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Excellent Women
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble, Gerry Halligan
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
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Excellent Women
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Summary
Mildred Lathbury is one of those 'excellent women' who is often taken for granted. She is a godsend, 'capable of dealing with most of the stock situations of life - birth, marriage, death, the successful jumble sales, the garden fete spoilt by bad weather'. As such, she often gets herself embroiled in other people's lives - especially those of her glamorous new neighbours, the Napiers, whose marriage seems to be on the rocks.
One cannot take sides in these matters, though it is tricky, especially as Mildred, teetering on the edge of spinsterhood, has a soft spot for dashing young Rockingham Napier. This is Barbara Pym's world at its funniest and most touching.
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What listeners say about Excellent Women
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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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- mr
- 13-04-23
Charming account of days gone by
Nothing of any note happens at all and that’s absolutely fine!
Couldn’t help but laugh at some of the outdated concepts and I wondered at times if it’s a parody? Is it?
But yes i so wish today was like these times where everyone had a place/a job to do and was happy with that.
Well worth a read will cheer you up. :)
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Philip
- 12-01-13
Excellent novel- middling reader.
The novel itself is fine- but as an audio-book it doesn't really tick all the boxes.
Firstly it has to be pointed out that it is NOT (as described) narrated by Jonathan Keeble- he reads the introduction by Alexander Maccoll Smith- but from there on Geri Halligan (sp?) takes over.
She reads it much better than I could have done- but I'm afraid she's not really out of the top-drawer of narrators- she falls down badly on the male voices, which tend to be nasal, same-ish and lacking in the necessary charm.
I also felt that a posher, more clipped voice would have suited the middle-class post-war Pym world better- Another narrator (without turning it into a Brief Encounter parody) might have captured the 'feel' of the period better.
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17 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jayne
- 15-03-15
Observational humour at its best
I loved everything about this audio book. I found it extremely witty, clever, relevant and well narrated. A total delight .
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nicola Heather
- 14-07-18
A good social history
Excellent soothing listen about nothing in particular . A more gentle time with the same passion s heartbreaks and minutiae of everyday life. Very well observed central character. A hint perhaps vicar Julian was in the closet?
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cassandra
- 01-08-22
Subtle, wry comedy of manners
Both entertaining and melancholy, with fabulous cast of eccentric characters. Narration perfectly acceptable - female characters perhaps rendered more convincingly than the male.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 26-06-21
Delicious !
This was my first intro to BP and I am now addicted thanks to this wonderful , atmospheric performance. Who knew a world full of vicars, teapots and excellent women could be so intriguing. Thank you!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marianne Caton
- 26-01-21
another world!
I enjoyed this book, though I had to listen on 1.25 speed as I prefer a more clipped tone, which I feel is more in keeping with the strange charm of Barbara Pym's books. They really depict another world! I find them very relaxing to listen to whilst sewing.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gruffalo
- 01-10-23
A Brilliant, Subtle.Book
This is a wonderful novel, clever, subtle, and hunorous. This is a gem of a novel, and the narration is excellent.
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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
- Laurie's lass
- 26-03-21
Enjoyable but ....
This is an enjoyable read with extremely good characterisations but I felt the narration lacked something. It was played straight and so lost the less obvious subtle levels of irony that are intrinsic in the writing. I also thought that a more clipped enunciation would have been more appropriate to the genteel 50s setting as successfully used by Patricia Hodge or Juliet Stevenson.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Red Rosie
- 17-07-21
A period piece
Pym is as an acute, subtle and witty social observer as Jane Austen. Loved it!
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