The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder
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The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder
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Narrated by:
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Judith Ivey
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By:
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Rebecca Wells
About this listen
Now Wells debuts an entirely new cast of characters in this shining stand-alone novel about the pull of first love, the power of life, and the human heart's vast capacity for healing.
The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder is the sweet, sexy, funny journey of Calla Lily's life set in Wells's expanding fictional Louisiana landscape. In the small river town of La Luna, Calla bursts into being, a force of nature as luminous as the flower she is named for. Under the loving light of the Moon Lady, the feminine force that will guide and protect her throughout her life, Calla enjoys a blissful childhood - until it is cut short. Her mother, M'Dear, a woman of rapture and love, teaches Calla compassion, and passes on to her the art of healing through the humble womanly art of "fixing hair". At her mother's side, Calla further learns that this same touch of hands on the human body can quiet her own soul.
It is also on the banks of the La Luna River that Calla encounters sweet, succulent first love, with a boy named Tuck. But when Tuck leaves Calla with a broken heart, she transforms hurt into inspiration and heads for the wild and colorful city of New Orleans to study at L'Académie de Beauté de Crescent.
In that extravagant big river city, she finds her destiny - and comes to understand fully the power of her "healing hands" to change lives and soothe pain, including her own. When Tuck reappears years later, he presents her with an offer that is colored by the memories of lost love. But who knows how Cally Lily, a "daughter of the Moon Lady", will respond?
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Editorial reviews
Bouncy, chirpy, and brave, Calla Lily Ponder faces life's joys and tragedies in the '50s and '60s in La Luna, Louisiana, with help from her hairdresser mother, M'Dear; her best friends, Renee and Sukey; and a delightful cast of the wise and likable characters Wells (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood) is known for. Judith Ivey's performance is a pure joy - sweet, hopeful, and tender. Her interpretations are completely winning, whether she's describing terrible instances of racism or offering M'Dear's down-home wisdom. Ivey makes it easy to believe in Calla Lily's messages from "The Moon Lady" or the effects of her miraculous healing hands. Ivey's accents ring true, her characters have substance, her voice is lovely, and her timing is perfect. An audio gem.
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light southern fiction
- By suzanne on 02-08-13
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Orange Mint and Honey
- By: Carleen Brice
- Narrated by: Cherise Booth
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
After grad school, Shay Dixon feels like she's had enough for awhile. Inspired by her spiritual adviser - a soul-soothing blues player named Nina Simon - Shay calls her estranged mother Nona for the first time in years, and shocks herself by asking if it would be okay to come home for a while.
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4 out of 5 stars
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One For The Money
- By DiaRose on 09-25-17
By: Carleen Brice
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Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
- By: Rebecca Wells
- Narrated by: Judith Ivey
- Length: 14 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,125
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 987
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 980
When Vivi and Siddalee Walker, an unforgettable mother-daughter team, get into a savage fight over a New York Times article that refers to Vivi as a "tap-dancing child abuser", the fallout is felt from Louisiana to New York to Seattle. Siddalee, a successful theater director with a huge hit on her hands, panics and postpones her upcoming wedding to her lover and friend, Connor McGill. Vivi's intrepid gang of lifelong girlfriends, the Ya-Yas, sashay in and conspire to bring everyone back together.
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5 out of 5 stars
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As usual the book is better than the movie
- By Denzil and Judy's Account on 03-25-10
By: Rebecca Wells
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Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen
- By: Susan Gregg Gilmore
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 242
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 218
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Story4 out of 5 stars 212
In the latest novel from Susan Gregg Gilmore, sometimes you have to return to the place where you began to arrive at the place where you belong.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Not what I expected but........
- By Coach "J" on 03-11-16
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Plantation
- A Lowcountry Tale
- By: Dorothea Benton Frank
- Narrated by: Susie Breck
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 463
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 393
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 390
When Caroline Wimbley Levine learns that her mother, Miss Lavinia, has supposedly gone mad, she leaves the big city bustle of Manhattan and returns to Tall Pines Plantation. Caroline originally left Tall Pines to escape her feisty, eccentric mother and her drunken brother, Trip. When Miss Lavinia dies, Caroline is forced to come to terms with her family's troubled history as well as her failing relationship with her husband.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Abridged!!
