-
My Life as a Silent Movie
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Rosemary Benson
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Premium Plus
$14.95 a month
Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Second Violin
- An Inspector Troy Thriller
- By: John Lawton
- Narrated by: Lewis Hancock
- Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lawton's novel opens in 1938 with Europe on the brink of war. In London, Frederick Troy, newly promoted to the prestigious Murder Squad at Scotland Yard, is put in charge of rounding up a list of German and Italian "enemy aliens" that also includes Frederick's brother, Rod, who learns upon receiving an internment letter that despite having grown up in England he is Austrian-born. Hundreds of men are herded by train to a neglected camp on the Isle of Man. And, as the bombs start falling on London, a murdered rabbi is found, then another, and another.
By: John Lawton
-
Devil Water
- By: Anya Seton
- Narrated by: Sylvia Lisle
- Length: 23 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This fiercely beautiful novel tells the true story of Charles Radcliffe, a Catholic nobleman who joined the short-lived Jacobite rebellion of 1715, and of Jenny, his daughter by a secret marriage. Set in the Northumbrian wilds, teeming London, and colonial Virginia - where Jenny eventually settled on the estate of the famous William Byrd of Westover - Jenny's story reveals one young woman's loyalty, passion, and courage as she struggles in a life divided between the Old World and the New.
By: Anya Seton
-
Comes the Dark Stranger
- By: Jack Higgins
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A race against time and his own terrible injuries brings Martin Shane back to the dark Northern city. Seven years after the diabolical, bloody war that almost destroyed his life. An eternity of living without memory. Until a freak accident allows the past to come rushing back. Now Shane needs to know who betrayed him. And look in his eyes as he dies…But as he starts to stalk his old comrades, he finds himself uncovering a nightmare trail of blackmail, extortion – and finally murder. A trail that leads straight back to the beautiful woman who seems destined to capture his heart…
By: Jack Higgins
-
The American Heiress
- By: Dorothy Eden
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is spring of 1915. Spoiled 21-year-old Clemency Jervis and her Fifth Avenue entourage board the Lusitania, bound for England, where Clemency is to marry the dashing Lord Hugo Hazzard of Loburn. A few miles off the Irish coast, the ship is torpedoed by the Germans. One of the few survivors is Clemency's maid, Hetty Brown, a young woman who resembles her mistress. Surprised to be taken for Clemency, Hetty carries out a daring deception that makes her a nobleman's wife and the mistress of a magnificent country estate, despite doubts about her among some in her aristocratic new set.
-
-
poorly written
- By j gott on 05-13-20
By: Dorothy Eden
-
A Lily of the Field
- The Inspector Troy series, Book 7
- By: John Lawton
- Narrated by: Sara Coward, Lewis Hancock
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Lawton's A Lily of the Field is a brilliant historical thriller from a master of the form. The book follows two characters - Meret Voytek, a talented young cellist living in Vienna at the novel's start, and Dr. Karel Szabo, a Hungarian physicist interned in a camp on the Isle of Man. In his seventh Inspector Troy novel, Lawton moves seamlessly from Vienna and Auschwitz to the deserts of New Mexico and the rubble-strewn streets of postwar London, following the fascinating parallels of the physicist Szabo and musician Voytek as fate takes each far from home.
-
-
John Lawton gets it just right.
- By Susan on 04-08-20
By: John Lawton
-
Kiyo's Story
- A Japanese-American Family's Quest for the American Dream: A Memoir
- By: Kiyo Sato
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kiyo's father arrived in California determined to plant his roots in the land of opportunity after leaving Japan. He, his wife, and their nine American-born children labored in the fields together, building a successful farm. Yet at the outbreak of World War II, Kiyo's family was ordered to Poston Internment Camp. This memoir tells the story of the family's struggle to endure in these harsh conditions and to rebuild their lives afterward in the face of lingering prejudice.
-
-
I’m glad this exists.
- By Austin Pierce on 08-19-20
By: Kiyo Sato
-
Second Violin
- An Inspector Troy Thriller
- By: John Lawton
- Narrated by: Lewis Hancock
- Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lawton's novel opens in 1938 with Europe on the brink of war. In London, Frederick Troy, newly promoted to the prestigious Murder Squad at Scotland Yard, is put in charge of rounding up a list of German and Italian "enemy aliens" that also includes Frederick's brother, Rod, who learns upon receiving an internment letter that despite having grown up in England he is Austrian-born. Hundreds of men are herded by train to a neglected camp on the Isle of Man. And, as the bombs start falling on London, a murdered rabbi is found, then another, and another.
