Appassionata cover art

Appassionata

Rutshire Chronicles, Book 5

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Appassionata

By: Jilly Cooper
Narrated by: Sherry Baines
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About this listen

Effervescent as champagne, Jilly Cooper's novel brings back old favourites like Rupert and Taggie Campbell-Black.

Abigail Rosen, nicknamed Appassionata, was the sexiest, most flamboyant violinist in classical music, but she was also the loneliest and the most exploited girl in the world.

When a dramatic suicide attempt destroyed her violin career, she set her sights on the male-dominated heights of the conductor's rostrum. Given the chance to take over the Rutminster Symphony Orchestra, Abby is ecstatic, not realising the RSO is composed of the wildest bunch of musicians ever to blow a horn or caress a fiddle.

Abby finds it increasingly difficult to control her undisciplined rabble and pretend she is not madly attracted to the fatally glamorous horn player Viking O'Neill. And then Rannaldini, arch fiend and international maestro, rolls up with Machiavellian plans of his own.

©1996 Jilly Cooper (P)2018 W. F. Howes Ltd
Contemporary Fiction Genre Fiction Fiction

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Critic reviews

"Delicious: light as a souffle and with divine flashes of wit. I could not put the...thing down." (Sunday Express)

"Appassionata - the divine Jilly Cooper's latest and greatest novel." (The Sunday Times)

"Triumphant...a boisterous tale of sex and Chopin amongst Rutshire folk." (Tatler)

All stars
Most relevant
A very well researched, narrated brilliantly story which I really enjoyed despite no being that interested in classical music.

The Ypung Muscians

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Not the best Jilly Cooper but easy listening.
Usual childish behaviour with too much money/ not enough money/ I hate you/ I must have you/ I can't bear it/ Don't be fatuous...

Unfortunately most of the characters are so self-absorbed hideous that it's difficult to care what happens to them. There is a feeling of Ms Cooper stopped caring and just wanted the thing to end too.

Totally Fatuous!

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Appalling pronunciation of characters names - better research is needed by the narrator.
As a longtime lover of Jilly cooper - I must have read all her books dozens of times, it really annoying and puts me off continuing to purchase.

Mispronounced names

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I have enjoyed several of the books in this series and wasn't disappointed with this one. Really good characters and some old faces.

Really enjoyed this one

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Just couldn’t get into this, I’ve listened to about a third of it and have given up. Waste of a credit!

Struggled!

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