Beyond Ivy Walls

A Novel

By: Rachel Fordham

Narrated by: Em Eldridge, Jason Keller

Reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, a recluse and a young woman discover that the scars of life are no match against an act of love.

Iowa, 1903. All of Monticello believes Otis Taylor has been away fostering his musical genius. But the truth is that his father exiled him long ago, rejecting Otis's appearance and the scars that came with it. Now that he is the last living Taylor, Otis has covertly returned to settle his family's affairs and rid himself of his past for good. However, he soon discovers that he may not have been the only abandoned Taylor and begins a tireless search for his missing toddler niece.

At twenty-three years old, Sadie West left her family farm and found employment at the Hoag feather duster factory. It isn't a romantic job, but she's hardly had a glimmer of romance since her beau went off to college, leaving her with no promise of a future together. Desperate to save money and help her family make ends meet, she trespasses and finds shelter in an abandoned building—and is thrown in the path of the town's mysterious bachelor.

Otis's wounds are deep, but as Sadie's friendship with him grows, she begins to fall for the man beneath the mask. Locating his long-lost niece, however, is more difficult than either could have imagined, and Sadie West may be the key to Otis Taylor finally finding his way home.

©2024 Rachel Fordham (P)2024 Thomas Nelson

The male narrator should not do female voices

This is my first audiobook by Rachel Fordham, and overall, I liked it. About halfway through, I thought I might listen to some of her other books, but about 3/4 of the way through, I became frustrated by the characters. I felt like they were behaving in ways that were a bit melodramatic, and the plot became unnecessarily tangled in order to increase tension, but it just frustrated me. For example, Sadie writes a letter to Otis, but he avoids the music room, so he doesn't see it, so he assumes she doesn't love him, and he packs up to leave. This kind of miscommunication, or non-communication, drives me crazy. If Otis loved Sadie, he would go to her and clear up any misunderstanding between them. He would not just leave. People like that don't deserve to be happy because they won't put the work into a relationship that is required. I don't care if he has insecurities. He had already faced the worst of his fears, so why he would avoid this situation was unclear to me. The lost letter felt like a plot device (and there were a few others like that). Also, I don't read books, but I listen to audiobooks, so the narrators are just as important to my enjoyment of a book as the author's work. Em Eldridge did a great job with all voices. Jason Keller has a nice voice for males, but he should not be allowed to do female voices at all. He makes them too high and quavery and insubstantial. It sounds like a fake voice, very fake, and it detracted from the story. I think it is worth mentioning because when you listen to the preview (when there are two or more narrators), you usually only hear one narrator and you don't get a chance to listen to the other narrator. I will probably listen to another audiobook by Rachel Fordham. The romance was clean and not overly-contrived. The characters got to know each other over time (they did not fall instantly in love). That was nice. I think the author handles the complexities of relationships well.

Worth the wait!

Loved it, had preordered as loved her other books too, thanks for a neat story.

how she found Odyssey and thought us love

love this book and you. thank you for sharing us this love. thank you again