Loved all 4 books

Loved this expansive story of life. Really beautiful and loved the narration. It’s slow, and definitely not a thriller, but so interesting to go so much in depth with a story expanding a lifetime.

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Good story

Loved the story but really disliked the narrator. At times it sounded like an automated voice. Awful.

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A grown-up story about women’s lives

Engrossing and thoughtful. A narrative of twists and turns always gripping. I found this the best of the four. Unusually for novels it deals with the difficulties of motherhood, of work, and friendships- through life to old age.

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excellent reading of the shocking conclusion .

The fascinating continuation of this powerful, intriguing story of two women.
the most shocking events bring the book to life, though I found some sections overly and repetitively self reflective.

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Unforgettable

At times it was a little too introspective & for me the plot frequently entered the doldrums . However the pace would hook me up suddenly & I would re-engage wholeheartedly.
Overall a great listen. I read the first 3 books & felt I would only have reached the end via the audible version . Great ending...

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I am so sad it's over.

I loved this series so much. Book one was my least favourite, but the rest were a delight. I'm off now to read everything else she has written.

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good saga

I have liked the saga and I really entered the character of Elena and find that my life has had similar struggles, although my Italy is slightly later than this.
I got a bit tired of this Lila dependency, as if she was the most important person in the world. I knew all along that she had the dolls! She was unfortunate in her life, but so evil too. I would have gotten rid of her far earlier!

Re the audiobook, I really resent the way the narrator tries and yet does not achieve to say some of the basic names, especially Elena. It is my name, I am used to hear it butchered by English speakers. However, if I don't expect Starbucks person to spell/say it properly, I do expect that whoever takes over the narration is at least sligthly educated and can learn how to say it. Elena is a difficult name even for Italian very young children, I know that well, but I espect more from an educated adult.
In this chapter she gets wrong several placenames too, or Prima Linea, or the name Nicola (the male version, not the English female one, please!!!) "rechiette" instead of "orecchiette" I wanted to cry!
The book is great, the translator poor, the narrator poor too. Sad

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shame about American narration

gripping story, emotional. would have been much more enjoyable but for the American narration, and American vocabulary

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Indescribably beautiful

I feel absolutely bereft that I will never read these books again for the first time.

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Absorbing and enthralling - mostly

I am not sure that I would have enjoyed reading these four books as much as I enjoyed listening to them, only because some of the historical and political narrative was quite intense at times. However I thoroughly enjoyed the overall storyline and the mood of the books. The two main protagonists, as well as many of the supporting characters are deeply flawed, but that is what made this story so much more interesting (although at times I could have throttled both Lena and Lila!). I holidayed in that part of Italy recently, which gave the backdrop even greater significance for me.

Go on, read/listen to all four books, you won’t regret it.

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