King Solomon's Carpet cover art

King Solomon's Carpet

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King Solomon's Carpet

By: Barbara Vine
Narrated by: Michael Pennington
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About this listen

Eccentric Jarvis lives in a crumbling schoolhouse overlooking the tube line, compiling his obsessive history of the Underground. A group of misfits are also drawn towards his strange house: Alice, who has run away from her husband and baby; Tom, the busker who rescues her; truant Jasper, who finds his terrifying thrills on the tube; and enigmatic Axel, whose deadly secret casts a shadow over all their lives. Damaged, dispossessed, outcasts, they are brought together in violent and unforeseen ways by London's dark and dangerous underground system.

©1991 Kingsmarkham Enterprises Ltd (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Crime Fiction Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Fiction Exciting Crime

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All stars
Most relevant

What made the experience of listening to King Solomon's Carpet the most enjoyable?

I think Michael Pennington did a brilliant job. I would listen to him again.

What did you like best about this story?

I read the book years ago and loved it. The way the characters are drawn is so real and true to life, albeit they are a motley lot and you can't imagine it could actually happen. They are all flawed and you don't really feel much sympathy for any of them, they are not likeable, but somehow that makes the whole thing work. A very different story from your everyday read but very well written and read. Even though I remembered most of the story, I couldn't stop listening and found the audio version gave me more than I got from reading the book the first time, although I will probably read it again in the future and I will certainly listen again.

What does Michael Pennington bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

He brought the characters to life in a way that you don't necessary get from reading the book. He makes them believable.

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

When the young man falls from the tube, the occasions when Alice thinks about her baby, when Jed thinks he will have to have his pet hawk put to sleep and when Cecelia died with her friend by her side.

Any additional comments?

A gripping book whether you read or listen with unsympathetic characters but that works for all that. Quite dark so don't read or listen if you want something uplifting! One of the best books/audios I've ever read/listened to. Brilliant and thoroughly recommended.

So different and absolutely gripping

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The history and running of the London Underground system is like a character in novel as its presence is central to the story and joins the human characters lives together. As usual for this author the humans are odd characters living on the edge of mainstream society engaged in unusual pursuits. The narrative switches among the different characters and their interactions and despite not much happening most of the time but manages to keep ones attention.
The narrator is good.

A lot about the London Underground!

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Bit of a departure from her normal stories so I didn't enjoy it as much

Okay

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This novel, which I honestly believe that I have read/listened to at least five years is truly excellent. It tells the story and lives of a group of disparate people living in a converted school in West Hampstead.

King Solomon's Carpet

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I loved this story; the intriguing characters, some pleasant and some very unpleasant! It grabbed my interest from the first chapter until the last. I thoroughly recommend it.

Excellent

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