The Life She Was Given
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
The Life She Was Given
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Lori Gardner
About this listen
From acclaimed author Ellen Marie Wiseman comes a vivid, daring novel about the devastating power of family secrets - beginning in the poignant, lurid world of a Depression-era traveling circus and coming full circle in the transformative 1950s.
On a summer evening in 1931, Lilly Blackwood glimpses circus lights from the grimy window of her attic bedroom. Lilly isn't allowed to explore the meadows around Blackwood Manor. She's never even ventured beyond her narrow room. Momma insists it's for Lilly's own protection, that people would be afraid if they saw her. But on this unforgettable night, Lilly is taken outside for the first time - and sold to the circus sideshow.
More than two decades later, 19-year-old Julia Blackwood has inherited her parents' estate and horse farm. For Julia, home was an unhappy place full of strict rules and forbidden rooms, and she hopes that returning might erase those painful memories. Instead, she becomes immersed in a mystery involving a hidden attic room and photos of circus scenes featuring a striking young girl.
At first The Barlow Brothers' Circus is just another prison for Lilly. But in this ragtag, sometimes brutal world, Lilly discovers strength, friendship, and a rare affinity for animals. Soon, thanks to elephants Pepper and JoJo and their handler, Cole, Lilly is no longer a sideshow spectacle but the circus' biggest attraction...until tragedy and cruelty collide.
It will fall to Julia to learn the truth about Lilly's fate and her family's shocking betrayal and find a way to make Blackwood Manor into a place of healing at last. Moving between Julia's and Lilly's stories, Ellen Marie Wiseman portrays two extraordinary, very different women in a novel that, while tender and heartbreaking, offers moments of joy and indomitable hope.
©2017 Ellen Marie Wiseman (P)2017 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
What She Left Behind
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,836
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,461
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,457
Ten years ago, Izzy Stone's mother fatally shot her father while he slept. Devastated by her mother's apparent insanity, Izzy, now 17, refuses to visit her in prison. But her new foster parents, employees at the local museum, have enlisted Izzy's help in cataloguing items at a long-shuttered state asylum. There, amid piles of abandoned belongings, Izzy discovers a stack of unopened letters, a decades-old journal, and a window into her own past.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Ug.
- By Marina on 12-30-14
-
The Orphan Collector
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: Rachel Botchan
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,892
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,688
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,686
In the fall of 1918, 13-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia's overcrowded streets and slums, and from the anti-German sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the US Army, hoping to prove his loyalty. But an even more urgent threat has arrived. Spanish influenza is spreading through the city. Soon, dead and dying are everywhere. With no food at home, Pia must venture out in search of supplies, leaving her infant twin brothers alone....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Author is an AMAZING storyteller!
- By Nicole Newman on 08-06-20
-
Coal River
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: C. S. E. Cooney
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 399
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 343
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 342
As a child, Emma Malloy left isolated Coal River, Pennsylvania, vowing never to return. Now, orphaned and penniless at 19, she accepts a train ticket from her aunt and uncle and travels back to the rough-hewn community. Treated like a servant by her relatives, Emma works for free in the company store. There, miners and their impoverished families must pay inflated prices for food, clothing, and tools while those who owe money are turned away to starve.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best book I've listened to all year.
- By Nathan Vidrine on 03-25-16
-
The Lost Girls of Willowbrook
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: Morgan Hallett
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,022
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 950
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 947
Sage Winters always knew her sister was a little different even though they were identical twins. They loved the same things and shared a deep understanding, but Rosemary—awake to every emotion, easily moved to joy or tears—seemed to need more protection from the world. Six years after Rosemary's death from pneumonia, Sage, now sixteen, still misses her deeply. Their mother perished in a car crash, and Sage's stepfather, Alan, resents being burdened by a responsibility he never wanted.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Repetitive
- By Damaris Ward on 09-03-23
-
The Second Life of Mirielle West
- By: Amanda Skenandore
- Narrated by: Nicole Poole
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,963
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,777
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,769
Los Angeles, 1920s: Socialite Mirielle West's days are crowded with shopping, luncheons, and prepping for the myriad glittering parties she attends with her actor husband, Charlie. She's been too busy to even notice the small patch of pale skin on the back of her hand. Other than an occasional overindulgence in gin and champagne, which helps to numb the pain of recent tragedy, Mirielle is the picture of health. But her doctor insists on more tests, and Mirielle reluctantly agrees. The diagnosis - leprosy - is devastating and unthinkable.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Unique historical fiction not often told
- By TCS on 04-21-22
-
Mad Honey
- A Novel
- By: Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan
- Narrated by: Carrie Coon, Key Taw, Jodi Picoult, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 15,448
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 13,960
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 13,916
Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising their beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined that she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in and taking over her father’s beekeeping business. Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good writing but...
- By Suzanna on 10-08-22
By: Jodi Picoult, and others
-
What She Left Behind
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,836
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,461
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,457
Ten years ago, Izzy Stone's mother fatally shot her father while he slept. Devastated by her mother's apparent insanity, Izzy, now 17, refuses to visit her in prison. But her new foster parents, employees at the local museum, have enlisted Izzy's help in cataloguing items at a long-shuttered state asylum. There, amid piles of abandoned belongings, Izzy discovers a stack of unopened letters, a decades-old journal, and a window into her own past.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Ug.
- By Marina on 12-30-14
-
The Orphan Collector
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: Rachel Botchan
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,892
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,688
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,686
In the fall of 1918, 13-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia's overcrowded streets and slums, and from the anti-German sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the US Army, hoping to prove his loyalty. But an even more urgent threat has arrived. Spanish influenza is spreading through the city. Soon, dead and dying are everywhere. With no food at home, Pia must venture out in search of supplies, leaving her infant twin brothers alone....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Author is an AMAZING storyteller!
