My Oxford Year

A Novel

By: Julia Whelan

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Major motion picture already in development with Temple Hill Entertainment

Set amid the breathtaking beauty of Oxford, this sparkling debut novel tells the unforgettable story about a determined young woman eager to make her mark in the world and the handsome man who introduces her to an incredible love that will irrevocably alter her future - perfect for fans of JoJo Moyes and Nicholas Sparks.

American Ella Durran has had the same plan for her life since she was 13: study at Oxford. At 24, she’s finally made it to England on a Rhodes Scholarship when she’s offered an unbelievable position in a rising political star’s presidential campaign. With the promise that she’ll work remotely and return to DC at the end of her Oxford year, she’s free to enjoy her Once in a Lifetime Experience. That is until a smart-mouthed local who is too quick with his tongue and his car ruins her shirt and her first day.

When Ella discovers that her English literature course will be taught by none other than that same local, Jamie Davenport, she thinks for the first time that Oxford might not be all she’s envisioned. But a late-night drink reveals a connection she wasn’t anticipating finding, and what begins as a casual fling soon develops into something much more when Ella learns Jamie has a life-changing secret.

Immediately Ella is faced with a seemingly impossible decision: turn her back on the man she’s falling in love with to follow her political dreams or be there for him during a trial neither is truly prepared for. As the end of her year in Oxford rapidly approaches, Ella must decide if the dreams she’s always wanted are the same ones she’s now yearning for.

©2018 Temple Hill Publishing (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Narrator Julia Whelan performs her appealing debut novel as well as listeners would expect, which is to say, terrifically.... The personalities pop, her pacing is superb, and the realism she injects will keep you wide-eyed." (AudioFile)

A favorite narrator makes her debut as an author

What's better than a book performed by Julia Whelan? One written by her too! This book checked my two major "what makes me love fiction" boxes: it made me laugh, and it made me ugly cry. Oh, the ugly crying. Set in Oxford, the novel centers on Ella Duran as she attempts to balance her master’s degree studies, romance, and an unexpected new job as the education lead on a presidential campaign. The premise and setting lends itself to rich descriptions and plenty of fun literature references for us book nerds, showcasing Whelan's deep knowledge of both the subject and area. The novel really stays with you, and the love story within managed to both break me and make me feel hopeful. Whelan performs and really shows off her depth as a character actress, effortlessly transitioning between Washington lobbyists and British pub owners, making the listening experience all the more enchanting. Trust me…go get this book!

My Oxford Year worth your time!

What an amazing story. What an amazing narrator. I really enjoyed this audio. I don’t like to give spoilers away because I highly recommend this audio and want the listener to be captured by Julia’s voice and words. I loved the descriptions of everything in this story. I loved the emotions and I loved the characters. I would love for them all to get a book. This story will have you laughing and crying. It will get deep inside you. My Oxford Year is a must listen or read.

Enchanting, Sweet, Emotional – Everything I LOVE!

There are some books that sneak up on you. This is such a book. This is such a story. It’s not always clear why I like the things that I do and why I hate the things that I do, but –

I HATE this book.

I LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK.

I love this book so much. It took me on a journey, a trip, a gaze into a life well lived. In My Oxford Year, we take a journey with Ella, a journey to Oxford. But what is the most striking thing is that this book takes us on a journey of life.

I may sound so profound (or at least, I’m trying to be), but this book basically calls for it! This book has everything I love – culture, romance, life, and true love. It’s hard to point a finger at what this book really means to me, but it means so much.

While My Oxford Year is not a typical romance novel, it is so full of love. It’s also not as steamy as I’m used to – but it is absolutely perfect. I can’t even use that as a negative.

When I said I hated this book – I meant that I hate this book for what it made me feel. This book had all the signs of things that I absolutely hate in a novel, and yet I chose to read it. And I don’t regret it one bit. When I said I hated this book, I meant that this book gutted me in all the right places.

Not only is this book about romantic love, it’s also about family and friendship. I love Jamie’s relationship with his parents – how broken it was and how it was healed. I love both Jamie and Ella’s courage and I love the friendships each of them made.

My Oxford Year is really a romance at its core. And while the ending does feel a little bittersweet, I would not have it any other way. I am glad that Julia Whelan went this route. It felt real, and it felt right.

