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The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

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The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

By: Jennifer Ryan, Mike Grady
Narrated by: Gabrielle Glaister, Imogen Wilde, Laura Kirman, Adjoa Andoh, Tom Clegg
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About this listen

‘The writing glows with emotional intelligence. This atmospheric debut…had me sniffing copiously’ Daily Mail

IN WARTIME, SURVIVAL IS AS MUCH ABOUT FRIENDSHIP AS IT IS ABOUT COURAGE…

Kent, 1940. In the idyllic village of Chilbury change is afoot. Hearts are breaking as sons and husbands leave to fight, and when the Vicar decides to close the choir until the men return, all seems lost.

But coming together in song is just what the women of Chilbury need in these dark hours, and they are ready to sing. With a little fighting spirit and the arrival of a new musical resident, the charismatic Miss Primrose Trent, the choir is reborn.

Some see the choir as a chance to forget their troubles, others the chance to shine. Though for one villager, the choir is the perfect cover to destroy Chilbury’s new-found harmony…

An uplifting and heart-warming novel perfect for fans of Helen Simonson’s The Summer before the War and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

©2017 Jennifer Ryan (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literature & Fiction Romance Small Town & Rural Comedy Heartfelt Tear-jerking War Feel-Good Village

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Critic reviews

‘The writing glows with emotional intelligence. This atmospheric debut, based on the author’s own family history, had me sniffing copiously’ Daily Mail

‘I am completely and utterly in love with this book. What a joy! It may be in my all-time top five – I just adore every single thing about it’ JILL MANSELL

‘Lyrical, poetic, emotional, funny, endearing, surprising – it is a masterpiece’ VERONICA HENRY author of How to Find Love in a Book Shop

‘I adored it, it made me want to sing with joy’ ALEX BROWN, author of The Secret of Orchard Cottage

‘Delightful… it manages to be sad and funny, exciting and heart-warming, all at the same time. Quite an achievement’
BARBARA ERSKINE author of Sleeper’s Castle

‘I adored The Chilbury Ladies' Choir! The pages sing with such wonderful characters, and through them wartime England really comes alive. Warm, witty, touching and uplifting, I will be recommending this to all my friends’ HAZEL GAYNOR author of The Girl from the Savoy
All stars
Most relevant
I loved this book from beginning to end.
I laughed, empathised and cried.
A fabulous story, brought to life by the wonderful readings.
I look forward to re-listening . . . . Maybe, in August ♡

wow!

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Charming story with realistic characters. It makes a change to have different characters read by different readers.

Enjoyable

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This is the best audio book I have ever listened to. I think because it is different voices it gives a real sense of drama. If you like your books like jaunty gentle drama (think Father Brown) then this is for you

Superb!

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If you could sum up The Chilbury Ladies' Choir in three words, what would they be?

uplifting, funny, excellent

What other book might you compare The Chilbury Ladies' Choir to, and why?

can't think of a book but one of the characters is a 'Hyacinth Bucket' type!!

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

The narrators are excellent and really add to the whole experience. We listened to this on a long car journey and it was brilliant. There are lots of different characters, some serious and dealing with difficult issues, and others frivolous and self-centred.

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

There is a point when a character who is a nurse carries out the dying wish of a patient, the scene where she actually does that is very moving.

Any additional comments?

I think some people might see that this is 'funny' and think it is therefore not weighty, or that it is small village life and is therefore just a 'cosy' and not for them - that would be a shame. It is amusing but also intricate with many threads weaving together, widows in the war, pregnant women and no fathers, bombing, class-clashes, homosexuality, coming of age and growing up - all contained within this small community who we first meet at a choir. I tried it due to a recommendation and loved it.

humourous but gripping story

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this is a perfect holiday/cold sunday afternoon read. light and fluffy with a few twists that you dont expect. i really enjoyed as a 'palate cleanser' between more challenging books. if you love a rip roaring tale that will make you smile and give you that warm fuzzy feeling you cant go wrong with this.

a jolly good yarn

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I love this story it’s a perfect distraction from
Daily life. Just finished listening to it for the 3rd time

Great story when daily life stuff gets too much

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I loved this book. It had me laughing, crying and entertained me throughout. It was good to have World War 2 presented from a female perspective and in such an entertaining package. The performance of the readers matched the script, brilliant.

I would highly recommend this book.

Superb

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A wonderfully evocative tale of village life during the outbreak of WW2.. Tears & laughter throughout. A brilliantly woven story of written in letter/diary style, i found myself eagerly pressing the 'play' button to find out what each character was up to next !!! Thank you

Totally Enthralled!!!

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It was a wonderful story made all the better by having different narrators which really brought the characters to life. I was sorry when it finished!

loved it!

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This book made me cry and giggle, and I loved getting to know all the characters, even Edwina... The performances were brilliant.

Wonderful and uplifting

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