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The Women of Lilac Street
- Narrated by: Annie Aldington
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Summary
Lilac Street was a crowded, sooty-faced, workaday place, the houses full and the streets teeming with children. One thing it was, without a doubt, was full of life.
Birmingham, almost a decade after the end of the Great War, and the women of Lilac Street have had more than their fair share of troubles.... Rose Southgate is trapped, bringing up her daughter in a loveless marriage. Shy and isolated, she tries to make the best of her life, until she meets a man who changes everything. Jen Green is desperately struggling to make ends meet, with a sick husband, and five children to support. Aggie, her eldest daughter, is 12 years old and longs for excitement. But she finds that prying into the adult world shows her more than she had bargained for. And Phyllis Taylor is a widow who has managed to put a dark and traumatic past behind her.
The return of Phyllis' daughter Dolly, harbouring a secret of her own, threatens to overturn the life Phyllis has built and reveal everything she has fought to hide for so long. These women, along with their neighbours, find strength in friendship, as they discover that the best way to solve their problems is to face them together.
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What listeners say about The Women of Lilac Street
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Performance
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- christine
- 19-07-14
A good yarn
What did you like most about The Women of Lilac Street?
The characters are well written so you empathise with their situations.
What did you like best about this story?
That it lead you through the story to a proper conclusion with characters that you cared what happened to them. But even the 'bad' character's have redeeming features so that you care what happens to them
Which scene did you most enjoy?
There are too many to choose from. Besides I don't want to spoil the story
Any additional comments?
If you enjoy a gentle people story or are Catherine Cookson fan you will enjoy this book. The story of everyday folk written about an area that the author is familiar with so that the ambiance is spot on. Characters with challenges to overcome set in time with a different set of values. Good listen
2 people found this helpful
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- Jason Moore
- 10-02-19
Absolutely wonderful, one of the best!
I am quite surprised just how much I loved this book. It was warm, happy, sad, shocking, emotional, everything I could ask for, the author made sure you really knew the characters.
Also helped by being read by my most favourite narrator. Top marks.
1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Ms. Indie Cole
- 27-01-17
it's a book better read than listened to.
Doesn't take long to realise chapters are rather short and as such when flicking from family to family you become quite confused quite quickly. it's a book much better read than listened to. Most memorable moment.... the shooting and murdering of blind Arthur.
1 person found this helpful
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- CuckooSuzie
- 13-05-16
Brilliant
Really enjoyed this book. easy to follow each part of the story with out guessing the ending half way thru.
3 people found this helpful
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- Kathcolours33
- 20-08-15
Life was hard...
Good book and the narrator was excellent. It makes you very grateful that things have changed, as life in 1925 for the working class was so hard. An easy book to listen to.
3 people found this helpful
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- laatkins
- 02-07-14
Definitely worth listening to.
Would you listen to The Women of Lilac Street again? Why?
Yes I would as lots of characters and enjoyable story.
What other book might you compare The Women of Lilac Street to, and why?
Probably most Liverpool sagas in the same era.
Did Annie Aldington do a good job differentiating each of the characters? How?
Yes she did, she was very believable with the voices of different characters.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It made me cry. It was a sad cry as you believed the story of the people and wanted it to end up happy.
Any additional comments?
Definitely recommend this book.
the only downside was sometimes you could hear the
Annie swallowing which at first was annoying, but got used to it.
1 person found this helpful
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- julie davison
- 19-04-20
loved it
simply brilliant ,a great read and once again Annie Aldington is superb .I look for the books Annie reads ,love her voice
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- MYNXMAN
- 15-01-20
The women of Lilac Street
A lovely heartwarming book that paints a picture of life in the poverty stricken streets of most of our towns.
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- Rosie
- 30-07-19
Brilliant
fantastic book well read and gripping from start to. finish.
always love a good Annie Murray
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- lorinda
- 03-04-17
good story bit jumpy <br />
good book but bit hard going in parts of it .
easy listan to and nice to feel like u know the family's
lorinda