- By Nicole Newman on 08-06-20
-
Coal River
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: C. S. E. Cooney
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 399
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 343
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 342
As a child, Emma Malloy left isolated Coal River, Pennsylvania, vowing never to return. Now, orphaned and penniless at 19, she accepts a train ticket from her aunt and uncle and travels back to the rough-hewn community. Treated like a servant by her relatives, Emma works for free in the company store. There, miners and their impoverished families must pay inflated prices for food, clothing, and tools while those who owe money are turned away to starve.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best book I've listened to all year.
- By Nathan Vidrine on 03-25-16
-
The Lost Girls of Willowbrook
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: Morgan Hallett
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,022
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 950
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 947
Sage Winters always knew her sister was a little different even though they were identical twins. They loved the same things and shared a deep understanding, but Rosemary—awake to every emotion, easily moved to joy or tears—seemed to need more protection from the world. Six years after Rosemary's death from pneumonia, Sage, now sixteen, still misses her deeply. Their mother perished in a car crash, and Sage's stepfather, Alan, resents being burdened by a responsibility he never wanted.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Repetitive
- By Damaris Ward on 09-03-23
-
The Second Life of Mirielle West
- By: Amanda Skenandore
- Narrated by: Nicole Poole
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,963
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,777
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,769
Los Angeles, 1920s: Socialite Mirielle West's days are crowded with shopping, luncheons, and prepping for the myriad glittering parties she attends with her actor husband, Charlie. She's been too busy to even notice the small patch of pale skin on the back of her hand. Other than an occasional overindulgence in gin and champagne, which helps to numb the pain of recent tragedy, Mirielle is the picture of health. But her doctor insists on more tests, and Mirielle reluctantly agrees. The diagnosis - leprosy - is devastating and unthinkable.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Unique historical fiction not often told
- By TCS on 04-21-22
-
Mad Honey
- A Novel
- By: Jodi Picoult, Jennifer Finney Boylan
- Narrated by: Carrie Coon, Key Taw, Jodi Picoult, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 15,448
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 13,960
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 13,916
Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising their beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined that she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in and taking over her father’s beekeeping business. Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good writing but...
- By Suzanna on 10-08-22
By: Jodi Picoult, and others
-
The Book Woman's Daughter
- A Novel
- By: Kim Michele Richardson
- Narrated by: Katie Schorr
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,511
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,169
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 3,151
In the ruggedness of the beautiful Kentucky mountains, Honey Lovett has always known that the old ways can make a hard life harder. As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good read!
- By Oh Sugar on 09-12-22
-
The Undertaker’s Assistant
- By: Amanda Skenandore
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 403
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 359
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 356
"The dead can't hurt you. Only the living can." Effie Jones, a former slave who escaped to the Union side as a child, knows the truth of her words. Taken in by an army surgeon and his wife during the War, she learned to read and write, to tolerate the sight of blood and broken bodies - and to forget what is too painful to bear. Now a young freedwoman, she has returned south to New Orleans and earns her living as an embalmer, her steady hand and skillful incisions compensating for her white employer's shortcomings.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A riveting story that will keep your interest.
- By Patricia on 08-02-19
-
The Moonshiner’s Daughter
- By: Donna Everhart
- Narrated by: Amy Melissa Bentley
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 495
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 453
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 452
Generations of Sassers have made moonshine in the Brushy Mountains of Wilkes County, North Carolina. Their history is recorded in a leather-bound journal that belongs to Jessie Sasser's daddy, but Jessie wants no part of it. As far as she's concerned, moonshine caused her mother's death a dozen years ago. Her father refuses to speak about her mama, or about the day she died. But Jessie has a gnawing hunger for the truth - one that compels her to seek comfort in food.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Story with potential, fell short.
- By Steven Kibe on 01-15-21
By: Donna Everhart
-
Before We Were Yours
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Wingate
- Narrated by: Emily Rankin, Catherine Taber
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 87,704
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 78,503
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 78,187
Memphis, 1939. Twelve-year-old Rill Foss and her four younger siblings live a magical life aboard their family’s Mississippi River shantyboat. But when their father must rush their mother to the hospital one stormy night, Rill is left in charge - until strangers arrive in force. Wrenched from all that is familiar and thrown into a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage, the Foss children are assured that they will soon be returned to their parents - but they quickly realize the dark truth.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
I was rivetted, finished in three days.
- By Lin Cloward on 06-26-17
By: Lisa Wingate
-
The Saints of Swallow Hill
- By: Donna Everhart
- Narrated by: Amy Melissa Bentley
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 518
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 456
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 451
During the Great Depression, labor camps crop up in remote areas throughout the American South. Destitute workers live under terrible conditions. Trapped in these isolated locations, workers are entirely dependent on the often greedy, abusive camp owners who provide food and housing at grossly inflated prices. But for the most desperate among America's vast unemployed, these camps are often the last and only option.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
great story
- By Chrysta Hiser on 02-27-22
By: Donna Everhart
-
The Nature of Fragile Things
- By: Susan Meissner
- Narrated by: Alana Kerr Collins, Jason Culp
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,873
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,463
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,445
Sophie Whalen is a young Irish immigrant so desperate to get out of a New York tenement that she answers a mail-order bride ad and agrees to marry a man she knows nothing about. San Francisco widower Martin Hocking proves to be as aloof as he is mesmerizingly handsome. Sophie quickly develops deep affection for Kat, Martin's silent five-year-old daughter, but Martin's odd behavior leaves her with the uneasy feeling that something about her newfound situation isn't right.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Nature of Fragile Things is a 5 star listen!
