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The Photographer's Wife

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The Photographer's Wife

By: Nick Alexander
Narrated by: Annie Aldington, Anna Parker-Naples
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About this listen

Barbara - a child of the Blitz - has more secrets than she cares to admit.

She has protected her children from the harsh realities of life and told them little of the poverty of her childhood, nor of the darker side of her marriage to one of Britain's most famous photographers. With such an incomplete picture, her youngest, Sophie, has struggled to understand who her parents really are, and in turn, Barbara sometimes worries, to build her own identity.

When Sophie decides to organise a vast retrospective exhibition of her adored father's work, old photos are pulled from dusty boxes. But with them tumble stories from the past, stories and secrets that will challenge every aspect of how Sophie sees her parents.

©2015 Nick Alexander (P)2015 Isis Publishing Ltd Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Women's Fiction
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I've enjoyed previous books by Nick Alexander and I mostly enjoyed this but I was left wondering about the abrupt end . There were so many loose ends that I felt there was at least a chapter missing. It seemed unfinished which spoilt it for me.

Loose ends.

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I loved NA’s other books. This is narrated by two different people. The 1940’s narrator is brilliant and brings richness to the book. The present day narrator is utterly dreadful. I don’t know how she managed to get the job. Her American accent is laughable and her attempt at a Liverpudlian accent is half Irish and half can’t be bothered! I can’t listen and am very sad for poor Nick Alexander. A good book really can be ruined by a poor reader! Please vet these narrators more carefully!

Terrible, terrible narration

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Brilliant story written in 2 parts, past and present. It took a few chapters before it got me interested and thanks goodness I gave it another chapter before I was going to give up on it. But I only wished there was another chapter more to tie the whole story together or perhaps a more rounded ending. But still brilliant all the same.

Why on earth did it end like that?!

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Overall enjoyed the story, if not a little predicable in places. A bigger issue is the modern day narrator, than should have just stuck to using one voice.

Mixed feelings about this book

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Sorry, but I saw this highly rated and thought it was worth a punt. The story is straightforward and I am sure that most listeners will guess much of the core plot within the first few chapters. The novel uses the predictable literary device of alternating plot lines and that is its downfall as an audio product. The narrator of the wartime East End plot line is either hamming it, or has been chosen to match someone's prejudiced stereotype. Had she stuck to her natural voice this would have been tolerable, but she tried to adopt different voices for three generations and it quickly grates. The narrator of the 'contemporary' plot line warmed up after the first few chapters, but initially she was reading and, occasionally, misreading the text. She was further undermined by the bizarre nature of the text itself, which shifted from gratuitous pornography in the first few chapters to a more psychologically complex character, and plot, later.

While many Audible offerings enhance the printed word, I am afraid that in this case the opposite was true (though the author is not entirely blameless).

Would I buy another Nick Alexander? No.

For the first time, ever, I have noted the names of the narrators and wouldn't buy anything of theirs either, I am afraid.

Predictable plot; terrible narration

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