Bygones

By: LaVyrle Spencer

Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith

Bess Curran, 40, is an interior designer in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, still lonely and bitter after her traumatic divorce six years earlier. Her adult daughter, Lisa, anxious for her parents to reconcile, arranges a surprise dinner meeting where she informs them that she is pregnant and about to marry.

Bess and former husband, Michael (he left her for another woman, who, in turn, has just left him), can barely control their mutual animosity yet must come to grips with the startling news. To exacerbate matters, their 19-year-old son, Randy, is intractably hostile toward his father and seems headed for a future of drugs and unsavory companions. Bess and Michael are attracted to each other but wary - they're suffering and groping for help.

©1992 LaVyrle Spencer (P)2021 Tantor

LaVyrle Spencer is awesome!

The first book I read by LaVyrle Spencer was called Spring Fancy which was published in 1989 I believe. It kept my attention from cover to finish so much so that I planned a trip to the little town of Ephriam, Wisconsin which was the center theme location for the book. It was everything as she described so she became my favorite author . This book called Bygones had me in tears and tugged at my heart strings several Times throughout the book. Her books are so genuine and true to life that you imagine yourself as living out some of the scenes. I hope you enjoy her book as much as I did, You get the feeling that she’s been through many things that her characters have gone through and you feel her pain and you feel her love. Excellent read!

Amazing story,

I listen to audio books everyday !! This one was really good!! Well Narrated !!
It kept my attention 100% of the time!!
Thank you

Another Classic By Lavyrle Spencer

I really enjoyed listening to Bygones. The story was believable and well written. The narration was spot on. I look forward to more by this author and performer.

don't waste a "credit" on this one

predictable, slow moving. narrative was preformed well just not a very gripping story line.
I can't even say it was a good romance! just parents who needed to grow up but instead they completely dropped the ball and it really devastated their kids.

Loved it—throughly engrossing & enjoyable!

Wonderful…kept me listening, just like all LaVyrle Spencer novels do! It’s unbelievable how real her characters seem, her attention to detail, her mastery at storytelling, just amazes me! I just adore her stories, and this one is no different. The Beth and Michael storyline, their children, and parents, all seam together like a beautiful tapestry, so rich and evocative. I can’t get enough of her characters and her brilliant writing! Highly recommend this one, and the narration is as flawless as always. Emily Sutton-Smith never disappoints and is quickly becoming my favorite narrator! Thoroughly enjoyable and worth the listen!

Excellent Book

This heart warming story was significantly enhanced by the excellent narration.
It will continually draw you back to it!

Loved it!

Love LaVyrle Spencer's books. Such "down to earth", everyday life writing. Always enjoy Emily Sutton Smith's narration. She brings each character to life. They start to feel like old friends. Will listen to this one again and again.

strong words but I hated it, and I can't say it any other way

The narrator is excellent and the author did a great job as usual. I've enjoyed many of her works and I felt a lot of things while listening to this story…but not really good ones this time, that's the problem.
I think I hated almost all the characters in this book. The only one I felt sorry for was the one no one cared about until the end and that's the son. No wonder he tried to escape his daily life that way. Poor guy. And this HE is just ridiculous.
To me, this is not a love story.
This is not a second chance story.
This is the story of the worst mother in the world, a bad father, both selfish (but the mother is worse for me), a spoiled brat who only sees what she wants to see and their victim - Randy.
I almost gave up right from the start, I had a very strong reaction to the way Bess took the news of her daughter's pregnancy and marriage. Maybe I should have stopped there because it didn't get better. The only choice Bess made that I kind of agreed with was that she hated her cheating ex-husband, but even that, she forgives, I don't get it. I can dissect each of her decisions and explain why I find it detestable but it would take too long. I don't know why I finished this book, I must be a masochist but what's done is done.
I don't recommend, try another book by the author...

Language

Would have been much better without the swearing. Several F bombs. It added nothing to the story.

Another good one….

Another LS classic storyline! She really knows how to tell an amazing story with all the emotions thrown in! Worth the read!