By: John Lawton
-
Devil Water
- By: Anya Seton
- Narrated by: Sylvia Lisle
- Length: 23 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This fiercely beautiful novel tells the true story of Charles Radcliffe, a Catholic nobleman who joined the short-lived Jacobite rebellion of 1715, and of Jenny, his daughter by a secret marriage. Set in the Northumbrian wilds, teeming London, and colonial Virginia - where Jenny eventually settled on the estate of the famous William Byrd of Westover - Jenny's story reveals one young woman's loyalty, passion, and courage as she struggles in a life divided between the Old World and the New.
By: Anya Seton
-
Comes the Dark Stranger
- By: Jack Higgins
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A race against time and his own terrible injuries brings Martin Shane back to the dark Northern city. Seven years after the diabolical, bloody war that almost destroyed his life. An eternity of living without memory. Until a freak accident allows the past to come rushing back. Now Shane needs to know who betrayed him. And look in his eyes as he dies…But as he starts to stalk his old comrades, he finds himself uncovering a nightmare trail of blackmail, extortion – and finally murder. A trail that leads straight back to the beautiful woman who seems destined to capture his heart…
By: Jack Higgins
-
The American Heiress
- By: Dorothy Eden
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is spring of 1915. Spoiled 21-year-old Clemency Jervis and her Fifth Avenue entourage board the Lusitania, bound for England, where Clemency is to marry the dashing Lord Hugo Hazzard of Loburn. A few miles off the Irish coast, the ship is torpedoed by the Germans. One of the few survivors is Clemency's maid, Hetty Brown, a young woman who resembles her mistress. Surprised to be taken for Clemency, Hetty carries out a daring deception that makes her a nobleman's wife and the mistress of a magnificent country estate, despite doubts about her among some in her aristocratic new set.
-
-
poorly written
- By j gott on 05-13-20
By: Dorothy Eden
-
A Lily of the Field
- The Inspector Troy series, Book 7
- By: John Lawton
- Narrated by: Sara Coward, Lewis Hancock
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Lawton's A Lily of the Field is a brilliant historical thriller from a master of the form. The book follows two characters - Meret Voytek, a talented young cellist living in Vienna at the novel's start, and Dr. Karel Szabo, a Hungarian physicist interned in a camp on the Isle of Man. In his seventh Inspector Troy novel, Lawton moves seamlessly from Vienna and Auschwitz to the deserts of New Mexico and the rubble-strewn streets of postwar London, following the fascinating parallels of the physicist Szabo and musician Voytek as fate takes each far from home.
-
-
John Lawton gets it just right.
- By Susan on 04-08-20
By: John Lawton
-
Kiyo's Story
- A Japanese-American Family's Quest for the American Dream: A Memoir
- By: Kiyo Sato
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Kiyo's father arrived in California determined to plant his roots in the land of opportunity after leaving Japan. He, his wife, and their nine American-born children labored in the fields together, building a successful farm. Yet at the outbreak of World War II, Kiyo's family was ordered to Poston Internment Camp. This memoir tells the story of the family's struggle to endure in these harsh conditions and to rebuild their lives afterward in the face of lingering prejudice.
-
-
I’m glad this exists.
- By Austin Pierce on 08-19-20
By: Kiyo Sato
-
The Education of Dixie Dupree
- By: Donna Everhart
- Narrated by: Amy Melissa Bentley
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1969 Dixie Dupree is 11 years old and already an expert liar. Sometimes the lies are for her mama Evie's sake - to explain away a bruise brought on by her quick-as-lightning temper. And sometimes the lies are to spite Evie, who longs to leave her unhappy marriage in Perry County, Alabama, and return to her beloved New Hampshire. But for Dixie and her brother, Alabama is home, a place of pine-scented breezes and hot, languid afternoons.
-
-
Not Quite Believable!!!
- By Gwendolyn Washington on 11-20-16
By: Donna Everhart
-
In Falling Snow
- A Novel
- By: Mary-Rose MacColl
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Iris Crane's tranquil life is shattered when a letter summons memories from her bittersweet past: her first love, her best friend, and the tragedy that changed everything. Iris, a young Australian nurse, travels to France during World War I to bring home her 15-year-old brother, who ran away to enlist. But in Paris she meets the charismatic Dr. Frances Ivens, who convinces Iris to help establish a field hospital in the old abbey at Royaumont, staffed entirely by women - a decision that will change her life.
-
-
A wonderful Book
- By Jeanette Finan on 07-10-14
-
The Road Home
- By: Jim Harrison
- Narrated by: Christian Baskous, Mark Bramhall, Stacey Glemboski, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Road Home lies in the shadows of Manifest Destiny and Wounded Knee; it is etched into the landscape of an old man’s memory and into the stubborn dreams of a young man’s heart. In one of Jim Harrison’s greatest works, five members of the Northridge family narrate the tangled epic of their history on the expanses of the Nebraska plains. They strive to understand their fates, to reconcile with demons of the past, to live in accordance with the land, and to die with grace.
