The Throwaway Children

By: Diney Costeloe

Narrated by: Anne Dover

Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

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, the throwaway children.

©2016 Diney Costeloe (P)2016 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Depressing book

I usually love historical fiction, but this book was so grim. I agree with other reviews that it kept your attention because you wanted to know what would happen next, unfortunately all the events that happen are awful. Just when you think things can't get any worse for the main characters, another horrific event takes place. I know that this may reflect on what life was like for some children, but the end of the story just seemed to happen really quickly without many resolutions. It's like the author got tired of writing and decided to just finish the book.
Spoiler Alert: topics in this book include abandonment, domestic violence, child abuse, molestation, child endangerment, murder, gang rape, and suicide. I may have missed a few- there were so many.

Long, But So Worth The Journey!

Really loved this one! At times, it was difficult to hear, due to the subject matter, such as physical and sexual abuse, but the story drew me in and wouldn't let go. The seventeen plus hours spent listening were hours well occupied. The story is without a doubt, a real tear jerker, and I made sure to have tissues handy while absorbing each and every word. Ann Dover was an excellent choice for narrating the audiobook. She managed to bring all of the characters to life, and it was very clear which person was speaking, based on the change in her voice and pronunciation of words. Although the novel is a solid read for sure, Ms. Dover's performance puts reading the text as second choice. I will now look for other books by the author, and will definitely download audiobooks by the same narrator as well. Don't miss purchasing this! It's sad and powerful, but beautifully written and grabs at the heart.👍🏼

Well written but SO SAD

The narrator was amazing! The book is well written and the story is engaging. You just can't imagine how much goes wrong! 14 hours of tragedy gets to you even if it's based on true events.

Depression Era Story

So much poverty created hard times for everyone. the desperate decision many parents faced , to give up their children, is beyond our comprehension. The narrator did an awesome job of creating the personalities of all characters in the story. it was a very enlightening and interesting read.

Wow! Touches all emotions!

This is my first book in this type of genre. I didn’t know what to expect. I usually listen/read biographies, nonfiction,Christian studies-the Bible, real life stories, fantasies like Game of Thrones, so I had no idea what to expect and I tell you, I cried & I laughed and I cried some more! I could not put this book down, it took me a day and a half in between work, friends, phone calls, chores...and I’ve never done that before with any Book since I was 20 and those were real life stories of girls who went through a lot of traumas, kind of like these kids. This is an amazing author, just an amazing author, how did she keep all these characters straight and how did she come up with all these storylines and characters- kind of like George RR Martin with all his characters and storylines and eventually they all end up coming together in some way just like Diney did, I do wish I would have found out about what happened to the girl who helped with the burning down of the orphanage in England though because she did find out that they held back her father from her. Anyways bravo bravo! I can’t wait for the next one to read/listen. I recommended this already to a few friends and I do hope they give it a try. It’s not their genre either. We very rarely read fiction because it’s always the same murder mystery, or spy novel, or stupid romance with way to much sex and most of them all cuss non stop. GoT had its share but there was a big story going all over the place. So this story felt like a real life Story just with a lot of drama and conversation, I felt like I was above in the heavens watching their lives unfold before me as if it was real. I got so mad at times I wanted to tell her “what are you doing “? ( I don’t want to mention who because I don’t want to spoil anything-lol) thank you.

Emotional story

This book and the performance take you all of your emotions. It really makes you think. So sad that some children were/are treated so poorly and what a difference 1 person can make in a child's life.

Heartwarming

Loved the story and the narrator was perfect
This is a novel that while sad at times, reveals the courage of young girls and their persistence through adulthood.

AMAZING on every level!

Diney Costeloe keeps every thread of the story contiguous, clear and sometimes keeping you guessing, until she fills in the question in your mind. Her writing is plain and clear, believable and spell binding. Hands down with this book she has become my favorite author, even above Phyllis Whitney.

Anne Dover should be nominated for an academy award for her performance here. She embodies every persona, every emotion, every aspect of this work in a way the reader visualizes the scenes as though watching a motion picture. I love her work also.

Congratulations to both ladies for the very best of performance!

Excellent listen!

I loved this story. The narration was well done and the story was engaging. I found myself listening to it a lot more than I normally listen. And, of course, I was sad when it was over. Great read!

couldn't put it down

this was such a sad story! I learned a lot about how the system worked back then.