My Oxford Year is also narrated by Julia Whelan who is also a professional audiobook narrator! She is an amazing narrator and was perfect for My Oxford Year.

I can’t recommend My Oxford Year enough.

Narrator nails first book

I always enjoy her narration and she weaves a good story linking historical and modern fiction with likable characters that per usual she brings to life!

Wow - This Novel was Absolutely Amazing

Julia Whelan has always been one of my favorite narrators. She is now one of my favorite authors. I can't say enough about how wonderful this book was. Do yourself a favor and read it. It is well worth the credit or the money.

I really liked it!

A wonderful description of Oxford and a great love story! The narrator did a beautiful job acting the different characters in the story making it very entertaining. I recommended!!

Atmospheric and enjoyable

I enjoyed this story, even though I'm pretty tired of the 'chronically ill' themes of these sorts of books. Seems like there is always some sort of emotional pull that I feel is overdone by these plots where someone is really ill and everything in the story is touched by that. Like a forced emotion you must adhere to. There is a place for these story lines, but I think they've been a bit overdone and artificial. I think the story of the writer's 'first Oxford year' was pretty grand in itself, without the angst of the a chronic illness thrown in.

What there was about the actual Oxford experience was enjoyable and I could put myself there through the author's eyes. I would have liked a lot more of that.

I enjoy this author as a narrator though I sometimes flinch at her succinctness and over-pronouncation of words. I nearly pulled out my hair at her narration of Nora Roberts,' 'The Collector,' when she enunciated, seemed like a thousand times, 'object d'art.' Yikes!! Whelan was good as her own narrator but it would have been interesting to see if another narrator could have brought out something different to add to the story. I'm always amazed when the writing of one author is perfectly narrated by an artist who uses their skills to bring the story to life.

A sixth star

I loved everything about this novel. It was smart, witty, lovely, sad, painful, happy, everything in between. And the performance was the best. An absolute sixth star, because five simply wouldn’t be enough. I’ll listen to this time and time again.

Better than I thought

I stumbled upon this book during a sale, otherwise I would have most likely never known of it. It caught my attention because according to the book’s summary, the protagonist (Eleanor, or Ella) had a, sort of, dream, or obsession(?) with going to England—Oxford more specifically—most of her life. And I too have a dream of (more like an obsession with) going to England. (I still dream one day I’ll make it there!) So, I hoped that this book would have a lot of miscellaneous details about the sights there, the art and architecture, the people, the food, etc. And in that hope, I was not disappointed. The author writes about Ella’s experiences with all of the above in such detail it almost feels like you’re there with her.

The story itself is well done and gripping. Even for a reader (like me) who tends to favor other genres very different from Romance. But I think this book has enough wit, and enough well-crafted characters and character development, in a truly different type of story, with little nuggets of poetry and classic literature appreciation sprinkled in, to make it stand out.

Lastly, Whelan (the author) also performs the narration on this one as well. Usually when I see that on an audiobook, it makes me wary, but she does a fabulous job. In fact, I was very surprised by how good she really was with all the characters’ voices and the many different accents she had to perform. The accents were not flawless, by any means, but still pretty d@mn impressive and better than some “professional” narrators I’ve heard. ***Edited to add: Okay, apparently Ms Whelan is also an accomplished, award-winning, “professional” narrator herself, so NO WONDER!! I obviously was not aware of that when I originally wrote the above, so please forgive my ignorance, but do enjoy this fab listen either way!!***

Overall, I’d recommend this book to any fans of the Romance genre, especially those who like a little more substance in their stories; I’d also recommend to any other anglophiles out there who might enjoy reading about, or have dreams (or obsessions) of England. Fans of classical poetry and/or literature might also find enjoyment in this, as there are many quotes from and discussions of both throughout the book.

Wow! So good I'll say it backward. ! woW

I expected a narrator's first novel to be a little slow, to have a trite romantic plot and shallow characters. I couldn't have been more WRONG!

It has deep, complex characters whose personalities are intricately woven into the plot. Her descriptions are vivid. You feel as if you KNOW Oxford. You are IN the English pub.

I waited until the very end to review because my review would have been different if the ending had been different. But it was perfect.

Her narration was brilliant. She did a multitude of accents, kept the story moving and the would levels were even. A top notch job as usual.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable novel. I highly recommend it and will be looking for more from Julia Whelan.