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Kiss Myself Goodbye
- The Many Lives of Aunt Munca
- Narrated by: Paul Blezard
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
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Kiss Myself Goodbye
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Publisher's summary
Bloomsbury presents Kiss Myself Goodbye by Ferdinand Mount, read by Paul Blezard.
Shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize 2021
Aunt Munca never told the truth about anything. Calling herself after the mouse in a Beatrix Potter story, she was already a figure of mystery during the childhood of her nephew Ferdinand Mount. Half a century later, a series of startling revelations sets him off on a tortuous quest to find out who this extraordinary millionairess really was. What he discovers is shocking and irretrievably sad, involving multiple deceptions, false identities and abandonments. The story leads us from the back streets of Sheffield at the end of the Victorian age to the highest echelons of English society between the wars.
Kiss Myself Goodbye is both an enchanting personal memoir like the author’s best-selling Cold Cream, and a voyage into a vanished moral world. An unconventional tale of British social history told backwards, its cryptic and unforgettable protagonist Munca joins the ranks of memorable aunts in literature, from Dickens’ Betsy Trotwood to Graham Greene’s Aunt Augusta.
Critic reviews
"Grimly funny and superbly written, with a twist on every page." (Hilary Mantel)
"Delightfully compulsive and unforgettably original." (Hadley Freeman)
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting Approach to a Well Known History
- By HistoryNerd on 09-24-21
By: Anderson Cooper, and others
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Queen Mary
- The Official Biography
- By: James Pope-Hennessy, Hugo Vickers
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 24 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 92
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 80
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Story5 out of 5 stars 80
When Queen Mary died in 1953, James Pope-Hennessy was commissioned to write an official biography of her - unusual for a queen consort. Queen Mary's life, contrary to popular belief, was essentially dramatic, and she played a far more important and influential role in the affairs of the British monarchy than her public image might have otherwise suggested. Using material from the Royal Archives, private papers, and Queen Mary's personal diaries and letters, Pope-Hennessy's biography was a remarkable portrait of a remarkable woman and received rave reviews across the press.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent! UPDATED review after 2nd listen.
- By Geri A on 07-31-21
By: James Pope-Hennessy, and others
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Black Diamonds
- The Downfall of an Aristocratic Dynasty and the Fifty Years That Changed England
- By: Catherine Bailey
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 15 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
When the sixth Earl Fitzwilliam died in 1902, he left behind the second largest estate in 20th-century England, valued at more than three billion dollars in today's money - a lifeline to the tens of thousands of people who worked either in the family's coal mines or on their expansive estate. The earl also left behind four sons, and the family line seemed assured. But was it?
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3 out of 5 stars
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Could use a good editor...
- By Phyllis on 04-30-18
By: Catherine Bailey
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The Queen and Di
- The Untold Story
- By: Ingrid Seward
- Narrated by: Emily Gray
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 138
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 119
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 122
The Manchester Evening News declared, it took "a biographer like Ingrid Seward to unleash a sober, challenging glimpse into the one relationship of such scrutiny." That relationship is the complex, troubled, and often turbulent association between Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Quite one sided.
- By Beatnik RN on 02-17-15
By: Ingrid Seward
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The Blood Doctor
- By: Barbara Vine
- Narrated by: Robert Powell
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 85
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Story4 out of 5 stars 71
The First Lord Nanther, expert in blood diseases, particularly the royal disease of Heamophilia, and favoured physician to Queen Victoria, clearly hoped to be the subject of an admiring posthumous biography. But when his great-grandson, Martin Nanther begins to research his life for a biography, the Martin comes to suspect that his great-grandfather’s old records conceal more than they reveal.
