Somber Island

De: T. Lynne Tolles

Narrado por: Valerie Menzel

Phoebe MacIntire, who is a servant to her father and sisters in her own house in Scotland in 1857, is an ordinary girl with no big dreams for the future. She's perfectly happy in her humble life, with her cot in the basement and her little garden in the backyard. But when her father up and sends her to Newfoundland to be the lifelong servant to Lord Jacobs, she finds her life gets turned upside down.

Her journey across the Atlantic to her new home is long, scary and very unpleasant. When she arrives at the manor on a small island, she finds the beautiful place abandoned and only a note waits for her explaining her duties, the strange dietary requirements, and sleeping habits of her new master.

The very first night in her new home she's haunted in her dreams by a woman who clearly does not want her there and a strange blue-eyed man-wolf creature that follows the woman. Her dreams become more and more violent and mysteries start to be uncovered about a woman who was killed in a fire on the island, a creature that preys on anyone that comes to the island and a love story gone wrong that dates back over a 122 years.

Join Phoebe as she explores the past, delving into witchcraft, and vampirism to help a brother save another from a life of sadness and misconception, making some amazing and surprising friends along the way.

©2010 T. Lynne Tolles (P)2012 T. Lynne Tolles

Exciting characters presented in a wonderful way

Would you consider the audio edition of Somber Island to be better than the print version?

yes because its so much fun to hear the different voices

What did you like best about this story?

The voice narrating is superb

Which scene was your favorite?

I liked the ending best

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Wonder World

Any additional comments?

I hope a lot of kids get to hear this !

Don't bother

I'm a pretty big fan of this genre, but this was dreadful. At first I thought it was just the narrator that bothered me. I don't need narrators to perform with a variety of voices to make it entertaining, but Valerie Menzel spoke with the same wooden cadence throughout the entire story. There was zero attempt convey emotion and it made the already bad dialogue, much worse.
The story itself was one-dimensional. The characters aren't well drawn, and they don't seem to react to events in a realistic way. The dialogue is WAY too modern given the supposed setting of 1850s Scotland. And the relationship between Phoebe and "the master" in no way reflects their class difference which would've made the story much more rich.
All in all, I'm sorry I spent my credits on this one.