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Iris and Ruby

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Iris and Ruby

By: Rosie Thomas
Narrated by: Rula Lenska
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About this listen

 Shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year, 2007.

A story of love, loss, and the distance between three generations of one family, this novel centres on Iris and Ruby, a grandmother and her granddaughter, as they try and make sense of their respective lives.

©2007 Rosie Thomas (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Fiction Women's Fiction

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Critic reviews

"Thomas can write with ravishing sensuality." ( The Times)
"Rosie Thomas is both a subtle and realistic author and her portrait of Iris is never less than absorbing." ( Daily Mail)
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Beautifully descriptive journey around Cairo and it culture intertwined with a love story and three generations and eras. Very easy to get lost in the story.

Lovely story beautifully narrated

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I really enjoyed this book. I like books set in interesting locations and interesting times and this met both of those, woven into the past/present, young/old stories of iris and her granddaughter.
I enjoyed it right until the end, which somehow felt hurried, like the number of words required had been reached and it had to be concluded in a hurry now.
I was left a little dissatisfied and unfulfilled. A lot of books have an epilogue, which gives just a glimpse into how the characters came out of it and a little 'what happened next' round up , I felt that something like that would have given this tale a proper ending and an extra star on the rating from me at least.

Interesting story, but felt rushed at the end

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This audiobook got me through a week in Disneyland Paris with 2 teenagers - great to have something distracting! It was beautifully read by Rula Lenska. The story flitted very well between the two generations and made me want to escape from Paris to Cairo. The war time scenes were particularly well done and I wondered what stories my mother might tell of her own experiences at that time to her granddaughters. Well worth a listen.

Shifts in time

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Well read, easy to follow, a really lovely story of age and adolescence, of endless love, of war and loss, against a background of the streets of Cairo, now and during WWII. Well worth it.

Such a lovely story

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I loved the story, evocative of place and people. Beautifully read which made the story believable.

A good read

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This is second time I have read this book and found it just as brilliant as the first time m made even better this time with the voice of rula lenski

Beautiful moving story

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This book is well read even if the pronunciation of some Egyptian word are cringe. It is an interesting heart warming story. For me though, the younger main character is just embarrassing, swearing unnecessarily, overly sexual, disrespectful of the culture, self obsessed. I just stopped caring about the story and with 5 hrs to go I’ve given up. I feel I have better things to do with my life than this

Didn’t finish it

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Such a beautiful tale - you could almost feel the heat of Cairo and hear the sounds of the every day life there.
The relationship between Iris and Ruby is one every reader ( listener ) will surely enjoy and even though I read this years ago I adored the audio version just as much!

Wonderful story

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I am not one for reviews although I read them before a purchase. This book however is a must read/listen to …..

Ihave a real love of Egypt and have spent a long time in the country and so this book touched my heart. I am also a History graduate and that too had me hooked from the start!

I have listened to other Rosie Thomas books but this is a triumph!

A truly beautiful story ……

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I was cajoled by a friend to read something different from my usual fare. She recommended this ( probably as a joke, our tastes in literature differ widely.)
I’m sure it will please those that like this type of book, but not me, I’m afraid. Don’t be put off by the number of stars I have given it. I tried , but failed to get engaged.

Just not my cup of tea.

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