Colony

By: Anne Rivers Siddons

Narrated by: Judith Ivey

When Maude Chambliss first arrives at Retreat, the seasonal home of her husband's aristocratic family, she is a 19-year-old bride fresh from South Carolina's Low Country. Among the patrician men and women who reside in the summer colony on the coast of Maine, her gypsy-like beauty and impulsive behavior immediately brand her an outsider. She, as well as everyone else, is certain she will never fit in. And of course, she doesn't, at first.

But over the many summers she spends there, Maude comes to cherish life in the colony, as she does the people who share it with her. There is her husband Peter, consumed with a darkness of spirit; her adored but dangerously fragile children; her domineering mother-in-law, who teaches her that it is the women who possess the strength to keep the colony intact; and Maine native Micah Willis, who is ultimately Maude's truest friend.

©1992 Anne River Siddons (P)1992 HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Siddons gets the melodrama balance just right and shows she's as much at home in Maine as she was in Georgia." (Kirkus Reviews)

Cropped & culled…

My absolute favorite novel of all time….. abridged to a mere shadow of it’s glorious original. Anne Rivers Siddons written words are lovely and entrancing…. This audio version leaves you feeling ripped off and cheated of her beautifully masterful storytelling.

They murdered this story!

This is my first and most favorite of ARS's novels and they ruined it! It's nowhere close to the full story. Very disappointed

Narration ruined the story

I love anything by Anne Rivers Siddons. But the overly exaggerated Southern accent of the narration made it impossible for this South Carolinian to finish. I’ll check out the book from the library.

Ruined by abridgement

I read this novel a few years ago. Colony is a great story, but the most important scenes have been cut and what's left doesn't make much sense. Just a lot of sentiment with very little meaning. Anne Rivers Siddons is a wonderful writer and I enjoy her unabridged books on Audible very much.

Disappointing

I love Anne Rivers Siddons and have read each of her books more than once. I downloaded this one thinking I could listen to it on trips in the car. First, I was unable to listen to the grating faux Southern accent a moment longer. The narrator seems to do the New England accent well, but nothing is more offensive to the ear of a person born in the South than a fake accent. Further, natives of Charleston speak with a very specific accent, heard only in that area . The accent the narrator feigns isn't even close.

Second, I was unaware that you abridge some books. I would never have downloaded an abridged book knowingly and will know in the future to watch out for such and avoid them. Ms. Siddons' books are beautifully written, with great subtlety and character development. They should not be abridged.

A so-so rendition of a favorite book

What did you like best about Colony? What did you like least?

I read the book version of "Colony" when it was first published several years ago. It is a rich tapestry woven of interesting and memorable characters. The abridged version did not do it justice.

Would you recommend Colony to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend it only to friends who do not mind an abridged work, or have never read the original book, and are just looking for something to fill time. Much of the power of the book was left out of the audio book.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Judith Ivy is a favorite actress, but her accent was so broad (Southern) that sometimes I could not understand her.

Was Colony worth the listening time?

Not for me, as I remember the original book. Some may like it, especially if they enjoy shorter audio books.

Too much cut out!! The beauty of this book deserves every word read

I have loved this book for years and read it over and over; always getting something new from it. I decided to purchase the audible edition so that I might listen to it on a road trip. Unfortunately it has been cut to bits…so much left out.
By all means, read the book but don’t bother with listening to it.

So much if the book is missing!

I have read this novel every summer since I was 18 and I was so disappointed about how much was just left out of the audio version! I always hoped someday it would be made into a moved, but no longer. It’s like reading a screenplay and so disappointing.

the unabridged version was MUCH better

I listened to the unabridged version of this book 20+ years ago and was telling my partner about it so we listened to the only version I could find and it was just NOT the same, sadly.

Ruined it in Audiobook form!

I love this book but unfortunately in the audiobook form they edit most of the story out. They left out the real story and just gave an outline of the story. It’s a shame because this is one of my favorites.