A Knot in the Grain
And Other Stories
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A Knot in the Grain
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Narrated by:
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Laura Knight Keating
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Liz Pearce
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By:
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Robin McKinley
About this listen
Stories from the world of The Hero and the Crown and other magical places by a New York Times-best-selling Newbery Medal winner.
Robin McKinley returns to the mythical setting of The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword in this “thrilling, satisfying, and thought-provoking collection” featuring two stories set in the world of Damar, plus three other fantasy tales featuring adventurous, pragmatic, and heroic young women (Publishers Weekly).
There’s mute Lily, in “The Healer”, who has the power to help others, and receives a startling opportunity to find her voice when a mysterious mage stumbles into town. And Queen Ruen, who is at the mercy of a power-hungry uncle until she encounters a shape-changer in “The Stagman”, In “Touk’s House”, a maiden who has grown up with a witch and a troll, has a chance to become a princess, but she must decide whether she would really live happily ever after. When a curse follows Coral to her new husband’s farm in “Buttercups”, the pair has a choice: Succumb to defeat, or find a way to turn a disastrous enchantment into a fruitful new venture.
Finally, travel to upstate New York with Annabelle. In the title story, her family moves shortly after her 16th birthday, and just as she starts to adjust to her new life in a small town, a plan to build a superhighway threatens her new home. But a strange box hidden in a secret attic in the new house may be the answer. This is a delightful assortment of tales from an author with “a remarkable talent for melding the real and the magical into a single, believable whole” (Booklist).
©1982, 1984, 1985, 1994 Robin McKinley (P)2021 Recorded BooksListeners also enjoyed...
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What magical beings inhabit Earth’s waters? Some are as almost-familiar as the mer-people; some as strange as the thing glimpsed only as a golden eye in a pool at the edge of the Great Desert Kalarsham, where the mad god Geljdreth rules; or the unknowable, immense Kraken, dark beyond the darkness of the deepest ocean, who will one day rise and rule the world. Here are seven tales from the remarkable storytellers Robin McKinley and Peter Dickinson. Vividly imagined and written, they transform the simple element of water into something very powerful indeed.
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
Lise’s father is dead, and the life of plenty and freedom that she has known as the daughter of the King’s Huntsman is gone. She must now live a life of duty to her mother and sisters, helping them to cope in their altered circumstances. But where her mother would have her wed a childhood friend to secure their future, Lise knows that is not what she longs for.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Classic fairytale remade into a lesbian romanc
- By Army Vet on 01-28-22
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A Wayside Tavern
- By: Norah Lofts
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 39
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4 out of 5 stars 31
A Wayside Tavern tells the story of a Suffolk drinking place from the end of the Roman occupation of Britain, until the present day. The Roman veteran, crippled and left behind, worshipped Mithras, so the place became known as the One Bull and down through the centuries it became a clearing house for contraband, a miniature Hell Fire Club, a fashionable hotel, a mere pub. Across the yard, was the church of St Cerdic, king and martyr, who fought the Danes and was famous for the miracles performed at his shrine.
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4 out of 5 stars
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An enjoyable tale
- By Gordon on 10-07-11
By: Norah Lofts
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Beauty
- A Retelling of the Story of Beauty & the Beast
- By: Robin McKinley
- Narrated by: Charlotte Parry
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,572
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,429
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,435
New York Times best-selling author Robin McKinley has won numerous awards for her writing, including the prestigious Newbery Medal. Though her two sisters are beautiful, Beauty, despite her name, is thin and awkward - but she's also courageous. So when her father makes a terrible promise to a Beast living in an enchanted castle, Beauty knows she must volunteer to be the Beast's prisoner.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best version of B&tB I've ever read, seen, heard.
- By ShySusan on 08-11-13
By: Robin McKinley
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Tess of the D'urbervilles
- By: Thomas Hardy
- Narrated by: Jennifer Dixon
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
Tess of the d'Urbervilles is the 19th century novel lately thought to be one of the inspirations of E .L.James' Fifty Shades of Grey. It depicts the life of an impressionable, naive, somewhat educated young woman who yearns to be free to live her own life, but finds herself constricted by the bonds of the sexual, religious and socially hypocritical customs that have surrounded her from birth.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Jenny Dixon
- By Amazon Customer on 08-09-15
By: Thomas Hardy
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The Charmed Wife
- By: Olga Grushin
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 105
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
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Story4 out of 5 stars 92
Cinderella married the man of her dreams - the perfect ending she deserved after diligently following all the fairy-tale rules. Yet now, 13 and a half years later, things have gone badly wrong, and her life is far from perfect. One night, fed up and exhausted, she sneaks out of the palace to get help from the witch who, for a price, offers love potions to disgruntled housewives. But as the old hag flings the last ingredients into the cauldron, Cinderella doesn't ask for a love spell to win back her Prince Charming. Instead, she wants him dead.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Warning
- By Ijw on 01-26-21
By: Olga Grushin
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The Dead Travel Fast
- By: Deanna Raybourn
- Narrated by: Charlotte Parry
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 594
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 455
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Story4 out of 5 stars 455
With a modest inheritance and the three gowns that comprise her entire wardrobe, Theodora leaves Edinburgh—and a disappointed suitor—far behind. She is bound for Romania, where tales of vampires are still whispered, to visit an old friend and write the book that will bring her true independence. She arrives at a magnificent, decaying castle in the Carpathians, replete with eccentric inhabitants, including the castle’s master, Count Andrei Dragulescu.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Process vs getting their
- By Aryn on 04-29-11
By: Deanna Raybourn
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Lark Rise
- By: Flora Thompson
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4 out of 5 stars 59
Lark Rise is Flora Thompson's childhood memories of a north Oxfordshire village, the people who lived and worked in it, and a way of life that has totally disappeared. The story is built around Laura and her brother Edmund, through whose eyes are seen 'old Sally', whose grandfather built the house she lived in before the enclosure of the heathland, children's games, the interaction of village and gentry, and the way in which the seasons governed life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A glimpse...