- By Kathy… send to help my husband to sleep!! on 02-04-21
By: Susan Meissner
-
The Throwaway Children
- By: Diney Costeloe
- Narrated by: Anne Dover
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,267
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,959
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,951
Rita and Rosie Stevens are only nine and five years old when their widowed mother marries a violent bully called Jimmy Randall and has a baby boy by him. Under pressure from her new husband, she is persuaded to send the girls to an orphanage, not knowing that the papers she has signed will entitle them to do what they like with the children. And it is not long before the powers that be decide to send a consignment of orphans to their sister institution in Australia. Among them - without their family's consent or knowledge - are Rita and Rosie.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Depressing book
- By Michelle on 01-28-20
By: Diney Costeloe
-
The Nurse’s Secret
- By: Amanda Skenandore
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,036
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 947
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 948
In the slums of 1880s New York, Una Kelly has grown up to be a rough-and-tumble grifter, able to filch a pocketbook in five seconds flat. But when another con-woman pins her for a murder she didn't commit, Una is forced to flee. Running from the police, Una lies her way into an unlikely refuge: the nursing school at Bellevue Hospital.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Predictable
- By Lorraine E. Collins on 07-05-22
-
If the Creek Don't Rise
- By: Leah Weiss
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte, Kate Forbes
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 732
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 653
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 657
In a North Carolina mountain town filled with moonshine and rotten husbands, Sadie Blue is only the latest girl to face a dead-end future at the mercy of a dangerous drunk. She's been married to Roy Tupkin for 15 days, and she knows now that she should have listened to the folks who said he was trouble. But when a stranger sweeps in and knocks the world off-kilter for everyone in town, Sadie begins to think there might be more to life than being Roy's wife.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
The story never fully evolved
- By Samantha Russell on 08-14-19
By: Leah Weiss
-
The Nightingale
- By: Kristin Hannah
- Narrated by: Polly Stone
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 105,436
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 95,656
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 95,434
The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France—a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for everyone, a novel for a lifetime.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
HEARTBREAKINGLY POIGNANT AND INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL
- By PatrioticMimi on 02-17-15
By: Kristin Hannah
-
The Echo of Old Books
- A Novel
- By: Barbara Davis
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Steve West, Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,651
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,409
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,409
Rare-book dealer Ashlyn Greer’s affinity for books extends beyond the intoxicating scent of old paper, ink, and leather. She can feel the echoes of the books’ previous owners—an emotional fingerprint only she can read. When Ashlyn discovers a pair of beautifully bound volumes that appear to have never been published, her gift quickly becomes an obsession. Not only is each inscribed with a startling incrimination, but the authors, Hemi and Belle, tell conflicting sides of a tragic romance.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Couldn’t finish it
- By Lady Chaps on 03-31-23
By: Barbara Davis
-
The Last List of Mabel Beaumont
- By: Laura Pearson
- Narrated by: Penelope Freeman
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 126
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 118
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 118
Mabel Beaumont’s husband Arthur loved lists. He’d leave them for her everywhere. ‘Remember: eggs, butter, sugar’. ‘I love you: today, tomorrow, always’. But now Arthur is gone. He died: softly, gently, not making a fuss. But he’s still left her a list. This one has just one item on it though: ‘Find D’. Mabel feels sure she knows what it means. She must track down her best friend Dot, who she hasn’t seen since the fateful day she left more than sixty years ago.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
cozy till the lesbian girl showed up
- By Gary on 01-11-24
By: Laura Pearson
Related to this topic
-
Bleeding Violet
- By: Dia Reeves
- Narrated by: Suzy Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 51
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna's tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas, in search of a new home. But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. She discovers secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she's far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen, and no one is safe.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Didn't like it. Sorry, not sorry
- By Cii'Em on 02-15-16
By: Dia Reeves
-
Southern Gods
- By: John Hornor Jacobs
- Narrated by: Eric G Dove
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 183
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 168
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 169
Recent World War II veteran Bull Ingram is working as muscle when a Memphis DJ hires him to find Ramblin' John Hastur. The mysterious blues man's dark, driving music - broadcast at ever-shifting frequencies by a phantom radio statio - is said to make living men insane and dead men rise. Disturbed and enraged by the bootleg recording the DJ plays for him, Ingram follows Hastur's trail into the strange, uncivilized backwoods of Arkansas, where he hears rumors the musician has sold his soul to the Devil.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Big, Bold and Bright
- By John on 08-23-11
-
The Sweet Spot
- Sweet on a Cowboy, Book 1
- By: Laura Drake
- Narrated by: Susan Bennett
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 120
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 110
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 110
Charla Rae Denny was the perfect wife with a perfect life, content to keep the home fires burning while her husband, JB, competed as a champion bull rider. Then their son died in a tragic accident-and everything fell apart. Divorced and saddled with a hill of bills and a failing ranch, Charla must now cowboy up to put her life back together. James "JB" Denny doesn't stay where he isn't welcome. So when Charla shut him out of her grieving heart-and their home-a year ago, he took comfort where he could find it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
good book
- By Rhonda K Everhart on 02-18-19
By: Laura Drake
-
The Hollow Ground
- By: Natalie S. Harnett
- Narrated by: Luci Christian
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 534
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 469
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 472
The underground mine fires ravaging Pennsylvania coal country have forced 11-year-old Brigid Howley and her family to seek refuge with her estranged grandparents, the formidable Gram and the black lung-stricken Gramp. Tragedy is no stranger to the Howleys, a proud Irish-American clan who takes strange pleasure in the "curse" laid upon them generations earlier by a priest who ran afoul of the Molly Maguires. The weight of this legacy rests heavily on a new generation, when Brigid, already struggling to keep her family together, makes a grisly discovery in a long-abandoned bootleg mine shaft.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Disfunction makes a good read
- By NHull on 05-30-14
-
Bone Gap
- By: Laura Ruby
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 338
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 311
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 310
Bone Gap is the story of Roza, a beautiful girl who is taken from a quiet Midwestern town and imprisoned by a mysterious man, and Finn, the only witness, who cannot forgive himself for being unable to identify her kidnapper. As we follow them through their melancholy pasts, their terrifying presents, and their uncertain futures, acclaimed author Laura Ruby weaves a heartbreaking tale of love and loss, magic and mystery, regret and forgiveness.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beauty is In the Eye of the Beholder
- By FanB14 on 11-23-15
By: Laura Ruby
-
Nowhere is a Place
- By: Bernice McFadden
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 334
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 297
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 303
Nothing can mend a broken heart quite like family. Sherry has struggled all her life to understand who she is, where she comes from, and, most important, why her mother slapped her cheek one summer afternoon. The incident has haunted Sherry, and it causes her to dig into her family's past. Like many family histories, it is fractured and stubbornly reluctant to reveal its secrets. But Sherry is determined to know the full story. In a few days' time, her extended family will gather for a reunion, and Sherry sets off across the country with her mother, Dumpling, to join them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Mother and Daughter Tear. It. Up.
