Magic Hour

By: Kristin Hannah

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes an incandescent story about the resilience of the human spirit, the triumph of hope, and the meaning of home.

In the rugged Pacific Northwest lies the Olympic National Forest - nearly a million acres of impenetrable darkness and impossible beauty. From deep within this old growth forest, a six-year-old girl appears. Speechless and alone, she offers no clue as to her identity, no hint of her past.

Having retreated to her western Washington hometown after a scandal left her career in ruins, child psychiatrist Dr. Julia Cates is determined to free the extraordinary little girl she calls Alice from a prison of unimaginable fear and isolation. To reach her, Julia must discover the truth about Alice’s past - although doing so requires help from Julia’s estranged sister, a local police officer. The shocking facts of Alice’s life test the limits of Julia’s faith and strength, even as she struggles to make a home for Alice - and for herself.

“One of [Kristin Hannah’s] most compelling and riveting novels.” - Booklist

©2006 Kristin Hannah. (P)2005 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Narrator Took Away From the Novel

From the start, I was disappointed with the narrator. She sounds much older than the actual characters. The two main female characters are about 35/40 years old, but her narration makes them seem 60/70 years old. The two main male characters don't sound much different than the female characters, and the other male characters sound like Brooklyn wise guys. Peanut is probably in her 40's or 50's, but she's given the voice of a 70-yr old chain smoker. George is supposed to have a Cajun accent, but I'm from Louisiana; and that accent is not even close. It sounds like an overexaggerated French Disney character. The performance is overall unfitting and a distraction from the actual writing of Kristin Hannah. As far as the novel goes, it felt a little slow to start, and I began to wonder if I should give up; but I keep going. I ended up being pulled in and needing to know what would happen next. Overall, it's one I wish I'd read in print and not listened to, due to this poor performance.

Good book but Slow the Narration Speed to .9 or .8

The storyline is excellent, not so much the narration due to the speed. The narrator’s voice is sped up, however if the book is slowed to .09 or, even better, .8 then the main voice sounds normal. Additionally, the doctor’s age is 35, yet the narrator uses the voice of a grandmother which is also confusing. If you can hear past these two things then the book is awesome.

Fabulous as usual

Wonderfully written story and absolutely cheered at the ending. The narrator was not quite right. I've enjoyed Susan Toren reading of the Hannah Swenson mysteries over the years. She has a distinct Minnesota type accent that works well with that. However, this story is set in Washington state, where I live, and just didn't fit with this story. Overall, I would still highly recommend this book for the variety of emotions that this authors stories can bring.

Beautiful

Another beautiful story from Kristen Hannah. She has such a way with story telling that I become invested in the characters and am sad when the book comes to an end.

Slow start

Some of the characters were shallow and did not develop. The story was a four for me.

a bit predictable, not still well told.

this was a lighter story than the others I have listened to of hers, bit still good.

A gifted story teller

Breaks your heart, makes you smile and cry. This story is a journey of strength courage and love

Best of Kristin Hannah!

Had to take a day off from work to finish it!! Reminds us how children can get into your heart, wherever they come from…

summer reading

I loved the story, and the main character was narrated well, but I wish authors would bring in men for men's voices, other than that, void read.

emotional wrenching and powerful

this is a truly powerful story that left me in tears several times both happy and sad tears.