Unabridged Audiobook
I have read almost all of Barr's books and loved them. But in this one - she has lost her good form and gone into something that is no longer fun to read. Pages and pages of descriptions of emotions and feelings, little revelation of the plot line - until a totally surprise twist on Disk 9. And no one, not even Anna (and her friends) could survive all the violence and still function. And I believe the dog died, although he seems to be alive on the next disk! Disk 7 seemed to lack some sections, but by this time I really did not care. Disappointing after all the Great earlier books.
The book may have been doomed from the start, some of it seemed far fetched and then there was one brutality after another... but where this audio book fell the most short was in the narration. It was like NAILS on a chalkboard. I don't know Barbara Rosenblatt and I'm sure she's a lovely person, however her reading of this tale made all the women seem whiny and weak. Even when they were supposed to be yelling or crying, the narrator made it sound like whining. And when "the dude" finally let his composure break and "yelled" in the book, it was no more than a statement. That's partially due to her very low, smoker sounding voice and in some instances I'm sure it would be the perfect match. Sadly for me, this one fell short.
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