- By Susie on 01-15-14
By: Bernice McFadden
-
Bleeding Violet
- By: Dia Reeves
- Narrated by: Suzy Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 51
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna's tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas, in search of a new home. But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. She discovers secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she's far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen, and no one is safe.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Didn't like it. Sorry, not sorry
- By Cii'Em on 02-15-16
By: Dia Reeves
-
Southern Gods
- By: John Hornor Jacobs
- Narrated by: Eric G Dove
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 183
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 168
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 169
Recent World War II veteran Bull Ingram is working as muscle when a Memphis DJ hires him to find Ramblin' John Hastur. The mysterious blues man's dark, driving music - broadcast at ever-shifting frequencies by a phantom radio statio - is said to make living men insane and dead men rise. Disturbed and enraged by the bootleg recording the DJ plays for him, Ingram follows Hastur's trail into the strange, uncivilized backwoods of Arkansas, where he hears rumors the musician has sold his soul to the Devil.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Big, Bold and Bright
- By John on 08-23-11
-
The Sweet Spot
- Sweet on a Cowboy, Book 1
- By: Laura Drake
- Narrated by: Susan Bennett
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 120
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 110
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 110
Charla Rae Denny was the perfect wife with a perfect life, content to keep the home fires burning while her husband, JB, competed as a champion bull rider. Then their son died in a tragic accident-and everything fell apart. Divorced and saddled with a hill of bills and a failing ranch, Charla must now cowboy up to put her life back together. James "JB" Denny doesn't stay where he isn't welcome. So when Charla shut him out of her grieving heart-and their home-a year ago, he took comfort where he could find it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
good book
- By Rhonda K Everhart on 02-18-19
By: Laura Drake
-
The Hollow Ground
- By: Natalie S. Harnett
- Narrated by: Luci Christian
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 534
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 469
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 472
The underground mine fires ravaging Pennsylvania coal country have forced 11-year-old Brigid Howley and her family to seek refuge with her estranged grandparents, the formidable Gram and the black lung-stricken Gramp. Tragedy is no stranger to the Howleys, a proud Irish-American clan who takes strange pleasure in the "curse" laid upon them generations earlier by a priest who ran afoul of the Molly Maguires. The weight of this legacy rests heavily on a new generation, when Brigid, already struggling to keep her family together, makes a grisly discovery in a long-abandoned bootleg mine shaft.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Disfunction makes a good read
- By NHull on 05-30-14
-
Bone Gap
- By: Laura Ruby
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 338
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 311
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 310
Bone Gap is the story of Roza, a beautiful girl who is taken from a quiet Midwestern town and imprisoned by a mysterious man, and Finn, the only witness, who cannot forgive himself for being unable to identify her kidnapper. As we follow them through their melancholy pasts, their terrifying presents, and their uncertain futures, acclaimed author Laura Ruby weaves a heartbreaking tale of love and loss, magic and mystery, regret and forgiveness.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beauty is In the Eye of the Beholder
- By FanB14 on 11-23-15
By: Laura Ruby
-
Nowhere is a Place
- By: Bernice McFadden
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 334
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 297
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 303
Nothing can mend a broken heart quite like family. Sherry has struggled all her life to understand who she is, where she comes from, and, most important, why her mother slapped her cheek one summer afternoon. The incident has haunted Sherry, and it causes her to dig into her family's past. Like many family histories, it is fractured and stubbornly reluctant to reveal its secrets. But Sherry is determined to know the full story. In a few days' time, her extended family will gather for a reunion, and Sherry sets off across the country with her mother, Dumpling, to join them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Mother and Daughter Tear. It. Up.