- By Shananiganians on 05-31-20
By: Flora Thompson
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Every Heart a Doorway
- By: Seanan McGuire
- Narrated by: Cynthia Hopkins
- Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,558
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,303
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Story4 out of 5 stars 2,300
Children have always disappeared under the right conditions - slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere...else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children. Nancy tumbled once, but now she's back. The things she's experienced...they change a person. The children under Miss West's care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Utterly Moving
- By tm on 07-12-16
By: Seanan McGuire
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Girl in Hyacinth Blue
- By: Susan Vreeland
- Narrated by: Loren Lester, Sheryl Bernstein
- Length: 5 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 210
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 134
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Story4 out of 5 stars 134
A professor shows a colleague a painting that he has kept secret for decades. The professor swears it is a Vermeer - but why has he hidden this important work for so long? The reasons unfold in a series of stories that trace ownership of the painting back to World War II and Amsterdam, and still further back to the moment of the work's inspiration.
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4 out of 5 stars
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wonderful
- By Sybil on 04-07-03
By: Susan Vreeland
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The Unreal and the Real
- Selected Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin, Volume One: Where on Earth
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Tandy Cronyn
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 100
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 84
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Story4 out of 5 stars 84
The Unreal and the Real is a major event not to be missed. In this two-volume selection of Ursula K. Le Guin's best short stories--as selected by the National Book Award winning author herself--the reader will be delighted, provoked, amused, and faced with the sharp, satirical voice of one of the best short story writers of the present day. Where on Earth explores Le Guin's earthbound stories which range around the world, from small town Oregon to middle Europe in the middle of revolution to summer camp.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Shame on you, Audible
- By Audrey McCombs on 07-03-20
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Bless This House
- By: Norah Lofts
- Narrated by: Michael Tudor Barnes, Nicolette McKenzie
- Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story5 out of 5 stars 30
The house was built in the Old Queen's time: built for an Elizabethan pirate who was knighted for the plunder he brought home. It survived many eras, many reigns: it saw the passing of Cromwell and the Civil War. It became rich with an Indian Nabob and poor with a 20th century innkeeper. It saw wars, and lovers, and death. Children were born there, both heirs and bastards. It had ghosts and legends and a history that grew stranger with every generation.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Bless This House - my take
- By Kalona1982 on 04-05-09
By: Norah Lofts
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Guest
- A Changeling Tale
- By: Mary Downing Hahn
- Narrated by: Shelley Atkinson
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 56
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
When her adorable baby brother is replaced by an ugly, ill-tempered changeling, Mollie is determined to find the so-called Kinde Folke who took baby Thomas, return the changeling she calls Guest, and make them give Thomas back. Natural and magical obstacles and her own reckless temperament make her journey arduous and full of dangers, and a plot rich in surprises and twists makes this book a must-listen for Mary Downing Hahn’s fans.
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4 out of 5 stars
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My kids loved it!
- By TaniaP on 10-14-19
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Bellefleur
- Gothic Saga Series, Book 1
- By: Joyce Carol Oates
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 27 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 64
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story4 out of 5 stars 53
A wealthy and notorious clan, the Bellefleurs live in a region not unlike the Adirondacks, in an enormous mansion on the shores of mythic Lake Noir. They own vast lands and profitable businesses, they employ their neighbors, and they influence the government. A prolific and eccentric group, they include several millionaires, a mass murderer, a spiritual seeker who climbs into the mountains looking for God, a wealthy noctambulist who dies of a chicken scratch.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Old School Gothic Literature (Not a beach read)
- By Keijon ford on 05-01-20
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The Fairy Godmother
- Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, Book 1
- By: Mercedes Lackey
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,474
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,321
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,334
Elena Klovis was supposed to be her kingdom's Cinderella - until an accident of fate left her with a completely inappropriate prince! Determined not to remain with her stepfamily, Elena set out to get a new job - and ended up becoming the Fairy Godmother for the land. But "Breaking with Tradition" was no easy matter. True, she didn't have to sleep in the chimney, but she had to deal with arrogant, stuffed-shirt princes who kept trying to rise above their place in the tale.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An excellent start to a new series
- By Captain Skurvy on 01-16-13
By: Mercedes Lackey
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Novice Dragoneer
- Dragoneer Academy, Book 1
- By: E. E. Knight
- Narrated by: Nicole Poole
- Length: 16 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 104
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 86
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 86
Fourteen-year-old Ileth grew up in an orphanage, and thanks to her stutter was never thought to be destined for much beyond kitchen work and cleaning. But she's dreamed of serving with the dragons ever since a childhood meeting with a glittering silver dragon and its female dragoneer. For years she waits, and as soon as she is old enough to join, Ileth runs away to become a novice dragoneer at the ancient human-dragon fortress of the Serpentine.
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3 out of 5 stars
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She’s 14yrs old
- By Alex D. on 10-23-21
By: E. E. Knight
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Summer
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Grace Conlin
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 682
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 566
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Story4 out of 5 stars 562
Wharton's most erotic and lyrical novel, Summer explores a daring theme for 1917, a woman's awakening to her sexuality. Eighteen-year-old Charity Royall lives in the small town of North Dormer, ignorant of desire until the arrival of architect Lucius Harney. Like the succulent summer landscape in the Berkshires around them, Charity's romance is lush and picturesque, but its consequences are harsh and real.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent first audible purchase!
- By lilyglint on 08-23-04
By: Edith Wharton
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