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The Housemaid's Daughter
- Narrated by: Lisa Dillon
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
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The Housemaid's Daughter
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Summary
Cathleen Harrington leaves her home in Ireland in 1919 to travel to South Africa and marry the fiancé she has not seen for five years. Isolated and estranged in a harsh landscape, she finds solace in her diary and the friendship of her housemaid's daughter, Ada. Cathleen recognises in her someone she can love and respond to in a way that she cannot with her own husband and daughter. Under Cathleen's tutelage, Ada grows into an accomplished pianist, and a reader who cannot resist turning the pages of the diary, discovering the secrets Cathleen sought to hide.
When Ada is compromised and finds she is expecting a mixed-race child, she flees her home, determined to spare Cathleen the knowledge of her betrayal, and the disgrace that would descend upon the family. Scorned within her own community, Ada is forced to carve a life for herself, her child, and her music. But Cathleen still believes in Ada, and risks the constraints of apartheid to search for her and persuade her to return with her daughter. Beyond the cruelty, there is love, hope - and redemption.
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What listeners say about The Housemaid's Daughter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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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
- sue
- 09-03-14
I was captured in this world.
A delight of a book, not to tough going but still tackling very difficult issues.
I loved the characters and really warmed to them.
I loved it.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs A Palmer
- 23-02-21
Good story
Really enjoyable, loved Ada. It’s a pity the narrater wasn’tSouth African as she didn’t get the right feel to the narration. Still enjoyed the story
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- pumbaesque
- 07-01-14
Conflicted - lots of good bits but let down
Would you try another book written by Barbara Mutch or narrated by Lisa Dillon?
Maybe - especially Lisa
Would you ever listen to anything by Barbara Mutch again?
Maybe - depends on the topic
What aspect of Lisa Dillon’s performance might you have changed?
Lisa has a beautiful voice and reads incredibly well. Unfortunately she doesn't know how to pronounce some of the words, and that jarred with me. Not her fault. Probably not many people would be bothered but if you know how these words should be pronounced you cringe a lot. Koppie is said with a short o: Ko'ppie, not copey
What character would you cut from The Housemaid's Daughter?
No one - the author is very disciplined with respect to her characters. I do wish she had given them more depth though. Some, like Ada and Cathleen, we get to know well. Others are cardboard like- two dimensional. I would have liked to get into Edward's head a bit. Also - the Auntie is just horrible - no redeeming features. I've not met many people like that. Most people are horrible to their own benefit - they treat people badly to get a benefit for themselves. Being horrible for no good reason isn't realistic.
Any additional comments?
I liked the first half of the book - it was realistic enough and enjoyable and the writing is evocative of a part of the world I know well. Then it went past the realms of realism. Ada was so perfect, so wonderful, so unbelievable. I also felt that the world in this book was rather black and while:Phil was good, Rosie bad, Cathleen good, Edward bad, Auntie bad, Lindiwe good. Unfortunately, this book makes Ada a saint, and her mother too, and in real life I have never met a saint. Everyone has flaws, everyone is human.I'd like to have seen her do something for her own benefit just for once
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1 person found this helpful
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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
- Anonymous User
- 22-10-22
book review and narrator review
such a good book, so emotively read, but local patois horribly mangled - a pity
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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
- Amazon Customer
- 11-10-22
Human relationships
All about the beauty of being human. I should say that the book did manage to make me shed tears. Beautifully written with plenty of truth.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Disapointed
- 07-04-22
Good story,bad pronouncement of South African word
Pity that the reader pronounced South African words and phrases so badly. Made me think of childhood were apartheid influenced the way people were and how some stood against it from all sides of the rainbow
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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
- S A MACKENZIE
- 06-07-19
a south African truth
such an amazing story...very moving but not authentic with an English voice..so many words wrongly pronounced
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Katie
- 17-12-13
A beautiful story
What did you like best about this story?
The story had many positive aspects, so it is hard to choose just 1 which I liked best. It is very well written, inducing a myriad of emotions in the reader/listener - at times heart warming, and at others sad. We follow the life of a black South African maid from before, during, and after the end of apartheid. The tempo is very well managed, given how much ground is covered, and I did not feel any sections to be either rushed or over-long. It also comes across as very real - we hear about the struggles of the black and coloured (mixed race black and white) communities, and the bigoted views of many white people. It is personalised by focussing on the life of one individual, which really draws you into the story. I would definitely recommend this audiobook.
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