shows how romantic opposites in many aspects of life can triumph through adversity.

This book is not for you if you are looking for lots of sex scenes. Its more of a genuine romantic story that is passionate, compelling, and emotional rather than fantasy or cutesy fun.

Also, the narrator is WONDERFUL!! Can't say enough about him!

Definitely, definitely did I say definitely worth a credit? Yes!!

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89 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Wow!! What A Fantastic Book

You know a book has a lot to live up to when you read things like "One of the world's most cherished love stories!" and "Probably the best historical romance ever published" and "One of the greatest love stories of all time" not to mention "A watershed in romance fiction". This book and this author (whom I've never read) seem to be much revered by readers and authors alike. , I was glad of the chance to listen to it and see for myself what all the fuss was about. And let me tell you I was not only blown away, but I'll be searching out Ms Kinsale's other books for sure! A great book, compelling characters and a story to make you smile and weep and worry and hope that all will be well in the end!
When first we meet Christian Langland, Duke of Jervaulx, he is too handsome and charming for his own good, dissolute, completely reckless and full of hubris. He also happens to be a mathematical genius. He is working on a paper detailing a new mathematical theory with an unlikely partner - blind Quaker John Timms whose daughter Archimedea (Maddy) is his eyes and caregiver. Maddy is both fascinated and repulsed by the duke and his wild, worldly ways (he actually flirts with her!). When word comes that he has perished in a duel, both the news and her reaction to it shock her, as she weeps for this man she thought she did not even like!

Months later, Maddy and her father find themselves at Blythedale Hall, an insane asylum for the well to do where Maddy will assist her Cousin Edward who runs the place. On rounds to meet the patients, she is stunned to discover a disheveled, wild-eyed Jervaulx among the inmates! Before the duel could even commence, Christian was struck down by a stroke and is left unable to communicate, with damage to his motor skills and memory. In his frustration, he lashes out like an animal but when he recognizes Maddy, he calms. She is allowed to be his daytime caregiver and he latches onto her like a lifeline. His fear and frustration were nothing short of heartbreaking and the treatment and humiliation he endures from his "attendants" borders on cruel and masochistic - simply horrifying.

Maddy devotes herself to easing his fears, helping him to communicate and, when she learns that he must face a competency hearing (instigated by his greedy brothers-in-law) or lose his title and his freedom for good, she resolves to do what she can to prepare him. But all sorts of misadventures, manipulations and deceptions follow with Christian keeping a death-grip on Maddy while Maddy is torn between helping Christian and keeping to her father and her faith.

I won't say more about the plot, but the characters are so well written that they will make you laugh, cry, and bite your nails with anxiety for them. This book must have been exhausting to write! The author deftly conveys Christian's frustration, broken language and motor skills as well as his needy attachment to Maddy as it grows to love. And Maddy is so devoted to Christian that time and time again, she tests the bounds of her faith against what she feels is right. This is a truly moving, wonderful story that I highly recommend to those looking for more than just sex and light romance. This book is an investment in time and emotions - not a quick, easy read. If you like more complex books and authors like the Bronte sisters, George Elliot, Julia Ross/Jean Ross Ewing, Mary Balogh early Woodiwiss and maybe even Liz Carlyle or Gaelen Foley, I think you will like this book. Very highly recommended!!

Nicholas Bolton was just magical in the delivery of the story. One of the best narrators I have listened too in over 600 hundred books.

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58 people found this helpful

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Exquisite in every way!

The most famous of Laura Kinsale's novels, Flowers From the Storm certainly lives up to the hype and more! This is my second time to hear the book, and I enjoyed it so much more this time.
The story is compelling and beautiful. A different type of love story, as is most of Kinsale's work. The narrator is amazing, and brings the characters to life.
The story revolves around a plain Quaker girl and the mad worldly Duke she rescues from insanity. It's incredibly touching and never boring. Both characters grow and learn from their relationship. It's a breathtaking book from start to finish.
I highly recommend this book to romance and historical fiction fans!

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58 people found this helpful

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  • M
  • 06-26-13

What an agreeable surprise....absolutely superb!

This is the third Laura Kinsale book I've listened to of the three that are currently available on Audible. What a great find!

I'd never heard of Laura Kinsale, and decided to buy these books when I saw them in the "people who bought this also bought" section under one of Georgette Heyer's books (one of my all-time favorites). I am so glad I did...

All three of Ms Kinsale's books are unusual but very, very enjoyable. Her characters are flawed, but oh, so real! Not like the picture perfect, often self absorbed characters in many other romances. She puts real emotions into her characters, gives them real goals and aspirations, and expresses them so well that you feel what they feel. The frustration, anger, fear and desperation that the Duke endures at the lost of control over his life is so raw in this book that you just want to cry for him - extremely well done. I also learned quite a bit about how mentally afflicted people, or, as in this case, presumed mentally afflicted people, were treated in the 19th century (glad I live in the 21st!).

