Batty tale about Nigerian scam emails

What made the experience of listening to Cupidity the most enjoyable?

I enjoy audiobooks in general, I have read Lottery by the author before. The narrator managed to capture the various voices and accents quite well, especially Tammy's.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Cupidity?

It was all in the build-up really, with a lot of plotlines coming together at the end. I wouldn't want to give it away!

Which character – as performed by Michelle Babb – was your favourite?

Tammy Tyree, the naive yet loveable waitress who responds to the Nigerian email promising her money...

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The relationship between Tammy and her autistic brother Jar is well written, with many scenes showing her motherly love for him, her acceptance.

Any additional comments?

This caught my eye as I was unexpectedly delighted with Lottery when I discovered that by accident a few years ago, and I was more than happy to try a new Patricia Wood. Glancing at the blurb, the theme of underdogs encountering potential good fortune was a formula I was quite glad to try on audiobook.

Narrator-wise, the audiobook was fine, a range of voices for the different characters, with the accents setting the scene well. Tammy Tyree is a young waitress, living with her ne'er-do-well, scheme-happy Uncle and autistic younger brother Jar (who speaks a language only Tammy can translate - for us as well as the neighbourhood). She's been saddled with responsibility beyond her years, but maintains an upbeat attitude most of the time about her debts, bills and future, though it does look grim.

Her silver lining one day appears - in the form of an email from a man in Africa, promising her a share of a Tyree inheritance from a dead relative, if only she can send funds to release it first... Finally, Tammy has got some good luck! And maybe the small decaying town she lives in can share in it too.

Hilarious plot, the jaw-droppingly eye-wateringly naivety, the shovelling deeper into the mire, Tammy is both our guide and a woman we want to scream at and take in hand. You KNOW it can't end well - can it?

It all goes a bit madcap (and would all her colleagues and acquaintances REALLY believe it too?!), and insane, with other relations wanting a piece of the action as Tammy's secret potential fortune becomes common knowledge.

Thoroughly enjoyed this, despite the glaring insanity of the whole plot. Tammy and Jar make a very sweet sibling pair, his condition quite well portrayed. Tammy herself manages to be both loveable and infuriating. I would have loved more Uncle E and his made-up vocabulary.

Crazy, crazy idea - works brilliantly well as a book (and could be a very good film as well). Has a bit of everything, and you really can't quite see what is going to happen at the end. A perfect summer light read, will keep you guessing, smiling and checking your emails :)

With thanks to the narrator for providing a copy of the audiobook, for review purposes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Narration made this story come to life

Without the wonderful narration of Michelle Babb I may have found this story rather slow. However, the story bloomed to life as it was told so well, and held my interest to the end.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Innocence makes for an interesting story

This is not my normal type of story but I really enjoyed it. I found I was hooked after listening to only a few words. I think it was because I liked the characters and I wanted to find out what was going to happened to them. Especially Jar and his made up words, I loved the way Tammy just told people what they wanted him to have said and he makes a rude noise, very amusing and very realistic. That was also what I liked the people were very real and it made you feel like it could have happened to someone you know (and with all the scams going around it might just have. I just hope if it has it didn't get as far as Tammy's did)). It might not be the type of story I would choose but I will definitely eye an eye out for this author again because her writing was so engaging.
Tammy is struggling to bring up her autistic brother after the death of her parents with the help of her Uncle E. Working four jobs is hard, especially when he keeping getting into trouble for breaking things and her uncle isn't a very good baby sitter or influence on him. So she is over the moon when one day she finds an email informing her a distant relative has died and she has been left an inheritance, all she needs to do is send some money in order to collect. Keeping a secret in a small town is very hard and despite being told to keep it a secret the news travels like wild fire. When emails keep coming in needing more money sent Tammy finds the towns people lining up to give her money in order for her to help them when it arrives. Is Tammy getting herself into something she can't get out of?
The narrator was the main reason I gave this book ago and I am glad I did because it is a feel good type of story about hope and togetherness which comes across really well with Michelle reading it. Oh and I loved the voice and sounds of Jar.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Good listen

loved it was a nice book with a good pace and kept me on my toes

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

I'm gonna be rich!

