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  • The Wild Other

  • A Memoir
  • By: Clover Stroud
  • Narrated by: Esther Wane
  • Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (147 ratings)
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The Wild Other cover art

The Wild Other

By: Clover Stroud
Narrated by: Esther Wane
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Summary

Clover Stroud's idyllic childhood in rural England was shattered when a horrific riding accident left her mother permanently brain damaged. Just 16, she embarked on a journey to find the sense of home that had been so savagely broken. Travelling from gypsy camps in Ireland to the rodeos of West Texas and then to Russia's war-torn Caucasus, Clover eventually found her way back to England's lyrical Vale of the White Horse.

The Wild Other is a grippingly honest account of love, loss, family and the healing strength of nature. Powerful and deeply emotional, this is the story of an extraordinary life lived at its fullest.

©2017 Clover Stroud (P)2017 Hodder & Stoughton

What listeners say about The Wild Other

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A wild ride

This is a compelling, at times distressing memoir. The author was just 16 when her mother suffers a devastating riding accident. Although not a single bone is broken she's never able to communicate with her family again and spends the next 22 years mostly in residential care.

It would be enough to dissuade many people from ever getting in the saddle again but instead the teenage Clover leans in to the danger that horses now symbolise. Spells trading gypsy horses in Ireland and as a ranch-hand soon follow as well as a rather peculiar liaison with a circus performer in Chechnya.

Ultimately this is a life-affirming account of a life thoroughly well-lived in spite of or because of the intense trauma and grief of the accident. The book raises difficult questions about whether it is always better that a person escape death, and also the shocking decisions made by our care system.

Stroud doesn't mention that one sister is pottery queen Emma Bridgewater and another is Nell Gifford founder of the circus. Knowing this did make me marvel at the inner drive their mother must have given them before tragedy struck. Beautifully narrated too.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A good listen

I really enjoyed this audiobook , it is well narrated and flows well. The authors life is interesting but often really focuses upon horses which lost my concentration at times. However do not be put off this is a good engaging book.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book, raw with emotion

Well narrated true story which is very readable (listenable!). If you have a love of horses even better as they are threaded through Clovers life.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • D.
  • 23-06-17

Incredibly honest

What made the experience of listening to The Wild Other the most enjoyable?

The honesty with which Stroud tells her true feelings

Who was your favorite character and why?

Clover Stroud as above

What about Esther Wane’s performance did you like?

Clear and unaffected

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Thrill seeker

Any additional comments?

Amazing strength of personality and character to experience just what she has.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautifully read. Beautifully written.

I had hoped that Clover Stroud herself would be reading this audiobook as she was so excellent at reading her book The Red of my Blood. However, Esther did a wonderful job, and I enjoyed it immensely. Clover writes so well, and that’s an understatement.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Achingly beautiful

I did not choose to read this but did so for my book grouo. It was wonderful - Clover Stroud writes so beautifully about motherhood, love and loss.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

As perfect as horses

This capticating book contains so many personal parallels with my own story. This made Clover Stroud's glorious writing, impecably delivered by Esther Wane, all the more heartfelt. I feel a sense of loss already now that it has finished. If you grew up loving horses on the left hand side of the 90s this book will deliver for you.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful, poignant and hopeful

Honest, raw and moving. Highly recommend

The performance was good although I always like it when the author reads their own work. I feel it adds an additional layer of nuance.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant story

Fantastically narrated. Clover transports you to her world with incredible writing. Story of horses love loss growing up.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Raw and tender and full of life

Powerful memoir of grief and growth and travelling on, even while looking back. 80s and 90s rural English middle class bohemian childhood, unravelled by tragedy, and lives remade with consciousness of the profound power of that experience. Clear voice and vivid description, poignant and self examining. Deft narration.

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