The Telling

By: Jo Baker

Narrated by: Jilly Bond

Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's Summary

When Rachel sets off, alone, for her mother's isolated country house, she promises herself that the business of packing up and selling will only take a couple of weeks, and then she'll be home again, back to normal. But, from the moment she steps through the front door, Rachel feels that the house contains more than she had expected: along with the memories of her mother, there is something else, a presence - not quite tangible - trying to make itself felt. As Rachel struggles to put her mother's affairs in order, she grows ever more convinced that the house holds a message for her. Can the ghosts of the past be nudging their way into the present, or is Rachel really beginning to lose her mind?

©2008 Jo Baker (P)2015 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Critic Reviews

"A knock-out ghost story." (Daily Telegraph)

Terrible audio version

This story flips back in time in one chapter and then back to present in the next. This would be fine if each new chapter were announced in the audible version. It's impossible to follow especially since the narrator is the same for both. Might be a great book but I couldn't get past the first two hours of the audio version.

Compelling story with a very good narrator

Any additional comments?

Jilly Bond does an excellent job distinguishing the two central characters in this novel through the shift in her accent: British RP for Rachel in the present day, and a Northern accent for Lizzie in the 19th century past. I found the historical narrative trajectory to be more compelling than the present-day story, since Jo Baker is great at writing historical fiction and getting the details right. She does a great job of conveying the ideals of the Chartist movement without being pedantic. Lizzie's story takes time to develop, but it's completely absorbing in the end.