- By Susie on 01-15-14
By: Bernice McFadden
-
Falling Home
- By: Karen White
- Narrated by: Lyssa Browne
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 694
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 608
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 605
Cassie Madison has it all: A high-powered advertising career; a stylish Manhattan apartment; and a sophisticated, rich, and gorgeous fiancé. It's a far cry from her childhood in Walton, Georgia, home of the annual Kudzu Festival and hot, sticky summers. And then there are all the bad memories, the heartache. When Cassie's estranged sister calls to say that her father is dying, Cassie knows it's time to set aside her feelings and go home and face the sister she hasn't seen in 15 years.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Could not finish
- By G. Moore on 06-08-11
By: Karen White
-
Dark Room Etiquette
- By: Robin Roe
- Narrated by: Andrew J. Andersen
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 91
Sixteen-year-old Sayers Wayte has everything. Popularity, good looks, perfect grades—there's nothing Sayers' family money can't buy. Until he's kidnapped by a man who tells him the privileged life he's been living is based on a lie. Trapped in a windowless room, without knowing why he's been taken or how long the man plans to keep him shut away, Sayers faces a terrifying new reality. To survive, he must forget the world he once knew, and play the part his abductor has created for him.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Absolutely brilliant
- By Shelley on 01-20-23
By: Robin Roe
-
The Little Giant of Aberdeen County
- By: Tiffany Baker
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 507
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 235
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 237
Truly Plaice, an overly large and ungainly girl, is the polar opposite of her sister, Serena Jane, the epitome of feminine perfection. With their parents dead, Truly and Serena Jane are separated: Serena Jane to live a life of privilege as the future May Queen and Truly to live on the outskirts of town, the subject of constant abuse and humiliation.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
meh...
- By Victoria on 02-25-09
By: Tiffany Baker
-
The Good Thief
- By: Hannah Tinti
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 10 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 156
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 94
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 96
Twelve-year-old Ren doesn't know who his parents were. He doesn't know who left him at St. Anthony's orphanage, or how he lost his left hand when still an infant. He is resigned to life without a family to call his own and terrified of the future. But then a young man named Benjamin Nab appears, claiming to be Ren's long-lost brother, and his convincing tale of how Ren lost his hand and his parents is enough to persuade the monks at the orphanage to release the boy. But is Benjamin really who he says he is?
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Close But No Cigar?
- By Andrew Moore on 10-03-09
By: Hannah Tinti
-
The Dressmaker's Dowry
- A Novel
- By: Meredith Jaeger
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 9 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 104
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 93
For listeners of Lucinda Riley, Sarah Jio, or Susan Meissner, this gripping historical debut novel tells the story of two women: one an immigrant seamstress who disappears from San Francisco's gritty streets in 1876 and the other a young woman in the present day who must delve into the secrets of her husband's wealthy family only to discover that she and the missing dressmaker might be connected in unexpected ways.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Even two good narrators can't redeem this
- By RueRue on 03-27-17
By: Meredith Jaeger
-
The Long Road Home
- By: Mary Alice Monroe
- Narrated by: Sandra Burr
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 250
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 205
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 202
Her husband’s suicide left Nora MacKenzie alone, and his shady Wall Street dealings left the Manhattan socialite penniless. By a miracle, she’s held on to their mountainside farm - and she’ll keep holding on, no matter what. The property is Nora’s one chance to wring some dignity out of the sham she’s been living. The Vermont locals think she’s a city girl on a nature kick, but she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty. Nora’s serious about learning the farming business...if she can figure out where to begin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Well worth the listen
- By Kathryn @theBookDate on 02-01-14
-
He's a Bad Boy
- A Selection from Secrets and Lies
- By: Lisa Jackson
- Narrated by: Amy Rubinate
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 103
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 92
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 94
Famous criminal defense attorney Jackson Moore thought he had left his bad-boy past behind him — but his childhood sweetheart had different plans for him. Rachelle Tremont thought she could forget her tragic small-town history by writing about it in her nationally syndicated column. She hadn't counted on Jackson Moore's return, or on the way her blood ran hot at the sight of him. He was determined to discover the town's secrets with Rachelle — and in doing so, uncover some secrets of their own.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Yes, Yes and Yes!
- By Marydior on 06-24-13
By: Lisa Jackson
-
Dark Memories
- By: Jeffrey S. Savage
- Narrated by: Jason Tatom
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 109
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 103
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 102
There are things in the darkness, things much worse than the tracks and abandoned pieces of equipment that trip the children up and gash at their feet and legs, things that brush silently past them, touching their faces before disappearing again....
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
EZRA QUIT GOING TO CHURCH
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 05-11-17
-
A Cup of Dust: A Novel of the Dust Bowl
- Pearl Spence Novels, Book 1
- By: Susie Finkbeiner
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 244
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 226
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 227
Ten-year-old Pearl Spence is a daydreamer, playing make-believe to escape life in Oklahoma's Dust Bowl in 1935. The Spences have their share of misfortune, but as the sheriff's family, they've got more than most in this dry, desolate place. They're who the town turns to when there's a crisis or a need. Pearl is proud of her loving, strong family, though she often wearies of tracking down her mentally impaired older sister or wrestling with her grandmother's unshakable belief in a God. Then a mysterious man bent on revenge tramps into her town of Red River.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Intense
- By VickyJ on 02-07-21
By: Susie Finkbeiner
-
Fruit of the Drunken Tree
- A Novel
- By: Ingrid Rojas Contreras
- Narrated by: Marisol Ramirez, Almarie Guerra, Ingrid Rojas Contreras
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 639
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 570
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 568
Seven-year-old Chula and her older sister, Cassandra, enjoy carefree lives thanks to their gated community in Bogotá, but the threat of kidnappings, car bombs, and assassinations hover just outside the neighborhood walls, where the godlike drug lord Pablo Escobar continues to elude authorities and capture the attention of the nation. When their mother hires Petrona, a live-in-maid from the city's guerrilla-occupied slum, Chula makes it her mission to understand Petrona's mysterious ways.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Maybe better to read this book than listen???
