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Octavia

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Octavia

By: Jilly Cooper
Narrated by: Anna Parker-Naples
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As soon as Octavia caught a glimpse of Jeremy, she knew she just had to have him. It didn't matter that he'd just got engaged to an old school friend of hers, Gussie. An invitation to join Gussie and Jeremy for a cosy weekend on a canal barge came like a gift from the gods. However, the other part of the foursome was tycoon Gareth Llewellyn, and he certainly managed to thwart her plans...©1977 Jilly Cooper (P)2018 W.F. Howes Ltd Women's Fiction Fiction Funny Witty
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I first read Octavia in the early 80s, when it seemed a very racy read. Now it's certainly something of a period piece (and the social mores of the 1970s often strike an unpleasant note) but putting that to once side I still revisit the book every once in a while, usually when I'm ill in bed – it's a true comfort read.

Re. the audio, the narration is execrable. The straight 'reading voice' isn't too bad but there are loads of jarring mispronunciations ('John Don' for John Donne [should be pronounced John Dun] and 'langorius' for langorous were just a couple) and the character voices and dialogue are APPALLING. Octavia's supposedly plummy accent keeps sliding into estuarine English and Gareth's rather womanly sounding 'Welsh' accent was dreadful and stripped the character of any sex appeal. Joan Seaford, the snooty company wife with a voice supposedly honed from shouting at gun dogs and charity committees, was given a Northern accent. She and Ricky should have sounded like Jennifer and Brian Aldridge from the Archers. As a previous reviewer said, Gussie sounded as if she was constantly on the verge of an asthma attack, while sexy Robert Redford lookalike Jeremy sounded like a pompous headmaster. Come one Audible, you must be able to do better than this?

The narration leaves much to be desired

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I loved all these books back in the day and they’re a bit of nostalgic comfort now. Prudence is my favourite followed by Octavia. The narration for Prudence was far from good but hey ho, thought I’d give this a go. Dear god, it is just awful!!! Gareth should’ve sounded like Michael Sheen or Tom Jones - this poor girl just isn’t up to it….

Appalling narration!!!

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deffo a product of its time but such an amazing love story. the twists and turns kept me captivated and the romance between (spoiler!) gareth and octavia was swoonworthy. brilliant narration, parker-naples voice really suited the main character. finished it in under 24 hours, would definitely recommend

amazing

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The story is a typical Jilly Cooper rom- com but this audible title is marred by the narration in which a Welsh alpha male sounds more like Gladys Pugh from Hi de hi. Not at all convincing and deeply irritating.

Poor narration

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As with almost all of the recent Jilly Cooper releases, the narration leaves a lot to be desired. I read this book when I was a teenager, and it's still fun. The Welsh accent was at first annoying, and then amusing :D

hilarious Welsh "accent"

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