family pain

this is a book which is worth keeping on with. the small cast of characters cover two historical periods so there are times when you play catch-up as you listen. in Kingsolver you have a very competent reader, whose voice is a pleasure to hear (& I speak as a Brit!).

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12 people found this helpful

Not quite but nearly….

Slightly disappointed, too many unbelievable plot twists that deter from the plan message which I did like and informed as well as terrified me. This book is set over 2 time periods and the shift skilfully done, it worked in the main but I wanted more somehow from the older period. I love her as a writer and been a follower since Poisonwood, but this one lacked something. Still a great companion as I do day!

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Unsheltered

Really loved this book. Would definitely recommend. Will certainly seem out more books written by Barbara Kingsolver.

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Incredible Writing

Amazing book. Certainly makes one think of our worlds future. Barbara is an amazing narrator.

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11 people found this helpful

wonderful reading of a wonderful book!

Double time fascinating story read by the author kept me awake night after night. The contemporary story so resonant & recognisable, the early utopian settlement turned dystopian beautifully, intriguingly interwoven...

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3 people found this helpful

The modern dilemma in a nutshell

Storytelling you cannot leave. Philosophy of the modern world and its “ flat earth society blinkers” wrapped in the fear of evolution and continued unstoppable consumerism.
Those who chip away at the blindfolds.

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Lost in time

This is my third novel from this author. She is now my absolute favourite- once I start listening I find it very difficult to stop. This novel is particularly well constructed, informative and absorbing. It’s one I shall return to.

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An Intelligent, sensitive story

Connections of characters across time entwined in a beautifully crafted story without sentimentality leaves one really thinking about both the bigger world, as well as small personal issues of our day. I loved this book and am keen to read more by the author.

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Slightly disappointed by my favourite author

I’ve loved Bárbara Kingsolvers other books but I struggled with this one. The present day part of the story just about held my interest but the historical part did not. I wasn’t keen on the way it was read although I have liked her reading of previous books. Perhaps I should have read the book in print.

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1 person found this helpful

Great, writing far, far too long

I had been expecting much of Barbara Kingsolver, and initially I was enthralled by her writing. But I soon started to tire of the endless botanical, references and other details that slowed the story down far too much. I think it could easily have been edited down by about six hours! I actually ended up listening to it at a slightly faster speed, as it was driving me mad! I can see what she was trying to do, and the points she was trying to make, but it was just all too much.
When right at the end, the incredibly valuable artefact (I won’t go into detail) was discovered, it was quite incomprehensible for Willa to hand this over to a local museum when we had spent the whole book enduring her family’s slide into poverty! As a character, I also found Willa pretty damned irritating. Not my favourite book.

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1 person found this helpful