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5 out of 5 stars
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clever, excellent storytelling
- By connie on 07-09-11
By: Barbara Vine
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"Our Crowd"
- The Great Jewish Families of New York
- By: Stephen Birmingham
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 19 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 301
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 259
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 258
They immigrated to America from Germany in the nineteenth century with names like Loeb, Sachs, Seligman, Lehman, Guggenheim, and Goldman. From tenements on the Lower East Side to Park Avenue mansions, this handful of Jewish families turned small businesses into imposing enterprises and amassed spectacular fortunes. But despite possessing breathtaking wealth that rivaled the Astors and Rockefellers, they were barred by the gentile establishment from the lofty realm of "the 400," a register of New York's most elite, because of their religion and humble backgrounds.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Finance heavy
- By Shayla on 03-28-21
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Wait for Me!
- Memoirs
- By: Deborah Mitford Duchess of Devonshire
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 14 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 120
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 85
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 87
Deborah Mitford, Duchess of Devonshire, is the youngest of the famously witty brood that includes the writers Jessica and Nancy, who wrote when Deborah was born, "How disgusting of the poor darling to go and be a girl." Deborah's effervescent memoir chronicles her remarkable life, from an eccentric but happy childhood in the Oxfordshire countryside, to tea with Adolf Hitler and her controversially political sister Unity in 1937, to her marriage to the second son of the Duke of Devonshire.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The last of the Mitford Sisters
- By Irene on 01-11-11
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Upstairs & Downstairs
- My Life In Service as a Lady's Maid
- By: Hilda Newman, Tim Tate
- Narrated by: Helen Lloyd
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 843
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 772
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 765
The year was 1935: the twilight of the English aristocracy. It was a time of wealth and glamour; of lavish balls and evening gowns; of tiaras and a coronation. As personal maid to Lady Coventry, Hilda Newman had a unique insight into the leisured life of one of Britain's most noble families. In her fascinating memoir of life upstairs and down, Hilda takes us back to this period between the wars; a gilded era which would soon be dramatically changed by the Second World War.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful listen!!
- By J.T. on 09-25-19
By: Hilda Newman, and others
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House of Glass
- The Story and Secrets of a Twentieth-Century Jewish Family
- By: Hadley Freeman
- Narrated by: Hadley Freeman
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
Hadley Freeman knew her grandmother, Sara, lived in France just as Hitler started to gain power, but rarely did anyone in her family talk about it. Long after her grandmother’s death, she found a shoebox tucked in the closet containing photographs of her grandmother with a mysterious stranger, a cryptic telegram from the Red Cross, and a drawing signed by Picasso. This discovery sent Freeman on a decade-long quest to uncover the significance of these keepsakes, taking her from Picasso’s archives in Paris to a secret room in a farmhouse in Auvergne to Long Island to Auschwitz.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Performance
- By Derek on 08-30-22
By: Hadley Freeman
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I Want You to Know We're Still Here
- A Post-Holocaust Memoir
- By: Esther Safran Foer
- Narrated by: Ellen Archer, Esther Safran Foer
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 97
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 98
Esther Safran Foer grew up in a home where the past was too terrible to speak of. The child of parents who were each the sole survivors of their respective families, for Esther the Holocaust loomed in the backdrop of daily life, felt but never discussed. The result was a childhood marked by painful silences and continued tragedy. Even as she built a successful career, married, and raised three children, Esther always felt herself searching.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Interesting but…
- By mk on 08-23-21
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Come On Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All
- A New Zealand Story
- By: Christina Thompson
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4 out of 5 stars 51
Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All is the story of the cultural collision between Westerners and the Maoris of New Zealand, told partly as a history of the complex and bloody period of contact between Europeans and the Maoris in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and partly as the story of Christina Thompson's marriage to a Maori man.
