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At Hawthorn Time

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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents At Hawthorn Time by Melissa Harrison, read by Helen Ayres.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA NOVEL AWARD 2015
LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016

Four-thirty on a May morning: the black fading to blue, dawn gathering somewhere below the treeline in the east. A long, straight road runs between sleeping fields to the little village of Lodeshill, and on it two cars lie wrecked and ravished, violence gathered about them in the silent air. One wheel, upturned, still spins.

Howard and Kitty have recently moved to Lodeshill after a life spent in London; now, their marriage is wordlessly falling apart. Custom car enthusiast Jamie has lived in the village for all of his nineteen years and dreams of leaving it behind, while Jack, a vagrant farm-worker and mystic in flight from a bail hostel, arrives in the village on foot one spring morning, bringing change. All four of them are struggling to find a life in the modern countryside; all are trying to find ways to belong.

Building to an extraordinary climax over the course of one spring month, At Hawthorn Time is both a clear-eyed picture of rural Britain, and a heartbreaking exploration of love, land and loss.

©2015 Melissa Harrison (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Contemporary Fiction Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Village
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This is the second book I have read by this author and once again I am moved and amazed by her deep love and knowledge of the English countryside. But my enjoyment was marred by the strange emphases occasionally placed on words by the reader which changed the meaning of sentences and suggested Helen Ayres did not always fully understand what she was reading. Did no-one listen to this before it was released and identify passages that needed re-recording? This is the only Audible recording where I have found this problem. Helen Ayres voice, in itself, is pleasant enough and a suitable choice for the text, but the recording overall is unprofessional.

Marred by Reading Errors

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Really enjoyed the nostalgic images of the countryside and the way the plot was gradually peeled away. I was intensely irritated by the narrator who mispronounced words and, I felt, didn't get the tone right for the characters' speech.

Great book but let down by narration

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This was sadly spoilt by the poor narration and mispronounced words which was very annoying

Poor narration

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I couldn’t really appreciate the story because the narration is so poor - lines run over, there are strange emphases, wooden dialogue, and mispronounced words. Goshawk and glutinous (pronounced gluttonous) were two of the clangers. It really stopped me from enjoying the story and if I were the author I would be very upset.

Poor narration

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I am enjoying the story, but am returning the audible version & will read on Kindle,because the narration in unbearable, I am very surprised because I listened to ‘All Among the Barley’ a few years ago, same narrator, Helen Ayres & absolutely loved it.

Enjoying Story, cannot cope with narration.

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