The narrator did a fantastic job, and it couldn't have been easy, especially in this book, where so much of the main character's speech was affected by his medical condition. NIcholas Boulton's interpretation of the story, and of the emotions, was extremely well done. He does accents very well too (mainly in the other 2 books). He's one of the best male narrators I've heard to date, and I've listened to a lot of them.

I hope Audible gets more audiobooks by LS and narrated by NB....I will buy every one of them! I haven't enjoyed anything as much since I listened to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, narrated by Davina Porter. Although quite different, all 3 Laura Kinsale books have the same excellence of story and the same quality of narration.

HIGHLY recommended.

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Powerful, Intense Experience

This story wonderfully narrated by Nicholas Boulton captivates you from the beginning and takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride that leaves you gratefully breathless by the end. The author takes you inside the experience of the Duke who has suffered a stroke and has been placed in an insane asylum. The author and narrator do an absolutely amazing job of portraying the Duke's cognitive and linguistic recovery with the aid of his Quaker nurse--a nurse who becomes his protector and wife. A lot of the story revolves around his wife's struggle to reconcile her Quaker beliefs with her role in the materialistic environment of a Dukedom. This is only the aspect of the book that becomes a bit repetitious at times. At one point I wanted to shake her and say "make up your damn mind already." But this reaction only attests to how well the author engages the reader/listener in the story. The more riveting part of the story focuses on how the Duke struggles to regain his abillity and right to function in the world outside the asylum. You will find yourself cheering him on with each triumph, large and small. Overall, this is one of the most profound love stories I have ever listened to. I would rate it well above a 5 if I could.

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Flowers from the storm

I enjoyed this book so very much ! The story was so different then I thought. Lot of ups and downs so your where not sure how it was going to. This is the first book of Laura Kinsale I have read and I will read more of her books

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Not your average love story, so much better.

At first I thought it was dull, but it was just opening like a flower. I didn't want it to end. It is worth the read. Treat your self.

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23 people found this helpful

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Excellent Use of a Credit!!!!

This is just the second Laura Kinsale book I have listened to and I have to say I am really enjoying them. The story is gripping and I could not stop listening. The story line is a nice change of pace from typical historical novels and at first I was not sure that I was going to be interested in a love story between a Quaker and an ill duke, but it works well. The writing is superb, so all in all, 18+ hours well spent.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Odd Choice for this Genre

How strange is it to find yourself in the middle of a traditional Romance Novel wishing for fewer erotic moments. Well, this is a most unusual book, and that is what happens! Stick with me for a moment while I explain.

"Flowers from the Storm" (and where, oh where, does that inadequate title come from??) is very, very good in many ways. It's probably the best I've ever encountered at describing what it must be like to have a stroke and endure its effects. The confusion, frustration, anger, and helplessness of our hero are ours - his scrambled thoughts, feelings, attempts at language are conveyed to the reader/listener in an almost visceral way. It's extraordinary.

Then there's our heroine. Maddie's Quaker beliefs are really honored and explained here - not just shoved in to create contrasting life styles and views for our lovers. All characters, in fact, are wonderfully presented, from the Duke's family and friends to the Quakers to the attendants at the madhouse. There's a real talent here for filling the story with rich and full characters.

So, here's the dilemma: "Flowers" is full of serious, thoughtful, and interesting content. Yet, there's the necessity, in a Romance Novel, for the love scenes in some detail and eroticism. I'm not adverse to these scenes in traditional romances, but they do seem rather out of place here. I actually found myself wanting these diversions to go away and get us back to the real story of the Duke's struggles with his physical disabilities and the desperate need to communicate his mental competence. And Maddie's struggle with her efforts to help him and maintain her values of simplicity and honesty.

Books which present this subject matter so well are usually given credibility - I'm just afraid the book's genre category and the really dumb cover and title will keep its rightful audience away. Too bad!

Nicholas Boulton is a fantastic narrator - especially when conveying the Duke's point of view. It's harrowing to hear the raw confusion, fear, and frustration of a man accustomed to absolute power dealing with the inability to communicate - and we're with him every step of the way.

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The Problem Might Have Been Me

This book is evidently quite beloved and considered one of the best romance novels of all times. As I listened, I agreed that parts of it were wonderful. It was extremely well written and the narration was perfect. (I actually think I would not have been able to read this. The narrator brought Christian's inner voice to life in a wonderful way. I think if I had read his inner monologue myself it would not have been so moving.)

For me, I think the problem was that the book was unrelentingly sad. Even when the main characters were falling in love, the setting or the situation was depressing.I found myself desperately wanting the lovers to have just a chapter or two when things were going well and they were happy in each others company. I think that would have made me more appreciative of the problems they faced and overcame. I think that a romantic "love'" born out of a desperate desire to escape a terrible future would always be questionable. You know that if it were not for Christian's problems he would never have given Maddy a second glance. So his true feelings would always be in question.

At another time, this book may have been far more palatable to me. I saw the bone structure of a wonderful book. When I read it though, I just could not get past the misery.

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18 people found this helpful