By: Jim Harrison
-
Sleep till Noon
- A Novel
- By: Max Schulman
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore
- Length: 4 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sensitive boy growing up in a bad neighborhood, Harry Riddle doesn’t fit in with the kids who hold up gas stations, steal purses, and drop safes on policemen. He prefers to contemplate the American dream and his father’s advice for achieving it: “Get rich, boy. Then sleep till noon and screw ’em all.” But when Harry gets his first job as a cafeteria busboy, a customer warns him that money leads to corruption. The idea disturbs him so much that he accidentally sticks his hand into a meat grinder.
By: Max Schulman
-
The Last Letter from Juliet
- By: Melanie Hudson
- Narrated by: Stephanie Beattie
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A daring WWII pilot who grew up among the clouds, Juliet Caron’s life was one of courage, adventure - and a love torn apart by war. Every nook of her Cornish cottage is alive with memories just waiting to be discovered. Katherine Henderson has escaped to Cornwall for Christmas, but she soon finds there is more to her holiday cottage than meets the eye. And on the eve of Juliet’s 100th birthday, Katherine is enlisted to make an old lady’s final Christmas wish come true....
-
-
heartbreakingly good.
- By shelly arp on 01-10-20
By: Melanie Hudson
-
The Heart Beats in Secret
- By: Katie Munnik
- Narrated by: Denica Fairman
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a house on the east coast, Jane faces motherhood alone. With her husband away at war, there is no one to protect her from small town suspicions and she must learn to keep her secrets to herself. Three decades later her daughter Felicity leaves their life behind for Montreal, glad to flee the unknowns that have plagued her so far. But her personal battles are nothing compared to the unrest here, where a commune in rural Quebec and a child of her own might be her saviours.
By: Katie Munnik
Publisher's Summary
After losing her husband and daughter in an auto accident, 42-year-old Emma flies to Paris, discovers she has a twin brother whose existence she had not known about, and learns that her birth parents weren't the Americans who raised her, but a White Russian film star of the 1920s and a French Stalinist.
A story about identity and the shaping function of art, My Life as a Silent Movie presents a vividly rendered world and poses provocative questions on the relationship of art to life.
Critic Reviews
More from the same
What listeners say about My Life as a Silent Movie
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Gayle
- 05-10-14
Quite Interesting
Where does My Life as a Silent Movie rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Have listened to 100's of audiobooks and would say this ranks somewhere in the middle.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Definitely Emma~so much loss and sadness. She seemed to be just a shell of her former self. I loved the way she described Paris, her interpretations of the silent movies, and was able to recover from the tragedies she had experienced.
What about Rosemary Benson’s performance did you like?
Enjoyed her performance very much~especially as Emma's brother.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No, because I found so much sorrow in the story.
Any additional comments?
The ending was just perfect.Audiobook provided for an honest review.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Diane Belz
- 06-12-15
The Narrator made the book come alive!
Would you listen to My Life as a Silent Movie again? Why?
Yes. Rosemary's narration brought me to Paris and Moscow. Her ability to make each character their own voice and inflection was amazing. This was the first fiction book I've listened to and if I find other book's that Rosemary narrated it will not be my last.
What did you like best about this story?
Family centric theme and our need to belong.
Which scene was your favorite?
The hospital scene.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
I cried several times. I was moved by the raw pain that Emma/Vera was experiencing, I've suffered some of the same loses. The hospital scene and how life and death are so closely connected.
Any additional comments?
Highly recommended this book. The writing came alive with Rosemary's terrific narration. I was cuddled up sick and it was like having a good friend come over and read to me, soothe me, entertain me.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- PerryMartinBookReviews
- 05-23-14
Rosemary Benson is exceptional Narrator
Any additional comments?
My Life As A Silent Movie By Jesse Lee Kercheval and Narrated By Rosemary Benson.
Our story begins with Emma, a Liberal Arts Creative Writing Instructor, who receives a knock on her family's front door. A neighbor who has news that will change Emma's life forever.
The Neighbor had seen Emma's car in the intersection, and was informing her that Emma's husband was driving and their daughter was in the back, and that they had been hit by an SUV and both had died at the scene.
Emma's distress was understandable and so consuming that she couldn't even look at the bodies. Emma shut down and checked out sleeping in a sleeping bag down stairs; not able to sleep in her now empty bed.
This sets the theme and emotional condition of the central character of "My Life As A Silent Movie". Emma's journey is only now beginning as in her total loss she finds out she was adopted and goes to France to find her unknown family. She learns more than she could have ever imagined. The title is explained in such a touching way that you keep feeling for each character as the come into the story.
