When Will There Be Good News?

A Novel

By: Kate Atkinson

Narrated by: Ellen Archer

Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

On a hot summer day, Joanna Mason's family slowly wanders home along a country lane. A moment later, Joanna's life is changed forever.

On a dark night 30 years later, ex-detective Jackson Brodie finds himself on a train that is both crowded and late. Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly hears a shocking sound.

At the end of a long day, 16-year-old Reggie is looking forward to watching a little TV. Then a terrifying noise shatters her peaceful evening. Luckily, Reggie makes it a point to be prepared for an emergency.

These three lives come together in unexpected and deeply thrilling ways in the latest novel from Kate Atkinson, the critically acclaimed author who Harlan Coben calls "an absolute must-read".

©2008 Kate Atkinson (P)2008 Hachette Audio

That voice!

As a Brit, listening to an American attempting a British accent for 11 hours is beyond annoying. Why not ask an actor who can actually speak the required way for the content? Examples: nahvel (novel), hauss (house), ah (air), cah (cow). Sometimes Audible drives me to distraction. It cannot be hard to find the right reader. There are literally 1000's of unemployed actors out there of every variety longing to make a little more income. Do your bloody homework.

Interwoven Stories of Past Lives

I loved this book. First of all, the central characters (Reggie and Joanna) are so well drawn that I feel I know them. The tone, the language, their relationship were all believable and engaging.

In the title, I refer to past lives. I don't mean "as in reincarnation;" I mean as in childhood tragedies and wasted years. An overarching sadness colors all of their lives, but they struggle to create newer, better ones.

The narrator was perfect.

Compelling story but had to stop listening

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I'm returning this book, unfinished, because I cannot listen to the narrator anymore! Her accents are cringe-worthy and just too distracting for me to continue. I'm going to buy the book for my Kindle instead because I've been enjoying the story so far (though am hoping there will be some good news soon as it's getting a bit bleak!).

Would you be willing to try another one of Ellen Archer’s performances?

Unlikely. When I started listening, I found her accents so jarring, inconsistent, and odd, I googled her to see whether other people found her performance as awful as I did. I find it very hard to understand how this performance was approved for sale.

Was When Will There Be Good News? worth the listening time?

Sadly not. I tried as long as I could, hoping I'd just get used to Archer's poor narration, but I couldn't.

Loved it!

I truly did enjoy this one. I liked the first two as well, but this one was by far better.

Worth buying...

Good story. A little too much 'prose' initially and slow to bring characters together but worth the wait

This book made me a Kate Atkinson fan

I tried this audiobook after Parade Magazine rated it as one of their top audiobooks of the year. Two years later, it is still one of my favorite audiobooks and made me a fan of her stories for life.

Loved it

This story started slowly but it was wonderful and wonderfully wise. I will listen to this one again. There is so much junk out there and this is just a great listen.

Not enjoyable to Listen to Stories About Murder

I think Kate Atkinson is a great writer, but this one is not for me. Descriptions of horrible murders. I’ve listened to others, and they were most interesting. However, I did enjoy the narrator’s voice. A sweet voice reading grisly scenes. Bought this book on sale. I couldn’t finish it.

Narrator spoiled the audiobook

Ellen Archer (an American) was completely miscast as the narrator of this novel. I was really looking forward to next part in the Jackson Brodie series, after Steven Crossley so perfectly brought One Good Turn to life. In contrast, Ms Archer’s butchered Scottish and Irish accents (not to mention her interpretation of the Queen’s English) was such a disappointment. I couldn’t even tell some of the characters apart during sections of dialogue because she lacked the range to give the Scottish police officers distinct the voices. Sadly, the dry humor that makes Jackson Brodie so fun was lacking because the narrator’s tone missed the mark. Since I enjoy Kate Atkinson, I decided to stick it out. The narration was more tolerable when sped up to 1.2 speed.

Breathtaking

This writer makes me laugh out loud, so much tragedy and so much human triumph, so poetic so satisfying I believe this is number three starting at number one is probably best with the series but if you like excellent writing you’ll like this