A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar

A Novel

By: Suzanne Joinson

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

It is 1923. Evangeline (Eva) English and her sister Lizzie are missionaries heading for the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar. Though Lizzie is on fire with her religious calling, Eva's motives are not quite as noble, but with her green bicycle and a commission from a publisher to write A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar, she is ready for adventure.

In present day London, a young woman, Frieda, returns from a long trip abroad to find a man sleeping outside her front door. She gives him a blanket and a pillow, and in the morning finds the bedding neatly folded and an exquisite drawing of a bird with a long feathery tail, some delicate Arabic writing, and a boat made out of a flock of seagulls on her wall. Tayeb, in flight from his Yemeni homeland, befriends Frieda and, when she learns she has inherited the contents of an apartment belonging to a dead woman she has never heard of, they embark on an unexpected journey together.

A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar explores the fault lines that appear when traditions from different parts of an increasingly globalized world crash into one other. Beautifully written and peopled by a cast of unforgettable characters, the novel interweaves the stories of Frieda and Eva, gradually revealing the links between them and the ways in which they each challenge and negotiate the restrictions of their societies as they make their hard-won way toward home.

A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar marks the debut of Suzanne Joinson, a wonderfully talented new writer.

©2012 Suzanne Joinson (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Beautifully written in language too taut, piercing, and smartly observed to be called lyrical, this atmospheric first novel immediately engages, nicely reminding us that odd twists of fate sometimes aren't that odd." ( Library Journal)

A multi-cultural, multi-generational portrait

This title had a dreamy, watercolor-like quality. It follows two strong women living one hundred years apart, both British but spending much of their lives in far-off locales under challenging conditions. I didn't expect to like this title as much as I did. After hearing it I now want to visit China. A bonus: I could listen to Susan Duerden's gorgeous voice all day long.

Great story, terrible narration

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes, great story

How could the performance have been better?

terrible monotone performance, the worst narrator I have heard on audible

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes, despite the terrible narration

Any additional comments?

definitely worth listening too, despite the narration

Returned!

I ended up returning this book because the narration was so strange. The narrator seems like she is trying to do an unnatural voice, and sounds so breathy and faint.

Step Away From the Bike!

Normally I am the guy who writes a review defending a book that other people gave a poor review, but this time the shoe is on the other foot. I admit, I didn’t do my research before I started this book. I just read the title and thought, “I like bicycles, travel logs, the Silk Road, Ladies, and even a little Chic-Lit, I will give this book a try!” Sadly, there is almost none of those things in this book. A better title would have been "All Relationships Suck; No Really, They Do." Reading this book, I am not sure if there is anything Suzanne Joinson likes. I am also not sure if she was just trying to shock the reader or if someone should sit her down with a drink and tell her ‘things aren’t that bad.’ It’s not even that Ms Joinson lacks talent, or even that the idea is bad, this book just doesn’t work.

The narrator, Susan Duerden, also did a dismal job, which is sad because she has a nice voice. My biggest problem is that she put inflection at the end of 99.9% of the sentences. It was like she was asking me questions for ten and a half hours instead of telling me a story. I have to admit that she either got better after about 5 hours or I just got used to it, but I don’t want to waste the time to go back and check.

Run Away!

Would you consider the audio edition of A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar to be better than the print version?

I was warned. Oh, how bad could it be? It's bad. Really bad. The performance by Susan Duerdan was spectacularly....bad. Listen to the sample and multiply it by 100 on the annoyance scale. I didn't like any of the characters, but I really think that it was due to Duerdan's performance rather than the characters themselves. Trust me--read the book.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She spoke as if she was talking to a servant. Her voice rose ON EVERY SENTENCE!

Don't waste your credit!

What disappointed you about A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar?

Story drawn out and boring. Narration was horrible!

How could the performance have been better?

Better narrator

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Much disappointment.

Any additional comments?

If I wasn't listening to this for my book group, I would not have listened to the end and would have returned it.

Terrible Narration

I don't know what I was thinking when I bought this book. I guess it was because I like riding a bicycle and I've actually been to Kashgar. So I had interests in common with the book--right? My own stupid fault. There are many terrible warning reviews here and I took a chance anyway. I thought--really how bad can it be??

This is without a doubt the weirdest and most extreme narration that I have ever experienced in a recorded book. I am not just talking about digital downloads from Audible since 2005--I am including my entire history of listening to recorded books on CDs and cassette tapes. That is quite a feat--literally thousands of books and this takes the cake. Just plain terrible.

It really is a shame because the story itself has some potential in a quirky way. Not enough however to keep me listening past chapter 12 (I can't believe I made it that far) out of 40(!!!). What I would like to know is what were these production people thinking??? Mind boggling.

SAVE YOUR CREDIT!

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I tried, I really did. I tried to listen to this book but the narrator is so bad that you can't concentrate on the book. What I thought might be an interesting book, turned into a sad, sad attempt to get past the poor narration of the story. One wonders if the publishing company did not have enough money to hire a good narrator, or perhaps, there was a female relative in need of a job? Ms. Duerden spends half her time whispering the words and half her time making the story sound like a very poor attempt at an epic poem- complete with pregnant pauses at the end of each phrase. And she literally sings the last word in each phrase, single syllable or not, with each word having two sing-song notes in it. Enough. I couldn't get through the first chapter and that is a shame because the plot and synopsis sounded very interesting. A complete waste of a credit.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Susan Duerden?

Anyone, even Yoda would have been a better narrator.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Who knows if the book had redeeming qualities, as I could not get past the awful narration.

Any additional comments?

Sorry, Suzanne Joinson! I am sure that you spent an extraordinary amount of time writing this book and when it went audio, I bet you were thrilled. Who knew it would sink like the Titanic simply because of the narration.

Mesmerizing

Where does A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is a "Top Ten"!

What did you like best about this story?

I found the story and characters absolutely spellbinding. The crescendo of suspense is perfectly modulated, and the author's imagery is nothing short of gorgeous.

Which character – as performed by Susan Duerden – was your favorite?

Eva. Another reviewer complained about the narration. I thought the narration was pitch perfect, a very feminine voice for a very feminine story. Every character has his or her own voice. The listener will notice changes in diction between them.

Who was the most memorable character of A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar and why?

Spoiler alert .............. Millicent. What a tragically awful and misguided person!

Any additional comments?

Please give this beautiful book a listen!