Never be Afraid... Your life has time to change again and again.
Rosemary Benson is a great narrator, her Accents are great to listen too.
By Perry Martin
PerryMartinBookReviews.wordpress.com
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Maggie May
- 05-18-14
Gorgeous!
It is hard to know where to start with this review. I don't like to give too much away, but then again, with this story and its telling, I could tell you everything and you'd still enjoy this audio. The plot itself is simple and straightforwardly told. Emma's inner dialogue, read flawlessly by Rosemary Benson, flows like a river - sometimes still and sometimes crashing down the falls - and is never repetitive or frustrating.
I tend toward light escapist comedies and yet I loved this book. It drew me right in, much as Jodi Picoult can draw me in.
It is a wonderful work, beautifully read.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Holly
- 05-13-14
Extraordinary!
What made the experience of listening to My Life as a Silent Movie the most enjoyable?
Good storyline. Not one boring moment. Excellent narration.
What did you like best about this story?
Very emotional.
Which character – as performed by Rosemary Benson – was your favorite?
Vera.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Yes, but I don't want to post a spoiler.
Any additional comments?
Rosemary Benson brought the characters to life. One of my favorite audiobooks.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- EJJ
- 04-28-15
A Fairy Tale Without Fairies
Despite some maddeningly slow passages (on a pair of expensive boots; a canal-boat trip; waiting in line), this book is an odd but interesting find. The story is far-fetched with its Deus-ex-Machina wrap-up, but the author seems to have leaned hard on the happy-ending genre intentionally. Nothing here is logical, but that might be a significant part of the story's uneven appeal. And the exasperation I felt at the final chapter vanished when I read the book's last sentence, which sort of explained everything.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Reviewing Shelf
- 11-17-14
A Must Read!
Where does My Life as a Silent Movie rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Up high. Probably in the first 10.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Emma without a doubt. Because she is so calm despite all the lemons that life keeps throwing at her. She just keeps going on and on.
What about Rosemary Benson’s performance did you like?
The seriousness that the book needed was delivered very well by Rosemary Benson. The accents were well done. The opposite gender conversational role play was done to perfection.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Yes, when Emma discovers that she has a twin brother and especially when she meets him.
Any additional comments?
When I saw this audiobook up for review, there was something that appealed to me about this book (if you know me well, you know I don’t read book blurbs, so all my good books are usually either by fluke or recommendations). Well, it certainly could have been that Eiffel Tower on the cover (Side note: I love travelling and I am in love with the idea of Paris, still to visit though).
Okay, let me warn you upfront, this audiobook is almost 10 hours long. I know some are like 40 hours long but since I prefer short audios, this was huge for me. But wait, did I feel all 10 hours of it? Nope, not at all. And why would that be? Perhaps because the book pulled me in from the very first word and did not let go. The narration is good enough. But the major meat is the book! Just wow!
First, the author draws a background and you are interested in what’s going on. Mmm hmm… And then there comes the twists and the turns. And Paris! And the walks around Paris. Surprise upon surprise. I was totally overwhelmed (happily!) by the plot, the unraveling of it, the characters who I found myself rooting for. Giggling at times, wanting him to be @%^&$ alive! Woah, a gamut of emotions, all in one book.
There’s some history in there. Something I don’t really like but when you dish it out in a book, I’m all for it. A woman taking a trip across the world to unravel her past – now there’s some magic in that, right? History, art, travel, mystery, a solid plot, a good narration and there you have it, a brilliant book.
A must listen I would say.
4.5/5 stars – I really, really, really liked it! Highly Recommended.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Teresa
- 06-03-14
A woman's extraordinary journey for her family
A beautifully written story of a woman Emma and her search for her family in Paris after the tragic loss of her husband and only child. Vividly descriptive and at times poetic, her journey to Paris in search of her twin brother leads her to other discoveries that she never knew. Her father had been an early 1920's Russian film star and French Stalinist. After thinking he was dead, they find him alive and more than 100 years old. She was fueled by all the death and chaos in her life and felt that she had lost her light therefore silencing her voice. She felt the need to be luminous; the candle in someone's night. She wondered if she had been the light of the world to her husband. Out of her initial rocky relationship with her twin brother grew a friendship and closeness that both needed. Her brothers illness and her helping him brought this story to a wonderful ending, bringing light in both lives.
Beautifully spoken snippets of French in this story made this a wonderful listen. The richness and versatility of Rosemary Benson's voice was outstanding. I look forward to listening to more books narrated by her. Even though I received this audiobook free of charge in exchange for an unbiased review, I am so glad I listened to this book.