Reviews by Joan

Full of thrills, humour, mystery, and pathos, this is a wonderfully imaginative tale for everyone from 10 - 100. The author is an excellent reader (is there no end to his talents?)and there is appropriate music between chapters. All in all, a delight from start to finish and a perfect Christmas treat.

Elizabeth's review is absolutely spot-on, leaving me with little to say, except - wasn't Philip Franks the hubby of Catherine Zeta-Jones in 'The Darling Buds of May'? He is an excellent reader, and very entertaining as a dotty middle class spinster who almost steals the show!

I persevered for an hour with this, before deciding life is too short. The characters were strangely wooden and charmless and I just didn't care what happened to them. A bit of humour would have helped!

I have never listened to anything quite like this before. It is like a film script for one of those exquisitely slow, thoughtful, art-house films where every little action seems to be full of meaning (or perhaps, not). Slightly creepy and totally mesmerising, this tale sucks you in and holds you in thrall.

Absolutely terrific. The story is complex, but always makes complete sense, and is totally believable. It's a tale of espionage in the Second World War and is both gripping and fascinating as we learn of the life of a young woman spy. Interwoven with that is the story of the same spy a generation later and her relationship with her adult daughter.

This audiobook is wonderfully well read by Rosamund Pike and is hugely enjoyable and satisfying.

What an unusual story - gripping and appalling parts are offset with gentle and delighful memories of childhood. It is touching and sad, but full of hope and the magic of the world and the imagination. Finty Williams is the perfect narrator. This is 2 hours of total enthralment - do listen.

This is a gruesome and ghastly tale of matricide and more, which is also laugh-out-loud funny. Alice Sebold is a writer not afraid to tell it like it is and her characters are brilliantly formed and very human. The Hollywood actress Joan Allen is the perfect narrator for this gripping story. If you are a fan of films like 'Serial Mom' you'll love this, but if you are a sensitive soul (or elderly parent!) perhaps you had better give it a miss.

Nigel Slater is a greedy guts. There can't be any British foods, sweet or savoury; gourmet or junk; trendy or long forgotten, that he hasn't eaten and (mostly) loved. Here he gives little chapters to all, from faggots to Abbey Crunch biscuits, poached salmon to sherbert lemons, and all the varied occasions on which they might be eaten. In his wise, witty and often waspish style, he delivers an amazingly history of British eating habits over the past 50 years or so. It is very entertaining and nostalgic, and you will soon be scouring the supermarket shelves for some long forgotten treat!

This is wonderfully entertaining and a must for everyone who enjoys listening to audiobooks and has wondered how the slick finished article is achieved. It will give you a new appreciation of the talents of all those involved, and it's free! Do listen.

Anita Brookner's characters have the most unbelievably dull and tedious lives, and the heroine of this one is even more boring than usual. It is strange to think that I (and many others no doubt) would willingly waste 8 hours listening to this, but I find it very soothing and relaxing to do so. I seem to slow right down to the turgid pace of this non-life. Very stress-busting.

There is also a satisfying feeling that, however ordinary my own life, it is a great deal more interesting than this!

I did enjoy Joanna David's crisp delivery which was perfectly in keeping with the character.