Heart’s Blood

By: Juliet Marillier

Narrated by: Ruth Urquhart

Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Whistling Tor is a place of secrets: a mysterious, wooded hill housing the crumbling fortress belonging to Anluan - a chieftain whose name is spoken throughout the region in tones of revulsion and bitterness. A curse lies over Anluan's family and his people, and the woods themselves hold a perilous force whose every whisper threatens doom.

Then the young scribe Caitrin appears in Anluan's garden, admiring the rare plant known as heart's blood. Retained to sort through entangled family documents, Caitrin brings about unexpected changes in the household, casting a hopeful light against the despairing shadows.

But even as Caitrin brings solace to Anluan, and the promise of something more between them, he remains in thrall to the darkness surrounding Whistling Tor. To free Anluan's burdened soul, Caitrin must unravel the web of sorcery woven by his ancestors before it claims his life - and their love....

©1972 Walter Rodney (P)2018 Tantor

Beautiful Story

If you enjoy beauty and the beast type of stories this book is for you. Lovely story that brought tears to my eyes at the end. The narration was good and the story engrossing.

An amazing retelling! Kept me guessing!

I love retelling of fairy tales but after awhile you can guess where all the twists and turns are.
This was at times exactly the story of Beauty and the Beast. and at others I was on the edge of my seat trying to anticipate where it would go. then it was back to the story form without being too far afield.
it was very enjoyable.
The narrator pronounced all the names I'd probably have never done correctly on my own. I very much enjoyed it

Not the author’s best

Not the author’s best and that’s a disappointment. The reader’s mode of reading was full of tension from beginning to end, no variation. The story was alright.

Great Story!

Juliet Marillier provides such detail that you feel like you are in the story and can feel what the characters feel. I love her attention to detail with surroundings and the characters. I hope she writes a sequel to this one.

Book of my Heart

This story is so full of life and love. It touches my heart and memories of my wonderful Irish mother. I had to listen to it twice to enjoy each word. Truly a classic.

Marillier's Best Story By Far

If you are looking for a Beauty and the Beast themed story then you definitely came to the right place however, Marillier makes this story her own. All the characters are original, the plot was satisfying from beginning to end and the ending didn't feel like everything magically worked out. The characters worked their ass off to be the people who they wanted to be and worked for the ending that they desired. Very satisfying. Hope you all like it.

Wonderful book!

I neglected everything I had to do this weekend because I couldn't stop listening. My favorite book by this author so far. The narration was good also. I highly recommend.

Good book, AWFUL narration.

The narration was so bad that I almost returned the book. I was able to push through by slowing the playback speed to 90% and through sheer force of will. the book itself was pretty good.

Great story but a bit long

This was a creative take on the classic, Beauty and the Beast. The love story was believable and I enjoyed the way Caitrin's character grew and become stronger. The 2 reasons this book didn't get 5 stars is it was a bit too long and the story really dragged in some places. The 2nd reason is the names were a bit confusing and I often found myself not knowing which character she was talking about. I know the strange names are part of the story and I probably wouldn't have felt that way if I was reading the book rather than listen to it.

cute story

It wasnt difficult to get through the book. It kept my interest enough in a light way. The story didnt go as deep as I would have like but it was a fun cute story.