- By Amazon Customer on 12-12-18
-
The Clockwork Three
- By: Matthew Kirby
- Narrated by: Marc Thompson
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
A team of unlikely friends - an orphaned street musician, a hard-working girl from the tenements, and a talented clockmaker's apprentice - discover that together they can overcome even the darkest of fears.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
HASTY CLIMBERS SUFFER SUDDEN FALLS
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 09-17-17
By: Matthew Kirby
-
Stepping on the Cracks
- By: Mary Downing Hahn
- Narrated by: Rachel Dulude
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 258
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 230
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 231
Margaret and her best friend Elizabeth both have brothers fighting the war against Hitler and, like everyone else they know, they are filled with feelings of patriotism. But the girls are also involved in their own personal war at home. Gordy Smith, the worst bully in the sixth grade, teases and torments them, and Margaret is scared to death of him. But when Gordy and his pals Toad and Doug grow bolder than ever, Margaret and Elizabeth come up with a daring plan to get even. That’s when the girls discover a shocking secret about Gordy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
awesome
- By Brad on 10-15-19
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Orphan Collector
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: Rachel Botchan
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,892
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,688
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,686
In the fall of 1918, 13-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia's overcrowded streets and slums, and from the anti-German sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the US Army, hoping to prove his loyalty. But an even more urgent threat has arrived. Spanish influenza is spreading through the city. Soon, dead and dying are everywhere. With no food at home, Pia must venture out in search of supplies, leaving her infant twin brothers alone....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Author is an AMAZING storyteller!
- By Nicole Newman on 08-06-20
-
What She Left Behind
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,836
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,461
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,457
Ten years ago, Izzy Stone's mother fatally shot her father while he slept. Devastated by her mother's apparent insanity, Izzy, now 17, refuses to visit her in prison. But her new foster parents, employees at the local museum, have enlisted Izzy's help in cataloguing items at a long-shuttered state asylum. There, amid piles of abandoned belongings, Izzy discovers a stack of unopened letters, a decades-old journal, and a window into her own past.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Ug.
- By Marina on 12-30-14
-
The Lost Girls of Willowbrook
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: Morgan Hallett
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,022
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 950
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 947
Sage Winters always knew her sister was a little different even though they were identical twins. They loved the same things and shared a deep understanding, but Rosemary—awake to every emotion, easily moved to joy or tears—seemed to need more protection from the world. Six years after Rosemary's death from pneumonia, Sage, now sixteen, still misses her deeply. Their mother perished in a car crash, and Sage's stepfather, Alan, resents being burdened by a responsibility he never wanted.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Repetitive
- By Damaris Ward on 09-03-23
-
The Road to Bittersweet
- By: Donna Everhart
- Narrated by: Amy Melissa Bentley
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 282
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 244
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 244
For 14-year-old Wallis Ann Stamper and her family, life in the Appalachian Mountains is simple and satisfying, though not for the tenderhearted. While her older sister, Laci - a mute, musically gifted savant - is constantly watched over and protected, Wallis Ann is as practical and sturdy as her name. When the Tuckasegee River bursts its banks, forcing them to flee in the middle of the night, those qualities save her life. But though her family is eventually reunited, the tragedy opens Wallis Ann's eyes to a world beyond the creek that's borne their name for generations.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Heartwrenching
- By Kimberly Wasilewski on 12-04-18
By: Donna Everhart
-
The Moonshiner’s Daughter
- By: Donna Everhart
- Narrated by: Amy Melissa Bentley
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 495
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 453
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 452
Generations of Sassers have made moonshine in the Brushy Mountains of Wilkes County, North Carolina. Their history is recorded in a leather-bound journal that belongs to Jessie Sasser's daddy, but Jessie wants no part of it. As far as she's concerned, moonshine caused her mother's death a dozen years ago. Her father refuses to speak about her mama, or about the day she died. But Jessie has a gnawing hunger for the truth - one that compels her to seek comfort in food.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Story with potential, fell short.
- By Steven Kibe on 01-15-21
By: Donna Everhart
-
If the Creek Don't Rise
- By: Leah Weiss
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte, Kate Forbes
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 732
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 653
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 657
In a North Carolina mountain town filled with moonshine and rotten husbands, Sadie Blue is only the latest girl to face a dead-end future at the mercy of a dangerous drunk. She's been married to Roy Tupkin for 15 days, and she knows now that she should have listened to the folks who said he was trouble. But when a stranger sweeps in and knocks the world off-kilter for everyone in town, Sadie begins to think there might be more to life than being Roy's wife.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
The story never fully evolved
- By Samantha Russell on 08-14-19
By: Leah Weiss
-
The Orphan Collector
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: Rachel Botchan
- Length: 15 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,892
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,688
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,686
In the fall of 1918, 13-year-old German immigrant Pia Lange longs to be far from Philadelphia's overcrowded streets and slums, and from the anti-German sentiment that compelled her father to enlist in the US Army, hoping to prove his loyalty. But an even more urgent threat has arrived. Spanish influenza is spreading through the city. Soon, dead and dying are everywhere. With no food at home, Pia must venture out in search of supplies, leaving her infant twin brothers alone....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Author is an AMAZING storyteller!
- By Nicole Newman on 08-06-20
-
What She Left Behind
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,836
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,461
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,457
Ten years ago, Izzy Stone's mother fatally shot her father while he slept. Devastated by her mother's apparent insanity, Izzy, now 17, refuses to visit her in prison. But her new foster parents, employees at the local museum, have enlisted Izzy's help in cataloguing items at a long-shuttered state asylum. There, amid piles of abandoned belongings, Izzy discovers a stack of unopened letters, a decades-old journal, and a window into her own past.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Ug.
