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Betty

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Betty

By: Tiffany McDaniel
Narrated by: Dale Dickey
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About this listen

'A girl comes of age against the knife.'

So begins the story of Betty Carpenter.

Born in a bathtub in 1954 to a Cherokee father and white mother, Betty is the sixth of eight siblings. The world they inhabit is one of poverty and violence - both from outside the family and also, devastatingly, from within. When her family's darkest secrets are brought to light, Betty has no choice but to reckon with the brutal history hiding in the hills, as well as the heart-wrenching cruelties and incredible characters she encounters in her rural town of Breathed, Ohio.

Despite the hardship she faces, Betty is resilient. Her curiosity about the natural world, her fierce love for her sisters and her father's brilliant stories are kindling for the fire of her own imagination and in the face of all she bears witness to, Betty discovers an escape: she begins to write.

A heartbreaking yet magical story, Betty is a punch-in-the-gut of a novel - full of the crushing cruelty of human nature and the redemptive power of words.

©2020 Tiffany McDaniel (P)2020 Orion Publishing Group Coming of Age Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Magic Magical Realism World Literature Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Tear-jerking Inspiring Thought-Provoking Native American

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Critic reviews

"Not a story you will soon forget." (Karen Joy Fowler, author of Man Booker Prize finalist We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves)
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I honestly didn’t want it to end, I want to know what happened next for Betty.

Dale Dickey brings this story alive with her top class performance.

Powerful

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Wonderfully narrated. Betty is an epic story of female power persevering through poverty, oppression and prejudice. Betty is a brilliant character who experiences terrible things in her young life, but who always has the strength of her Cherokee father and his tales of nature and the cosmos to sustain her. I adored this book, with it poetic depictions and engrossing plot. Betty's family come alive with the skillful narration in soft Southern tones. One of the best audiobooks I have listened to, where the narration adds a whole other magical dimension to this stunning book.

sublime

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A deeply moving story told from the perspective of child who overcomes adversity and experiences a number of traumas. As she grows and evolves so does her relationship with her siblings and the world around her. The relationship that she enjoyed with her father moved me to tears, it was really precious and reminded me if the short time I had on earth with my grand father. The characters are all complex and beautifully flawed but others have no redeemable features whatsoever. Dale Dicky was wonderful throughout and was the perfect person to narrate this story. Hands down the best audiobook I’ve listened to this year.

Heartbreakingly beautiful

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there are no words for the brilliance of this book. genuinely, no words. please listen to this if you can. the narrator is absolutely phenomenal.

wow

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Found the story fascinating and compelling but also incredibly harrowing and upsetting at times. The narrator is absolutely brilliant and made a great story sublime!

Fantastic narration, harrowing story at times

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