The Lost Garden

By: Mary Stanley

Narrated by: Mary Stanley

Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

The face Esme Waters presents to the world is not the face she sees in the mirror. Even her three daughters don't know the truth behind her careful smile. But a chance meeting with a psychiatrist in Paris opens the first crack in Esme's mind. While her own children are falling in love, learning about loyalty, and rebelling against the rules, Esme discovers that sometimes the walls you build for protection need to come tumbling down.

©2006 Mary Stanley; (P)2007 Oakhill Publishing Ltd

Critic Reviews

"Complex and elegantly written." (Sunday Independent)
"A beautifully crafted story by a very gifted writer." (Sunday World Magazine)

I loved the book

I have not been able to put it down..

A beautiful story written by a very gifted writer.

Esme Waters facinates me.. Her story facinates me.
and IMO Mary Stanley reads the book well..
I usually do not like it when an author reads a book.. Ms Stanley has changed my opinion..

Five starts for me!

Painfully amateurish

Painfully amateurish in both the writing and the reading. With unbelievable paper doll characters in stereotypic settings that can barely stand up.

Edna O'Brien meets Emmerdale Farm

When I started listening to this audiobook I was surprised that the author was reading it - it soon became clear that no self respecting actor would touch it. This book is drab, tedious and badly written. From the overly detailed descriptions of the clothes worn by it's two dimensional heroine to the tired old Irish Catholic theme and the shallow psycho babble - it's dull dull dull. The pseudo intellectualism of the protagonists is laughable and the whole scenario reads more like an exercise in wishful fantasising than a serious attempt to tackle difficult though overused material. The sugary and unskilled voice of the author narrating her poorly constructed sentences make this an infuriating and unpleasant listen. If you are looking for good literature -don't waste your money.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

The Lost Garden

A gripping story I found it a sensitive and moving, tense but also uplifting.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Revisiting horror

After about half an hour of this book, I told myself this is an Aga Saga, and I won't listen any more. But I did and was captured by its complexity and sensitivity. Observations about the power (or not) of the past provoked a sympathy in me. I was annoyed by the author's voice saying 'over and over' when I wanted 'again and again', but the narrative has power, and the people, Jacob especially, are authentic. An owl, spiders, geese, flowers, caf?s and restaurants, real loneliness and real France, not imagined from far . . .
Thank you, Mary Stanley.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

That vioce

I am sure this book is perfectly readable but the reader's vioce irritated me so much I simply couldn't listen to it.

The Lost Garden

A very enjoyable listen.

0 of 5 people found this review helpful