- By Marina on 12-30-14
-
The Lost Girls of Willowbrook
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: Morgan Hallett
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,022
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 950
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 947
Sage Winters always knew her sister was a little different even though they were identical twins. They loved the same things and shared a deep understanding, but Rosemary—awake to every emotion, easily moved to joy or tears—seemed to need more protection from the world. Six years after Rosemary's death from pneumonia, Sage, now sixteen, still misses her deeply. Their mother perished in a car crash, and Sage's stepfather, Alan, resents being burdened by a responsibility he never wanted.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Repetitive
- By Damaris Ward on 09-03-23
-
The Road to Bittersweet
- By: Donna Everhart
- Narrated by: Amy Melissa Bentley
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 282
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 244
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 244
For 14-year-old Wallis Ann Stamper and her family, life in the Appalachian Mountains is simple and satisfying, though not for the tenderhearted. While her older sister, Laci - a mute, musically gifted savant - is constantly watched over and protected, Wallis Ann is as practical and sturdy as her name. When the Tuckasegee River bursts its banks, forcing them to flee in the middle of the night, those qualities save her life. But though her family is eventually reunited, the tragedy opens Wallis Ann's eyes to a world beyond the creek that's borne their name for generations.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Heartwrenching
- By Kimberly Wasilewski on 12-04-18
By: Donna Everhart
-
The Moonshiner’s Daughter
- By: Donna Everhart
- Narrated by: Amy Melissa Bentley
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 495
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 453
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 452
Generations of Sassers have made moonshine in the Brushy Mountains of Wilkes County, North Carolina. Their history is recorded in a leather-bound journal that belongs to Jessie Sasser's daddy, but Jessie wants no part of it. As far as she's concerned, moonshine caused her mother's death a dozen years ago. Her father refuses to speak about her mama, or about the day she died. But Jessie has a gnawing hunger for the truth - one that compels her to seek comfort in food.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Story with potential, fell short.
- By Steven Kibe on 01-15-21
By: Donna Everhart
-
If the Creek Don't Rise
- By: Leah Weiss
- Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte, Kate Forbes
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 732
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 653
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 657
In a North Carolina mountain town filled with moonshine and rotten husbands, Sadie Blue is only the latest girl to face a dead-end future at the mercy of a dangerous drunk. She's been married to Roy Tupkin for 15 days, and she knows now that she should have listened to the folks who said he was trouble. But when a stranger sweeps in and knocks the world off-kilter for everyone in town, Sadie begins to think there might be more to life than being Roy's wife.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
The story never fully evolved
- By Samantha Russell on 08-14-19
By: Leah Weiss
-
The Plum Tree
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: Madeleine Lambert
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 528
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars 473
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 473
"Bloom where you're planted," is the advice Christine Bolz receives from her beloved Oma. But 17-year-old domestic Christine knows there is a whole world waiting beyond her small German village. It's a world she's begun to glimpse through music, books - and through Isaac Bauerman, the cultured son of the wealthy Jewish family she works for.
Yet the future she and Isaac dream of sharing faces greater challenges than their difference in stations. In the fall of 1938, Germany is changing rapidly under Hitler's regime....
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A good story, terrible narration!
- By Tyler on 01-30-14
-
Coal River
- By: Ellen Marie Wiseman
- Narrated by: C. S. E. Cooney
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 399
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 343
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 342
As a child, Emma Malloy left isolated Coal River, Pennsylvania, vowing never to return. Now, orphaned and penniless at 19, she accepts a train ticket from her aunt and uncle and travels back to the rough-hewn community. Treated like a servant by her relatives, Emma works for free in the company store. There, miners and their impoverished families must pay inflated prices for food, clothing, and tools while those who owe money are turned away to starve.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best book I've listened to all year.
- By Nathan Vidrine on 03-25-16
-
All the Little Hopes
- By: Leah Weiss
- Narrated by: Kate Forbes
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 212
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 191
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 191
Deep in the tobacco land of North Carolina, nothing's been the same since the boys shipped off to war and worry took their place. Thirteen-year-old Lucy Brown is precocious and itching for adventure. Then Allie Bert Tucker wanders into town, an outcast with a puzzling past, and Lucy figures the two of them can solve any curious crime they find - just like her hero, Nancy Drew. Their chance comes when a man goes missing, a woman stops speaking, and an eccentric gives the girls a mystery to solve that takes them beyond the ordinary.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Leah Weiss is a gifted author
- By MelissaFBrown on 08-03-21
By: Leah Weiss
-
The Nurse’s Secret
- By: Amanda Skenandore
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,036
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 947
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 948
In the slums of 1880s New York, Una Kelly has grown up to be a rough-and-tumble grifter, able to filch a pocketbook in five seconds flat. But when another con-woman pins her for a murder she didn't commit, Una is forced to flee. Running from the police, Una lies her way into an unlikely refuge: the nursing school at Bellevue Hospital.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Predictable
- By Lorraine E. Collins on 07-05-22
-
The Undertaker’s Assistant
- By: Amanda Skenandore
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 403
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 359
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 356
"The dead can't hurt you. Only the living can." Effie Jones, a former slave who escaped to the Union side as a child, knows the truth of her words. Taken in by an army surgeon and his wife during the War, she learned to read and write, to tolerate the sight of blood and broken bodies - and to forget what is too painful to bear. Now a young freedwoman, she has returned south to New Orleans and earns her living as an embalmer, her steady hand and skillful incisions compensating for her white employer's shortcomings.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A riveting story that will keep your interest.
