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Grandmothers

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Grandmothers

By: Salley Vickers
Narrated by: Barbara Flynn
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About this listen

The new novel from Salley Vickers, best-selling author of The Librarian, available for preorder now.

A wonderful novel about four very different grandmothers - Blanche, who can't seem to stop stealing things from the local pharmacy; Minna, who just wants a quiet life in her shepherd's hut, though the local children have other ideas; Cherry, who's adjusting to life in a care home; and Nan, whose favourite occupation is researching funerals - whose lives and grandchildren become unexpectedly entangled.

©2019 Salley Vickers (P)2019 Penguin Audio Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction

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Critic reviews

"Vickers sees with a clear eye and writes with a light hand. She's a presence worth cherishing in the ranks of modern novelists." (Philip Pullman)

"Vickers has a formidable knack for laying open the human heart." (Sunday Times)
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They stories in the book were very good. Only it jumped across to different grandmothers too much. Sometimes hard to follow

Grandmothers

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In this skilful interweave of narratives Sally Vickers has created a stunningly atmospheric novel.

I heard about this book when the author was interviewed on BBC R4 Women’s Hour. ‘Not just about or for Grandmothers!’

I loved hearing her characters’ inner lives, their interactions, the familial relationships and responsibilities.
Such a clever writer, using settings to which many of her readers would have also used as personal pilgrimages or rights of passage!

Great listening, but now I want to own the book & read her words for myself.

A masterpiece of evocative storytelling

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I really love Sally Vickers’ writing. She draws characters with great delicacy. And this was nicely narrated. But by about half way through, it simply felt a little dull. I realised I didn’t care that much what happened to the three main characters and their grandchildren. A space filler but not one to be remembered long after reading.

Honestly? A wee bit boring

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A beautifully written story I love this author’s writing style
The places visited how become a little personal bucket list now

Lovely writing

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a great experience. the narrator really took you into these ladies lives. sweet story, not life changing but funny, poignant and sad all in 7 hours.

lovely, sharing in these ladies lives briefly

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I did not like some of the language and was shocked by one particular swear word.

the relatable story to my life as a grandmother

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Loved this story. Beautifully written with interesting characters , exploring a relationship that’s isn’t usually written about.
Wonderful narration by Barbara Flynn.

Heartwarming

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The best book I have heard for a long time! I loved the narration by Barbara Flynn as she has the perfect voice .I wish you could search Audible by narrator.

Grandmothers

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The grandmothers, Nan, Blanche & Minna, have close relationships with respectively Billy, Kitty and Rose, much closer than those between the children and their parents. All their lives become intertwined and they have fun expeditions, holidays, theatre trips and sleepovers - but surely I'm not the only grandmother listening who finds Sally Vickers' trio unrealistic in their physical energy & total absorption in their grandchildren?

Some of their trips and treats are slightly saccharine, and a Granny who drunk drives her grandchildren as Blanche did should not find her daughter-in-law's hostility unreasonable, as Blanche does. So there are limitations, but the whole is worth it for the scattered acute observations on topics such as the tricky relationship between an adoring mother and her son once that son is middle aged and the mother now an uncomprehending grandmother; the difficulties experienced by grandmothers observing what they see as parental failings of their grown-up children; of the pain suffered by 'other women' like Minna facing a childless old age having been thrown over by the married love of her life when he returns to his wife.

Overall, this is enjoyable, gentle, entertaining, thoughtful - although only sporadically thought-provoking. Barbara Flynn is a sympathetic, pleasantly modulated narrator without being spineless (often a trap), and she's excellent with dialogue.

Listening to Grandmothers is very pleasant on a day when it's drizzling, dank and dark by 4pm!

Worth it for the acute observations

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Really enjoyable book, beautifully read by Barbara Flynn. The story was light and entertaining though I found the number of characters rather confusing- probably my fault. I shall look for other titles by this author.

Sculptor reader

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