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Shona: Every Small Town Has Its Secrets...
- The Shona Jackson Series, Book 1
- Narrated by: Barbara Henslee
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
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Shona: Every Small Town Has Its Secrets...
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Summary
Shona Jackson is a stranger in town. Would YOU let her stay in your home?
Everyone has a secret. Hers could get her killed...
Mississippi, 1956. Shona Jackson knows two things - how to repair car engines and that her dark childhood secret must stay buried. On the run from Louisiana, she finds shelter from an unjust world in the home of a kindly old lady and a job as a mechanic. But a woman working a man’s job can’t avoid notice in a small town. And attention is dangerous, especially when it comes from one woman in particular....
Free-spirited Lucy is new in town too. At 21 years old she is only now starting college. But her heart is just not in it, and when she meets Shona, something inside her begins to stir. The only thing standing in her way is Frank.
Frank’s life is a mess. Three years after the Korean War, his father still writes but hasn’t come home. His bar business is in danger, and he’s desperate for cash. And everyone he knows is stockpiling the sins of his past against him.
When Frank brings a raucous fair to town to stay afloat, Shona fears the added attention will shine a light on her past. If the truth comes out about her, she’ll lose everything - maybe even her life.
Can Shona outrun the perils that threaten her, and finally settle down?
Or will her new, unexpected friendship with Lucy attract a different kind of danger?
Captivating from the first minute, Shona is the first unforgettable novel in a mesmerizing, heart-wrenching historical fiction trilogy. If you like small-town secrets, courageous heroines with turbulent pasts, and remarkable women overcoming impossible odds, then you’ll be enthralled by Vicky Jones and Claire Hackney’s beautifully written and tear-jerking tale of desperate lives.
For fans of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café, The Color Purple and The Help - listen to Shona now.
The Complete Trilogy:
Book 1: Shona
Book 2: Meet Me at 10
Book 3: The Beach House
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What listeners say about Shona: Every Small Town Has Its Secrets...
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- John Lars
- 23-05-21
Secrets in the small community
I listened to these stories back-to-back, having received free copies for review of this book series.
What is interesting is that you can see where the story goes, even years later in the final book of this 3-parter series. We set up the main character of Shona but done so in a small town drama manner. Again dealing with very topical topics, in the case of this book Feminism.
This book established the foundation of the larger series and the later books are definitely more gripping than this small-town drama. But overall there are some really good moments I will not spoil and it is worth the journey that the later books will drive into.
Would recommend and you will begin to also listen to the two follow ups.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- FC51
- 29-06-21
Read this if you can - the narrator ruins it.
The narrator, Barbara Henslee, really spoils this series of books, which in themselves are interesting, tell a good story and highlight important issues. However, many of the characters speak with Southern US accents, which Ms Henslee tries to copy but fails very badly. Some of the voices she gives the characters are really dreadful, cringe worthy or laughable and every now and then she gets in a muddle, giving the wrong voices to characters.
It is difficult to understand why the producer, author Vicky Jones, did not hire an actress with the ability to speak with a convincing Southern accent to narrate this series of books. Unfortunately Henslee's shortcomings often make it difficult to concentrate on the story, or take it seriously, because the the bizarre voices she uses are such a distraction.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Siobhan D
- 19-09-21
Heart
The narrator Barbara Henslee did a good job.
The insights into social world of 1950s and the small town relationships was so well written. Shona running from her past. 1950 small town prejudices , corruption , poverty, race. An amazing book
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