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Alvesdon

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Alvesdon

By: James Holland
Narrated by: Rachel Holland
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The village of Alvesdon has been home to the Castells for generations. But the year is 1939 and the peace and tranquillity there is about to be shattered once more by the stormclouds of war in Europe. As three generations of the family gather, they must all face the prospect of their lives being transformed beyond recognition the moment Britain declares war on Germany.

When the inevitable happens and Britain finds itself at war, the younger members of the family and farm workers are called up to fight and those who remain must battle to keep the home fires burning and the farm afloat. The gentle certainties of rural life are replaced by the urgent clamour of war, in the air, at sea and on land, where events unfold with dizzying rapidity and unexpected consequences.

Stretching from the glorious summer of 1939 to the Battle of Britain the following year, acclaimed historian James Holland paints a compelling and immersive fictional portrait of how the war changed everything. For one family and for a community, their way of life can never really be the same again…

©2024 James Holland (P)2024 Penguin Audio
20th Century Family Life Genre Fiction World War II War Village
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What listeners say about Alvesdon

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Exactly as expected, but that is a good thing…

The occasionally overly prescient characters, narration that fluctuates between being exactly right and sadly less so, fairly predictable story lines, in the end did not get in the way of a thoroughly enjoyable time…

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

WWII family drama

Very well placed in the landscape. Story lines predictable but enjoyable. Sadly the narration was lacking in variation of tone and accents were very poor.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good story, poor narration

I switched to reading from listening half way through as the very dreamy, lilting style of narration just sent me to sleep and felt wrong for the book. Essentially a well-crafted wartime family saga - enjoyable and fairly unchallenging.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Superb

Wonderfully authentic family story set against the onset of WW2. Loved it. Beautifully read by Rachel Holland. PLEASE let there be a sequel!!!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Disappointing

Not up to his usually high standards the story line although interesting is sickly and happy ever after.
We all know it wasn’t like that.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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A gentle tale

I really enjoyed this novel. Very well written and narrated. A gentle tale about a Wiltshire farming family at the beginning of the Second World War. Would definitely recommend this.

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WWII family drama

I really enjoyed listening to this book. Family drama easily weaves through the beginning of WWII. Looking forward to the next book.

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Lovely history based story

Today so many stories have unrealistic extras to make them exciting. This story, and the touching narration, is a perfectly balanced, believable account of a farming family in the early part of the war, cleverly introducing many topics which people faced at that time. Loved it! Thanks.

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

dreadful

picked this up because the pre-publication blurb sounded interesting. sadly the reality was dull, abs full of equally dull characters.i only managed 3 chapters before I gave up.

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1 person found this helpful