Foolish Heroines
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Foolish Heroines
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Narrated by:
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Paige Reisenfeld
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By:
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June Wentland
About this listen
Janina Reston is a language expert, translating fiendishly tricky Arabic and Asian mathematical and scientific texts. Words are her world. But she can’t find any to share with her husband Owen. Instead, she confides in a spider named Gladys (who may or may not be her deceased grandmother).
She lives in an ordinary city suburb where extraordinary things happen. Lily’s husband dies in a strange accident with a milk bottle, while Fatima writes biographies of unknown people living seemingly inconsequential lives, and Zosia—whose most daring adventure thus far has been replacing jelly and ice cream with lemon meringue pie—runs off to Delhi with an Asian Women’s Sewing Group.
Written with zest, zeal, and humor, June Wentland’s debut novel is a surreal journey through the avenues and alleyways of everyday life. But forget dull domesticity. This is a suburb where dense jungle leaves creep through the patio door when you’re putting the kettle on, where porcelain shepherdesses have evil intent, and where a seven-legged arachnid can be a wise companion for a woman at the end of her tether.
©2021 June Wentland (P)2022 Valley PressListeners also enjoyed...
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Alice Rose is a foundling, discovered on the Yorkshire moors above Haworth as a baby. Adopted but then later rejected again by a horrid stepmother, Alice struggles to find a place where she belongs. Only baking - the scent of cinnamon and citrus and the feel of butter and flour between her fingers - brings a comforting sense of home. So it seems natural that when she finally decides to return to Haworth, Alice turns to baking again, taking over a run-down little teashop and working to set up an afternoon tea emporium.
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Small Objects, Big Insights
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One Day I Shall Astonish the World
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 36
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4 out of 5 stars 30
Susan and Norma have been best friends for years, at first thrust together by force of circumstance (a job at The Pin Cushion, a haberdashery shop in 1990s Leicestershire) and then by force of character (neither being particularly inclined to make friends with anyone else). But now, 30 years later, faced with a husband seeking immortality and Norma out of reach on a wave of professional glory, Susan begins to wonder whether she has made the right choices about life, love, work, and, most importantly, friendship.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The Conundrum of the Friend Who Hurts You
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The Illegal Gardener
- The Greek Village Series, Volume 1
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 253
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 223
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 224
A delightful glimpse into the lives of two very different people who became friends and were both better for it. A rare friendship that changed their lives and may change yours a bit too.
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4 out of 5 stars
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I was captivated
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Consequences
- A Novel
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- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 83
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 70
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Story4 out of 5 stars 71
Consequences is a love-story-times-three that opens on the eve of the Second World War, with a chance meeting in St. James' Park, London. Wholly in love, Lorna and Matt leave the city for a cottage in a rural Somerset village. Their intimate life together is shattered when the war begins and by Matt's tragic death in action.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Lovely book but not a classic
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By: Penelope Lively
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The Red Notebook
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 380
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 331
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 333
Heroic bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street. There's nothing in the bag to indicate who it belongs to, although there's all sorts of other things in it. Laurent feels a strong impulse to find the owner and tries to puzzle together who she might be from the contents of the bag. Especially a red notebook with her jottings, which really makes him want to meet her. Without even a name to go on, and only a few of her possessions to help him, how is he to find one woman in a city of millions?
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4 out of 5 stars
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A slight story
- By RueRue on 12-22-16
By: Antoine Laurain
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Postcards from a Stranger
- By: Imogen Clark
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,257
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,069
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,066
When Cara stumbles across a stash of old postcards in the attic, their contents make her question everything she thought she knew. The story she pieces together is confusing and unsettling, and appears to have been patched over with lies. But who can tell her the truth? With her father sinking into Alzheimer’s and her brother reluctant to help, it seems Cara will never find the answers to her questions. One thing is clear, though: someone knows more than they’re letting on.
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5 out of 5 stars
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How do these authors do it?
- By DeRoseBreathe on 03-24-20
By: Imogen Clark
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The Garden of Magic
- By: Sarah Painter
- Narrated by: Tracey Norman
- Length: 2 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 118
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 108
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Story4 out of 5 stars 108
Iris Harper has lived in Pendleford for decades. The local witch is mistrusted by the townsfolk, but that doesn't stop some coming to her begging for potions, spells and quick-fixes. As time has marched on suddenly Iris is aware that her days are beginning to fade. Her sumptuous garden is turning against her, the sweet scent of rot potent and now a young girl has come begging for a solution at her door. Yet, the problem she brings causes Iris to remember a man from long ago - the man she loved, the man she could never trust.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Prequel Novella from Language of Spells
- By Adriana B on 05-04-17
By: Sarah Painter
Critic reviews
"I was soon carried away by June's wonderfully rich prose, and the fascinating juxtaposition of the everyday with the wildly fantastic, the quotidian realities of family life and relationships with the extravagance of our hidden inner lives. Foolish Heroines is a beautifully written, wonderfully bizarre exploration of middle age, long-term relationships and all the things we think but rarely say." (Katherine Webb)
What listeners say about Foolish Heroines
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kate Breivik
- 02-17-23
A quirky little journey
I will admit there were times throughout this book that I wondered what it was even about, but the whimsical settings and mild interpersonal conflicts. If you like cats and Wonderland-esque storytelling by a captivating narrator, this may be the book for you.
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