Amy Snow

A Novel

By: Tracy Rees

Narrated by: Melody Grove

Winner of the UK's Richard & Judy Search for a Bestseller Competition, this pause-resistant debut novel follows an orphan whose late, beloved best friend bequeaths her a treasure hunt that leads her all over Victorian England and finally to the one secret her friend never shared.

It is 1831 when eight-year-old Aurelia Vennaway finds a naked baby girl abandoned in the snow on the grounds of her aristocratic family's magnificent mansion. Her parents are horrified that she has brought a bastard foundling into the house, but Aurelia convinces them to keep the baby, whom she names Amy Snow. Amy is brought up as a second-class citizen, despised by the Vennaways, but she and Aurelia are as close as sisters. When Aurelia dies at the age of 23, she leaves Amy 10 pounds, and the Vennaways immediately banish Amy from their home.

But Aurelia left her much more. Amy soon receives a packet that contains a rich inheritance and a letter from Aurelia revealing she had kept secrets from Amy, secrets that she wants Amy to know. From the grave she sends Amy on a treasure hunt from one end of England to the other - a treasure hunt that only Amy can follow. Ultimately, a life-changing discovery awaits...if only Amy can unlock the secret. In the end Amy escapes the Vennaways, finds true love, and learns her dearest friend's secret - a secret that she will protect for the rest of her life.

An abandoned baby, a treasure hunt, a secret. As Amy sets forth on her quest, listeners will be swept away by this engrossing gem of a novel - the wonderful debut by newcomer Tracy Rees.

©2016 Tracy Rees. All rights reserved. (P)2016 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Two women, Two tales

Any additional comments?

This book was captivating from the first sentence. Both the main character Amy and her "friend" and "mentor" Aurelia Venaway are strong women woefully trapped in the social mores and customs of Victorian England. Aurelia discovers a baby abandoned in the snow on her parents estate and names her Amy (after her favorite doll) and Snow for obvious reasons. Young and demanding Aurelia insists that the family keep the child however her parents are not nearly as enthusiastic and only agree out of pure propriety. Amy is shunned, treated as a servant and forgotten by the elder Venaway's all while cherished, mentored, educated and beloved by Aurelia.
Aurelia's poor health and short life leave Amy abandoned once more at 17. She is immediately cast out of the house and warned to never return. From this moment forward mysteries abound!
Every second of this book leaves you wanting to read/listen more and learn more. The book takes a slow pace, but I find that to be the brilliance of the writing - you the reader are left to feel the same impatience as the title character to find out the final bits required to understand the whole of the story. Aurelia is an interesting character - she reminds me a great deal of Lady Sybil Crawley from the Downtown Abbey Series. Head strong, aware of her privilege but determined to live life on her own terms.
Amy is a victim of society with no real measure of her own worth until she embarks on the journey of a lifetime, traveling places she would normally not and becoming entangled with a cast of interesting and wonderful characters. Enjoy her journey....I did.

Excellent!

I thought Tracy Rees did a brilliant job on this book! It kept my interest all the way through, and I loved Melody Grove's narration, which was the perfect voice for Amy Snow; and her voice changes for the other characters were good and believable, as well. Very enjoyable!

EXCELLENT!

This is a long and serious book that is very entertaining in a different way than any other period romance I've read. I'd say this is a 'quality' book, well written and exacting. It is a departure for me as I rarely choose this genre for anything more than a enjoyable get a way. This was a serious tale told in exacting detail with a very talented pen.

The narrator is excellent and as the book is almost entirely told by Amy and Aurailia it is perfect.

A heat factor is totally non existent, there is none.

Is this creditworthy? Definitely!

Must read!

If you love a good and well written period piece , this book is for you .

Held my attention

Excellent performance by the reader. Story line very good. Listened practically straight through, even though I guessed the outcome. If you like a well told story, this is the book for you

Unique and memorable!

To be honest one of the first reasons I looked at this book was the length of it, wanting to get as much entertainment out of my monthly credit as possible! But I was very surprised at how well written and narrated the story was. The time period that this is set in is not one that I would have found interesting before starting this. However it was refreshing to find Amy Snow ahead of her time in appearance and in her social non-conformity. This production is a great example of true friendship and love and of trying to make all of your worlds come together into one whole piece.

Good story, distracting narrator.

The narrator's voice sounds like her nose is stuffed with a cold or allergies. The nasal narration is distracting, and took away from the enjoyment of the story.

very good book and an interesting story

the story was very interesting and and had a lot of cool plot turns and twists enjoyed it very much a tad long but it did what it needed to tell the story

Skillfully and beautifully written.

Tracy Rees has the gift of words akin to the Bronte sisters. She carried her characters thru this lengthy narrative with impeccable honesty.

Excellent!

Talented narrator and story was so enjoyable. I am 61 year old female. This is a sort of mystery that I could not stop listening to. Lovely. Lessons of life woven through. Not corny. Just really really good! I will try to find more like this. Best so far after listening to about 15 audiobooks.