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Mrs. Ames
- Narrated by: Nathalie Boltt
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
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Mrs. Ames
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Summary
E. F. Benson, best known for his irresistible Mapp and Lucia novels set in the fictional town of Tilling, England, was a prolific and beloved novelist. Though the Mapp and Lucia books remain popular to this day, this kindred book will be back in print for the first time since its initial publication.
The son of E. W. Benson, archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 to 1896, the young E. F. Benson was educated at Marlborough School and at King's College, Cambridge. After graduation he worked in Athens for the British School of Archaeology from 1892 to 1895, and later in Egypt for the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. In 1893 he published Dodo, a novel that attracted wide attention. It was followed by a number of other successful novels, including his hugely popular Mapp and Lucia series. In 1938 he was made an honorary fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge. He died in February 1940.
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What listeners say about Mrs. Ames
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- ciril
- 14-02-24
It was difficult to get interested in the story.
I didn’t always understand the use of the vocabulary and although the story was pleasant, it wasn’t interesting enough for me.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Janet Marshall
- 16-01-24
Pleased to have access to this early novel
The mispronunciation of common words was very annoying. How is it possible to not know how to say Lumbago correctly, for example?
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Pauline22
- 14-08-19
Curious narration
Thoroughly enjoyed this story. The eponymous heroine has slightly more depth, I thought, than Mapp or Lucia, probably because her concerns are the more mundane concerns of an ordinary mortal of a certain age. Only slightly spoiled by some very curious pronunciation of some very common words - claret pronounced “clarr-ay” for example. Also the early chapters give me the impression that the narrator didn’t read the book before she started. It certainly improves though, and was an enjoyable listen.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Marion B.
- 15-06-24
The odd pronunciation
I found it hard to emerse in the story as the enslaught of strangely pronounced words and phrases jarred continuously.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Little Miss Scribble
- 29-01-24
A build up to Lucia
I felt the story was a bit too meandering and not as pithy as the Mapp and Lucia books. The narration was a bit grating after a while although the character performances were good. I had to relisten to certain chapters as I just zoned out a few times. Ok for a freebie.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 06-04-22
Interesting novel irritatingly read
Delightful novel, EF Benson at his most charming.
Somewhat irritatingly read with ordinary vocabulary seemingly deliberately mis-pronounced - WHY?
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 01-02-24
Ok for an “included” book
Well observed comedy of manners. The narration was disappointing - stilted and peppered with distracting and unaccountable mispronunciations.
One short spell of making a mispronunciation list produced
Inclement, lumbago, Mayor!, inexorable, placarded, irrevocable……
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- alfbeetle
- 06-03-24
Death by narrator
Audible, please re-record this using a narrator who doesn't mangle the English language, and who brings the characters to life!
(I recommend Nadia May, narrator of other free E.F. Benson novels)
This is almost unlistenable
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mixdell
- 08-11-23
Completely mangled by narrator
Had to give up on a very fine writer because the narrator couldn’t pronounce the simplest of words correctly. Wrong intonation. Appears to not even understand or have previously read the work at all?? Where do they find such dreadful narrators?!
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Mrs
- 22-04-14
Love EF Benson but not the performance
I had not come across this particular EF Benson previously so was really looking forwards to it as a special treat, it feels slightly as though it was the blue print for Dodo and Mapp & Lucia, but I was happy to accept that and go with it. However I found the narrators telling quite odd, with awful voices for characters, quite often using the same voice for different characters so I did end up getting a bit muddled at times, quite distracting and disappointing.
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13 people found this helpful