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5 out of 5 stars
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a beautiful story
- By Pumpkin99 on 12-24-22
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George and Marina
- Duke and Duchess of Kent
- By: Christopher Warwick
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 82
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4 out of 5 stars 68
For eight brief years, before he was tragically killed in a mysterious air crash during the Second World War, Prince George, Duke of Kent, son of King George V and Queen Mary, and his beautiful wife, Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, were the British monarchy's - indeed, high society's - most glamorous royal couple; and as golden royal icons, they are still remembered.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Engaging
- By Jean on 06-02-17
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The Housekeeper's Tale
- The Women Who Really Ran the English Country House
- By: Tessa Boase
- Narrated by: Tessa Boase
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 237
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 215
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Story4 out of 5 stars 213
The Housekeeper's Tale reveals the personal sacrifices, bitter disputes and driving ambition that shaped these women's careers. Using secret diaries, unpublished letters, and the neglected service archives of our stately homes, Tessa Boase tells the extraordinary stories of five working women who ran some of Britain's most prominent households.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Utterly intriguing
- By Pamela Jane on 09-14-17
By: Tessa Boase
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The Sisters
- The Saga of the Mitford Family
- By: Mary S. Lovell
- Narrated by: Annie Wauters
- Length: 18 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 216
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 187
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Story4 out of 5 stars 189
This is the story of a close, loving family splintered by the violent ideologies of Europe between the wars. Jessica was a Communist; Debo became the Duchess of Devonshire; Nancy was one of the best-selling novelists of her day; the ethereally beautiful Diana was the most hated woman in England; and Unity Valkyrie, born in Swastika, Alaska, would become obsessed with Adolf Hitler.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great story, terrible reader
- By Victoria on 02-27-14
By: Mary S. Lovell
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The Little Princesses
- The Story of the Queen's Childhood by Her Nanny, Marion Crawford
- By: Marion Crawford, Jennie Bond - foreword
- Narrated by: Sophie Roberts
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story5 out of 5 stars 53
Originally published in 1950, The Little Princesses was the first account of British Royal life inside Buckingham Palace as revealed by Marion Crawford, who served as governess to princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Beginnig of My Interest on the Royal Family
- By A. Bauza Higuera on 12-30-22
By: Marion Crawford, and others
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Labyrinths
- Emma Jung, Her Marriage to Carl, and the Early Years of Psychoanalysis
- By: Catrine Clay
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 39
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4 out of 5 stars 31
Clever and ambitious, Emma Jung yearned to study the natural sciences at the University of Zurich. But the strict rules of proper Swiss society at the beginning of the 20th century dictated that a woman of Emma's stature - one of the richest heiresses in Switzerland - travel to Paris to "finish" her education, to prepare for marriage to a suitable man. Engaged to the son of one of her father's wealthy business colleagues, Emma's conventional and predictable life was upended when she met Carl Jung.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Carl plays center stage
- By Sparrowhawk on 12-23-16
By: Catrine Clay
What listeners say about Kiss Myself Goodbye
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 02-02-21
A great story delivered flawlessly
I think this would have been a great book to read but on audible it was perfect. The story hooked me immediately, his family is not only interesting by themselves but tangentially connects to many people you will have heard of.
Each time you think you have finally figured out what the conclusion will be of his aunt's life you discover the story is bigger and more complex than you could have imagined.
I also can't say enough about the delivery. I suspect the story would come off as somewhat humorous if you read it, but the delivery is so wry, the accent so perfect that I occasionally laughed out loud.
Strong recommendation for this book
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Vlr
- 06-14-21
Superbly written, superbly narrated, deeply touching book!
Not at all my genre, I thought, but give it a go…
How glad I did. Wise words beautifully written, funny, speaking of history, dogged pursuit of that which lies beneath, the messy lives we lead, our sins of commission and omission. Bravo, bravissimo, Mr. Ferdinand Mount!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- SusanAlice
- 02-03-23
Interesting
Listened twice to keep up with so many characters. Fascinating story, Munka was amazing - a woman with her own mind.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Anna M. Sides
- 03-08-21
Time lost
I kept waiting and waiting for something of interest to happen but this story is as dull as dirt!! The only thing worse than the story was the God awful readers accent. More boorishness British.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sandy N.
- 03-03-23
Not a compelling story
Unless you personally know the players, this story is not relevant and only marginally interesting.
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