Great tale, dreadful narrator.

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this but no I wouldn't listen to it again. I would read it though. The house itself has a wonderful history and it's fascinating to hear about it, but the narrator seems to be trying to turn it into some kind of drama - swooping and emoting all over the place. She treats it as if it were a work of fiction and it gets very, very annoying very, very quickly. I would far rather that she had simply read the book as a work of non-fiction. The story is dramatic enough without her trying to help.

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6 people found this helpful

A Delightful Romp through Scandal and History

A great listen!!!! If you like your history with more personal insight to its protagonists then this book is for you. An engaging and interesting listen

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5 people found this helpful

Interesting book

I found it an interesting book but was somewhat irritated by the reader and her style and how her voice dropped in certain places.
A book that shows that lives are not necessarily very happy and certainly mothers from Cliveden don’t come out of it very !

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3 people found this helpful

Brilliant book!

This is a very well researched fascinating insight into much of British history, radiating out from one estate, with so many connections to prominent people of the day.

The author clearly explains the context of each era but never makes the information too heavy or 'intellectual'. She reminded me of some history I had forgotten, but better still I learned a good deal that I had never known or understood before.

I always enjoy Carole Boyd's reading as she has a very relaxing pace and a clear understanding of the book and its characters. My one small criticism this time is that she occasionally dropped her volume too low to be comfortably heard, even by someone who's just passed a hearing test!

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and shall listen to it again before too long.

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2 people found this helpful

Cliveden through the centuries

fascinating history of aristocratic lives and personalities - read lots of it more than once picking up various references , getting a closer look at politicians and events,
also liked the tone of voice of narrator

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Enjoyable mix of history and gossip

I enjoyed this account of the lives of the female inhabitants of Clivedon spanning 5 centuries set against the backdrop of English/UK political and social history. Surprisingly the author often writes of the English King/country after the union of the crowns and joining of the Scottish and English parliaments no wonder we Scots fees marginalized! I'm left with the feeling that in many ways little has changed in the UK. An aristocratic/ wealthy elite still pull the strings, get the plum jobs and own much of the land and wealth a lot of which was originally bestowed on their forebears who fought for or bedded a Monarch.
Carole Boyd (the Archers Linda Snell) is an excellent choice as narrator.

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4 people found this helpful

Poor narrator

Loved the book, which was basically 5 mini biographies in one, but really struggled with the narrator. Her waxing and waning intonation meant that the last 3 or 4 words of every second sentence were almost completely inaudible. very frustrating.

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Very interesting

Very interesting for history lovers. Easy listening, very enjoyable. Will listen again in the future.

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Wonderful story

Well read and researched and inspiring to find out more about our stately homes of Britain

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Much More Than A Book About A House

The thing I liked best about this book was the way that you hear all about the historical setting to each part of the 'story'. Each Mistress who lived in Cliveden is set in the context of the history to that era - social, economic and especially political history. It really did bring the story to life - and so of course, an awful lot of the book does not happen at Cliveden and often had nothing to do with the house, which was not what I was expecting but it worked so well.

I was far more gripped by the more recent eras of the house - the last one was really Nancy Astor and this was by far the most interesting to me. I thought I admired her (first female MP etc) but it turns out she was a fascinating but rather nasty piece of work with ingrained antisemitic views, among other unpleasant things!

The narration was excellent. Just familiar enough, as if you are being confided in, not over-acted by the brilliant C Boyd (Linda Snell, The Archers).

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13 people found this helpful