“Anne Flosnik does an excellent job with a story that shifts time periods and is told in a range of voices…Once begun, it’s hard to turn this book off. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.” AudioFile
Description
Iris Lockhart is busy tending to the everyday business of her vintage clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfriend’s attempts at commitment when she receives a stunning phone call. Her great-aunt Esme, whom she never even knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital—where she has been locked away for over sixty years.Iris’ grandmother, Kitty, always claimed to be an only child. But Esme’s papers prove she is Kitty’s sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esme’s face.
Esme has been labeled harmless, sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world. But Esme is still a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, and one who is sure to bring life-altering secrets with her when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit?
Weaving Esme’s tragic story together with Iris’ modern dilemmas, O’Farrell’s gothic, intricate, cross-generational tale of family secrets, lost lives, and the complex longings of women will haunt listeners long past its final page.
Praise
“Anne Flosnik does an excellent job with a story that shifts time periods and is told in a range of voices…Once begun, it’s hard to turn this book off. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.” AudioFile
“O’Farrell is a very visual writer, creating dead-on images…This talent serves her well at the novel’s startling and darkly rewarding finale.” New York Times
“The novel is brilliant in every way…Maggie O’Farrell has written a taut, fragile mystery of relationships and deception.” Literary Review
“Radiates the kind of energy that marks a classic…Think Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, Charlotte Gilman’s ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ or Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea, stories that illuminate the suffering quietly endured by women in polite society…It’s a breathtaking, heart-breaking creation…[a] fierce, engrossing novel.” Washington Post Book World
“Thoughtful, warm, elegantly written and totally shocking…a fantastic read, a real page-turner.” Daily Express
Details
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Release Day | Dec 31, 2005 |
| Release Date | January 1, 2006 |
| Release Date Machine | 1136073600 |
| Imprint | Blackstone Publishing |
| Provider | Blackstone Publishing |
| Categories | Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction, Family Life, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Fiction - All, Fiction - Adult |
Author Bio
Maggie O’Farrell is the author of several novels, including her debut novel, After You’d Gone, which won a Betty Trask Award; The Distance between US, winner of a Somerset Maugham Award; and The Hand That First Held Mine, winner of the Costa Novel Award. She has worked as the deputy literary editor of the London Independent on Sunday.
Narrator Bio
Anne Flosnik, a seasoned audiobook narrator, has over four hundred titles to her credit and several awards and distinctions, including AudioFile Earphones Awards, a USA Today Recommended Listening selection, an AudioFile “Best Narration of the Year” selection in 2009, and the American Library Association’s Special Services to Children Award. She has also been a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. She is an award-winning British actress with lead credits on stage, on television, and in commercials and voice-overs.
Overview
Iris Lockhart is busy tending to the everyday business of her vintage clothing shop and sidestepping her married boyfriend’s attempts at commitment when she receives a stunning phone call. Her great-aunt Esme, whom she never even knew existed, is being released from Cauldstone Hospital—where she has been locked away for over sixty years.Iris’ grandmother, Kitty, always claimed to be an only child. But Esme’s papers prove she is Kitty’s sister, and Iris can see the shadow of her dead father in Esme’s face.
Esme has been labeled harmless, sane enough to coexist with the rest of the world. But Esme is still a stranger, a family member never mentioned by the family, and one who is sure to bring life-altering secrets with her when she leaves the ward. If Iris takes her in, what dangerous truths might she inherit?
Weaving Esme’s tragic story together with Iris’ modern dilemmas, O’Farrell’s gothic, intricate, cross-generational tale of family secrets, lost lives, and the complex longings of women will haunt listeners long past its final page.
Reviews
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