The Strange Journey of Alice Pendelbury

By: Marc Levy, Chris Murray - translator

Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden

Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

From international bestselling author Marc Levy comes a witty and beguiling novel of one woman’s unexpected journey to follow her destiny.

Alice Pendelbury believes everything in her life is pretty much in order - from her good friends to her burgeoning career. But even Alice has to admit it’s been an odd week. Not only has her belligerent neighbor, Mr. Daldry, suddenly become a surprisingly agreeable confidant, but he’s encouraging her to take seriously the fortune-teller who told her that only by traveling to Turkey can Alice meet the most important person in her life.

What’s more, the peculiarly insistent Mr. Daldry has even agreed to finance Alice’s trip - one that against all reason seems to be predestined. It’s on this journey, crazy from the outset and strangely irresistible, that Alice will find out that nothing in her life is real, that her past is not true, and that the six people she’s about to encounter will shape her future in ways she could never have dreamed.

Revised edition: Previously published as L’étrange voyage de Monsieur Daldry, this edition of The Strange Journey of Alice Pendelbury includes editorial revisions.

©2011 Marc Levy. (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Translation © 2019 by Chris Murray.

Good story that is marred by poor narrator

Alice Pendelbury's journey is a bit strange, but I enjoyed being along for the ride. Several interesting characters, and not all of their story lines are neatly tidied up. I could not tell whether that was by intention or the author simply didn't know how to pull them all together at the end. Regardless, it was an enjoyable story.

The narrator, however. Oh, how a narrator can elevate or bomb a story. She does a good job of distinguishing between voices and handling dialogue. But when reading text, things go downhill quickly. Breathy and over-dramatized as though she is reading to a child who needs hints on how to interpret what's happening in the story. This type of narration also leads to changes in volume level. If, like me, you listen while doing other things this means you can go from hearing clearly to having trouble distinguishing words very quickly. And because you don't know how long she is going to whisper, you end up changing volume levels often enough that it becomes tiresome. It's not a fatal flaw in this book, but it did impact my enjoyment of the story.

Be sure to listen to sample

The story is entertaining and I am a Levy fan but I am one third into it and cannot listen to this narrator any longer. She has a lovely voice but narrates using a breathy whisper much of the time. Her style of speaking as though each sentence is a secret being whispered over the fence is just too distracting. So glad I didn't use a credit.

This is an addendum to the paragraph above which I submitted a couple of days ago. I skipped the audio and read the remainder of the book. It was charming and I was very pleased with the ending.

Whispering, Secretive Narration

A first rate story and performance. My only complaint is that the narrator, while quite good, performs the story in a conspiratorial whisper, which I find odd and distracting. The characters are performed with nuance, the accents are believable, and overall it is worth the listen.

Mostly slow

I almost gave up on this one many time. I was really frustrated by how slow and bogged down in detail the story was. It read like one of those stories where the writer wants to impress on you that he knows the setting intimately. “She walked to the end of Hoodles Street and turned right on Bibbety Avenue to get to Whatsit Lane.” The action moved very slowly, until close to the very end. Also, it’s quite predictable. You see it coming from the first meeting with the fortune teller and Alice’s first nightmares. Also, if you’re looking for romance, you’ll have to wait a long time with this one.

The narrator doesn’t help things. Each and every line is delivered with whispery urgency, as though carrying a deep, dramatic secret. It gives the story a heaviness that makes it difficult to sustain sometimes.

Enchanting!

Elizabeth Knowelden's narration is perfection. Marc Levy spun such an intriguing tale with twists and turns. My deepest gratitude to the author, the translator and the narrator. My pleasure is deep and much appreciated. Thank you.

Great Tale, excellent narration

I thoroughly enjoyed this read! The story is unique and vividly told. The details of the scenery and people were so descriptive it was easy to imagine being there. I thought the plot was charming, interesting, and it wove in the perfect amount of history, mystery, romance and wit. I both read and listened to this via Audible and the narration was also phenomenal. Very pleasant to listen to the voice of the performer. Getting this as a free read & listen via Kindle Unlimited made it even sweeter!

Her quiet articulate voice added to the strange story.

I have never heard an English accent sound so sexy. I liked the story was captivated so I followed Alice from England to Turkey from stranger to lover. I recommend this novel and I will remember it always.

It was a sweet book

Being that I’m originally from the 🇬🇧 and my parents were children in WWII..when I started the book I had no idea where it was going. First I love Marc Levy and his other book, so I downloaded it without reading the summary. Sometimes that’s good sometimes it’s not..in this case I really liked “The Strange Journey Of Alice Pendelbury”

I loved the narrator, sometimes she was sing song in her narration, but I put it past and I also read a lot as well.

I don’t want to give anything away because surprises at the end are always the best, especially when you least expect them. Definitely recommended for all...

I absolutely love it!

It was such a wonderful book. I felt every character! Thank you for writing it!

What a journey!

This book kept me interested, entertained and excited as the story evolved! Loved the characters and the unexpected finale.

Total Immersion

I absolutely adored this story and narration. I found the narrator’s voice very restful and calming.

I found myself totally immersed, imagining all the scenes. I was so sad when the story came to the end.

Not the best.

I'm not sure how bad this book might have seemed without the inappropriate reader. The choice of an appropriate reader might have made a large difference, but I fear it would still not have been enough.
The reading is best considered 'high school stuffy'. The books an adult Enid Blyton.

Very entertaining story

Really enjoyed this story. The narrator was very good. I loved the description of Istanbul which I would like to visit.

A journey of many surprises

What a wonderful tale!
I never tired of it. Not even for one second. Beautifully narrated as well.
Being an Aromatherapist and therefore having a huge interest in all things involving odours, especially perfumery, this was a real test for me as Alice is what is known as a "nose" in the perfume industry.
There was a beautiful flow to the story and such interesting characters too. Alice, who had seemed like such an ordinary, pleasant young English woman, discovering, through such an uncommon encounter with the fortune teller that there was far more mystery to her life than she was aware of. The list goes on. Her cranky neighbour, Dawdrie (Ethan) who lusts after her light filled flat with the skylight to assist him in his painting. We discover, that he too, has so much more that is intriguing about him as time goes on. Fascinating.
The descriptions of Istanbul and the odours associated with it, were marvellous.
The descriptions of the meals, their tour guide Kahn, etc, etc. were all so well portrayed as Alice's story became interwoven through it all.
A great read and very believable. Loved it.

Enjoyes the book,

I have listened to this book twice because I forgot after a while what was it about started to listen again and got trapped in the lovely voice of Elizabeth Knowelden and the story although unusual, nevertheless interesting and lovely

Simply divine

I revisited this book when I discovered the audio version and my favourite narrator. This is the story of Alice, her friends and neighbours! Marc Levy writes the most humorous, clever, and intelligent books. I highly recommend this book, join Alice as she adventures to far flung lands in her search for herself. Also I learned a lot about the art of the 'nose'

What a Joy!

This is the second Marc Levy book I have listened to and enjoyed it as much! I will be investigating his further books. They take you on a fabulous journey.