Minerva

The Six Sisters, Book 1

By: M. C. Beaton

Narrated by: Charlotte Anne Dore

Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Minerva marks the delightful debut of The Six Sisters, a family saga in six volumes that will recount the romantic adventures of the six marriageable daughters of a country vicar, the Reverend Charles Armitage, in Regency England. The eldest, Minerva, is enchantingly beautiful - but a prude. She lives in the country looking after her siblings while her mother reclines on a chaise longue happily inventing new malaises. Her father, a vicar of decidedly secular inclinations, indulges a hearty passion for hunting instead of worrying about the girls' dowries. But when he wants to send his boys to Eton, the money must be found - and how better than by marrying Minerva off to a man of fortune?

Dispatched to Town, Minerva experiences her first season under the wing of an elderly relative. But age, it seems, is no guarantee of respectability, and Lady Godolphin's plan for a good time scandalize her young charge. Finally Minerva's moralizing ways make her the subject of a shocking wager among the rakes and dandies of Regency London.

Meanwhile, the handsome Lord Sylvester Comfrey is observing her progress in the marriage market. For such a virtuous girl, Minerva unaccountably finds herself in some extremely compromising situations with this gentleman, who alas professes not to be the marrying kind.

©1994 Marion Chesney (P)2012 AudioGO

For those who haven't read Georgette Heyer

This is a typical regency romance. A good way to wile away a rainy day, or a workout on the treadmill.

Entertaining light romance written in 1980s about the 19th century

Voicing various characters in challenging, so I disagree that the narrator was not up to the job..
While there were a few seconds where a listener might not be clear who was speaking, subsequent text by the AUTHOR’s WRITTEN word clarifies. This would be the same if I were reading a page in a book.


The author tries to show some awareness racism, imperialism, and sexism in a story she wrote mainly to be escapist entertainment. I winced at the scenes of affection as they reflected the perspective of a different time. I liked it overall because i just wanted something light to listen to ad I washed the car.

If you like Emma, you'll like this one

I do really like a good comedy of Victorian Manners story and I loved this one. I'm looking forward to reading the whole series. M.C. Beaton put a good effort into this one!
I liked the narrator too, especially when she was doing the men's voices.
And I love finding a new narrator that I like!

Unlistenable

I have enjoyed other Beaton books and audios but this narrator led me to abandon the effort.

Hard to believe

It’s hard to believe that Davina Porter is a celebrated narrator based on this performance. The story was just ok. Characters were unlikeable and coupled with the stilted narration was hard pressed to finish.

Okay story, Bad reader.

I don't expect much from Beaton's regency romances, at their best, they are lighthearted distractions from real life, but this is NOT one of her best. The main characters are not particularly likable or compelling and you get almost no insight into the love interest's thoughts making his actions unfathomable, especially if you are not acquainted with the tropes of this genre.

The reader is bad. It's as if she is just sitting down to read the book out loud for the first time with no prep work. Not only does she mispronounce words, but she is inconsistent in those mispronunciations. Her stilted delivery adds to nothing to the froth of a story, and pretty much eliminates the humor of elements clearly added to lighten the mood.

I'd skip this one unless you are determined to hear everything by this author. She's written better books which are read by better performers.

Predictable cheesy romance

This would be right at home as a Harlequin romance. Totally predictable plot and 2 dimensional characters. I won't be listening to the other 5 in this series. Not my cup of tea at all.

Traditional Regency Romance

The heroine had a lot of growing up to do, and ultimately did so. The narrator did well with the voices of characters, but paused in odd places at times, making it harder to follow the meaning.

I really enjoyed this book.

I loved it. Definitely going to the next book in the series. The family is just adorably annoying and funny. I would absolutely recommend to friends.

Pretty Good Story, Horrible Narrator!

As so many other reviews remark about this narrator, I don't understand how this was found acceptable in the recording room and by the editor.

For the story, not one of Beaton's best, but with a good narrator it would have been more enjoyable. Minerva could have had more personable qualities to like her and sympathize with her. This also lacked the usual amount of satire in Beaton's books that makes hers stand out in the Romance category.

Narrator:
> Mispronounced many words.
> Voice fluctuations did not match the nuances in the sentence.
> Sounded hoarse, maybe a cigarette smoker.
> Unrefined, with an accent that could work for the servants, but not the genteel.
> Pausing at random points in sentences.
> Most irritating to me was the breathless, overly dramatic reading of innocuous descriptions that required none of that. "She TOOK her (pause) LACE HANDKERCHIEF (pause) out of HER RETICULE! If a scene was truly dramatic, her over the top narration made it sound almost mocking.

I listened to the next book in the series, which was better than this one as far as the writing, but I just couldn't take the narrator anymore. I'm skipping the rest in this series.

I found all the other narrators in Beaton's books to be excellent and lovely to listen to. Always bringing the characters to vivid life, immersing me in the story, instead of repeatedly jarring me out of it.

I really can't understand why this narrator was kept past the first one. Or why they didn't get another one to re-read the narration.

Dore ruined what looked to be an enjoyable series.