- By Patricia on 08-02-19
-
All the Forgivenesses
- By: Elizabeth Hardinger
- Narrated by: Stephanie Einstein
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 799
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 715
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 713
Growing up on their hardscrabble farm in rural Kentucky, 15-year-old Albertina "Bertie" Winslow has learned a lot from her mama, Polly. She knows how to lance a boil, make a pie crust, butcher a pig, and tend to every chore that needs doing. What she doesn't know, but is forced to reckon with all too soon, is how to look after children as a mother should. When Polly succumbs to a long illness, Bertie takes on responsibility for her four younger siblings and their dissolute, unreliable daddy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful life story
- By gayle boyce on 10-01-19
-
The Second Life of Mirielle West
- By: Amanda Skenandore
- Narrated by: Nicole Poole
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,963
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,777
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,769
Los Angeles, 1920s: Socialite Mirielle West's days are crowded with shopping, luncheons, and prepping for the myriad glittering parties she attends with her actor husband, Charlie. She's been too busy to even notice the small patch of pale skin on the back of her hand. Other than an occasional overindulgence in gin and champagne, which helps to numb the pain of recent tragedy, Mirielle is the picture of health. But her doctor insists on more tests, and Mirielle reluctantly agrees. The diagnosis - leprosy - is devastating and unthinkable.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Unique historical fiction not often told
- By TCS on 04-21-22
-
The Saints of Swallow Hill
- By: Donna Everhart
- Narrated by: Amy Melissa Bentley
- Length: 12 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 518
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 456
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 451
During the Great Depression, labor camps crop up in remote areas throughout the American South. Destitute workers live under terrible conditions. Trapped in these isolated locations, workers are entirely dependent on the often greedy, abusive camp owners who provide food and housing at grossly inflated prices. But for the most desperate among America's vast unemployed, these camps are often the last and only option.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
great story
- By Chrysta Hiser on 02-27-22
By: Donna Everhart
-
This I Know
- By: Eldonna Edwards
- Narrated by: Bailey Carr
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 289
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 259
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 258
Eleven-year-old Grace Carter has a talent for hiding things. She's had plenty of practice, burying thoughts and feelings that might anger her strict evangelical pastor father. The Knowing, as Grace calls it, offers glimpses of people's pasts and futures. It enables her to see into the depth of her mother's sadness, and even allows Grace to talk to Isaac, her twin brother who died at birth. To her wise, loving Aunt Pearl, the Knowing is a family gift; to her daddy, it's close to witchcraft.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautiful Story
- By Shirl on 05-23-18
By: Eldonna Edwards
-
A Fall of Marigolds
- By: Susan Meissner
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,348
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,967
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,957
September 1911. On Ellis Island in New York Harbor, nurse Clara Wood cannot face returning to Manhattan, where the man she loved fell to his death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Then, while caring for a fevered immigrant whose own loss mirrors hers, she becomes intrigued by a name embroidered onto the scarf he carries...and finds herself caught in a dilemma that compels her to confront the truth about the assumptions she's made. Will what she learns devastate her or free her?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautiful!
- By R. Burnham on 03-29-15
By: Susan Meissner
-
The Education of Dixie Dupree
- By: Donna Everhart
- Narrated by: Amy Melissa Bentley
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 233
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 212
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 211
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.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Not Quite Believable!!!
- By Gwendolyn Washington on 11-20-16
By: Donna Everhart
-
Cottonwood Whispers
- By: Jennifer Erin Valent
- Narrated by: Kate Forbes
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 73
Although Jessilyn and Gemma’s friendship has weathered the storms of heartache and prejudice, the turbulent summer of 1936 threatens to shatter the ties that bind. After the hit-and-run death of a little girl, Gemma’s explosive revelation could save an innocent man’s life—but not without jeopardizing the livelihood of Jessilyn’s family.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great voice acting and touching story
- By Michelle on 02-16-25
What listeners say about The Life She Was Given
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- NGray
- 10-20-17
Good book but hard to read at times!
The book is well written but the story is very hard to hear/read. It is a reflection of how cruel humans can be,not only to animals but to humans. It is definitely a page turner and a reminder that we all have a limited amount of time here on earth and that it is very precious.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- BookTramp
- 05-08-23
It was a good storyline
I enjoyed the main characters & the story itself. The animal treatment was pretty hard to take but I know in a period piece it’s not uncommon. The characters in the story were compelling however things did get somewhat predictable as it developed. Overall I enjoyed listening.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 11-14-18
Struggle
This book is a great story, touching, tear-jerking at times and exhilarating at other times. #Thankful #GreatStory #Tagsgiving #Sweepstakes
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Midge
- 05-28-18
great story
So far, have not read one book I did not love by Ellen Wiseman. All her stories are on different matter, but are always excellent. Each one is better than the last.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sloopyjo
- 10-09-17
Trigger Alert
A gripping story, but readers beware, a main character (female) lives a long life riddled with trauma from birth to death - often described in detail.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- KyMomof4
- 09-06-20
I really enjoyed this book, easy read.
Somewhat what I expected of the story but with a nice little surprise twist at the end.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Betsy T
- 10-19-21
Outstanding
Excellent story with surprises, heartaches and betrayals. Don't miss this fantastic read - worth your time.....
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 03-09-23
Very enjoyable
Enjoyable quick read that I couldn’t put down. I will check out more books by this author.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Stephanie 💞 Amazon
- 05-08-23
Can't believe the negative reviews. I loved it!!
Well written, great story, a great read!!! give it a chance. One of my favorites on Audible originals to date.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ella
- 06-04-23
Excellent
I read a lot and it has to be good to keep my attention. Beautiful read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!