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The Old Joke

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The Old Joke

By: Reina James
Narrated by: Penelope Keith
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About this listen

Mim Lyons is a retired film actress, occasionally still recognised from her last great starring role in the late 1960s, but she's now more than content to stay away from the limelight.

When her agent calls out of the blue with a job offer, her husband begins to have his own dreams and schemes about the possibility of a comeback, in a part that unsettles Mim's perception of how her husband sees her and of who she really is.

As Mim struggles to preserve the quiet surface of her existence, it becomes impossible to ignore the turmoil in the lives of those closest to her.

©2009 Reina James (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Family Life Genre Fiction Marriage
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If you could sum up The Old Joke in three words, what would they be?

Insightful, amusing, touching

What did you like best about this story?

This story didn't offer answers or try to exaggerate it's plot. I could recognise some of those characters and definitely the situations they encountered. I enjoyed it's quirkiness

Which character – as performed by Penelope Keith – was your favourite?

Mims - I liked her because she loved her garden and wouldn't be persuaded back into her old life. I liked her honesty and her puzzlement/resentment over family relationships and above all her love for her husband.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I listened to this over several sittings - I would have loved to listen over longer periods of time, but my life doesn't work like that at present! However I found it was a story I thought about until I listened to the next episode and it was easy to 'pick up the thread'

Any additional comments?

I wasn't sure about Penelope Keith as a narrator, never having listened to her for long periods, but she was really good!

ordinary life really is very interesting

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Not a book I am likely to have bought if I had picked it up in a bookshop - but this Audible edition is brilliant! The writing is wonderful, no wasted words and always evocative. Penelope Keith breathes life and character and emotion into it all. Her performance has helped me to appreciate the talent of the author in creating this book. I

An interesting book...

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