Tammy Tyree lives in a trailer in the small town of Spring with her 15 years old autistic brother and the uncle who took the in when they were orphaned some years before. It's not easy to be a Tyree: the family has a reputation of being thrives and ne'er-do-wells. But Tammy works really hard to keep everything together. As well as being a waitress at the local café, she keeps hens to sell the eggs, cleans houses, moves trash - in fact anything to keep up with the incoming bills. But she's failing. Then, like a miracle, she receives an official looking email from someone in Africa telling her that she is to inherit five million dollars from a remote missionary family member. Trouble is, she first has to send him five hundred dollars ...

This delightful and silly story is simply delicious. Told in the first person from Tammy's perspective, the reader has full access to her hopes and fears, her optimistic naive belief in herself and her uncle and, above all, her love for her brother, who she alone is able to understand when he speaks and around whom her whole life is focused. The characterisations are well written and then further developed by Michelle Babb's superb narration. Her voicings of each of the townspeople as well as the main protagonists is distinct and individual but it is the ongoing conversations which Tammy has both with herself and others that really make her character come alive. A mention, too, must be made of Ms.Babb's wonderful interpretation of the speech of the autistic teenage brother.
A perfect pairing of the author's vision and the narrator's interpretation.

This is a fun book, easy to read, filled with humour but also looking at the way in which money, or the promise of it, can change people's perceptions. Like an iceberg, there is far more here than is shown. It felt as if the reader was simultaneously travelling internally with Tammy whilst looking down at the townsfolk and happenings of Spring. Sometimes laugh out loud, it is also poignant and, just occasionally, sad.

A lovely book which delivered far more than expected and which will stay with this reader well into the future.
Recommended.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

A Fun and all too common story

This fun book was a joy to read and i completed it inside a day. We've all had the scam Emails purporting to make our fortune but Tammy believes in the message for various reasons and once started she continues to be drawn in deeper and deeper getting into bad debt in the process. Her younger brother Jar is autistic and some of the language he comes out with is hilarious, it's a good job only Tammy understands him! Will all come good in the end? well, I'm not going to spoil the book. Once again Michelle Babb excels in her narration of the excellent book.
This audiobook was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

never let the b's get you down

This book is about things are always brighter and better to come a story of true grit and determination the main character is that little caterpillar that wil in time and know will be a butterfly. but is going to take a lot of work.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Epic Disaster!

This book will take you on one hell of an adventure! It all begins with an elusive email from a doctor in Botswana. If Tammy Tyree follows his instructions, wiring money through to him, she will attain 5 million dollars (a fortune she supposedly inherited).

Awesome, but we've all encountered this sort of 'scam', pop- up email, at some point or another. But for Tammy this is her first, and she's a gullible young thing: she signs herself up. And as you'd expect, money begins to disappear from her account. To the point that, she can't fulfil all the instructions, she can't pay the doctor for his services in getting her fortune to her. This is when it all spirals out of control: Tammy's secret is out, and all of a sudden her whole town wants to help out. They invest in her fortune, and they invest A LOT. But she has the most to lose, as a struggling waitress holding down four jobs and on the constant search for more, she doesn't have a lot as it is. Then, there's her little brother who's already been subjected to a tough life, because of his autism. Just how will she manage wben faced with an empty account, and no fortune to be found? What a mess! How will she break it to her friends or, rather, investors? Is she herself just a scam artist?

This book was indeed hilarious: the absurdity of Tammy's gullibility was astounding. The ending was a shock. In all honesty, whem I heard the storyline I didn't think this would be quite an engaging story- I figured it would be a depressing story with down on their luck characters. This was not the case, at all. Tammy's gullibility and optimism, against pretty much anything (but not everything) she faced was incredible. All in all, it was written well. You can count on laughing at every strange event or occurrence: for the Tyree clan, trouble is an inevitability you just have to deal with. All they really are is misunderstood. Or perhaps, I'm just a little gullible ;)

I loved the story, it was also excellently narrated. This has to be one of Michelle Babb's best works. I've been listening to this audio book for over a week, I'd have finished it sooner had I had the time. But, with most audio books, the narration detracts from your enjoyment. From all of Michelle's work, I can't recall this being the case. Her voice was fitting, and she did the characters justice, considering just how difficult they must have been.

I received this audio book from the narrator, free of charge, for the purpose of writing an honest review.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Brilliant family adventure, happy ending

What a brilliant book loved it from page one, all the time you think it's a scam but a brilliant ending, loving family brilliant narration

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Great Book!

What a great book drew me from the very beginning. The characters were realistic and believable. The story was well written and narrated looking forward to reading more from this author!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!