- By Teresa on 04-18-16
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Trading Dreams at Midnight
- By: Diane McKinney-Whetstone
- Narrated by: Shari Peele
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Diane McKinney-Whetstone, the award-winning and best-selling author of Tumbling, presents Trading Dreams at Midnight - - an Essence Book Club Recommended Read. Back in 1984, 15-year-old Neena's mother left and never came back. And now Neena is following in her footsteps.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Hard to follow
- By Nevada on 08-13-10
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The Sweet By and By
- A Novel
- By: Todd Johnson
- Narrated by: Becky Ann Baker, Adriane Lenox, Robin Miles, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 90
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
Among the longleaf pines and family farms of eastern North Carolina, days seem to pass without incident for Margaret Clayton and Bernice Stokes until they discover each other in a friendship that will take them on the most important journey of their lives. Margaret, droll and whip smart, has a will of iron that never fails her even when her body does, while Bernice, an avid country-music fan, is rarely lucid.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Great 2/3 of a book.
- By Tracy on 07-09-12
By: Todd Johnson
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The Star Side of Bird Hill
- By: Naomi Jackson
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 90
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 82
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Story4 out of 5 stars 82
Two sisters, ages 10 and 16, are exiled from Brooklyn to Bird Hill in Barbados, after their mother can no longer care for them. The young Phaedra and her older sister, Dionne, live, for the summer of 1989, with their grandmother, Hyacinth, a midwife and practitioner of the local spiritual practice of obeah. Dionne spends the summer in search of love, testing her grandmother's limits, and wanting to go home. Phaedra explores Bird Hill, where her family has lived for generations.
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5 out of 5 stars
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My absolute favorite book of all time
- By Eme on 07-16-15
By: Naomi Jackson
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Tar Baby
- By: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Desiree Coleman
- Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 303
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 257
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 261
Jadine Childs is a Black fashion model with a white patron, a white boyfriend, and a coat made out of ninety perfect sealskins. Son is a Black fugitive who embodies everything she loathes and desires. As Morrison follows their affair, which plays out from the Caribbean to Manhattan and the deep South, she charts all the nuances of obligation and betrayal between Blacks and whites, masters and servants, and men and women.
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5 out of 5 stars
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So good that I'm writing my first Audible review!
- By BL on 12-10-11
By: Toni Morrison
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How to Bake a Perfect Life
- A Novel
- By: Barbara O'Neal
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 156
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 137
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 136
In a novel as warm and embracing as a family kitchen, Barbara O’Neal explores the poignant, sometimes complex relationships between mothers and daughters - and the healing magic of homemade bread. Professional baker Ramona Gallagher is a master of an art that has sustained her through the most turbulent times, including a baby at 15 and an endless family feud. But now Ramona’s bakery threatens to crumble around her. Literally. She’s one water-heater disaster away from losing her grandmother’s rambling Victorian and everything she’s worked so hard to build.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good Listen...
- By L.W. on 08-03-13
By: Barbara O'Neal
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The Pull of the Moon
- By: Elizabeth Berg
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Berg
- Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 105
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 94
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 95
In the middle of her life, Nan decides to leave her husband at home and begin an impromptu trek across the country, carrying with her a turquoise leather journal she intends to fill. The Pull of the Moon is a novel about a woman coming to terms with issues of importance to all women. In her journal, Nan addresses the thorniness - and the allure - of marriage, the sweet ties to children, and the gifts and lessons that come from random encounters.
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4 out of 5 stars
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For women over 50
- By Laura on 07-07-15
By: Elizabeth Berg
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Liberating Paris
- A Novel
- By: Linda Bloodworth Thomason
- Narrated by: Cynthia Darlow
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
Woodrow McIlmore, the town's golden boy and local gynecologist, is married to his beautiful high school sweetheart, Milan, and seems by all appearances to be leading the perfect life with his two children and extended family and friends. But when Wood's daughter announces that she is smitten with a college classmate and intends to marry him, her parents are stunned.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Deeply moving, a great listen
- By Cynthia on 11-27-05
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The Other Side of Paradise
- A Memoir
- By: Staceyann Chin
- Narrated by: Staceyann Chin
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 194
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 179
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Story5 out of 5 stars 176
Stacyann Chin has appeared on television and radio, including The Oprah Winfrey Show , CNN, and PBS, discussing issues of race and sexuality. But it is her extraordinary voice that launched her career as a performer, poet, and activist. Here, she shares her unforgettable story of triumph against all odds in this brave and fiercely candid memoir.
No one knew Staceyann's mother was pregnant until a dangerously small baby was born on the floor of her grandmother's house in Jamaica, on Christmas Day.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Incredible life, incredible performer
- By RyRy on 10-21-19
By: Staceyann Chin
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Rush Home Road
- By: Lori Lansens
- Narrated by: Ruby Dee
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 253
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 192
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Story4 out of 5 stars 191
When a 70-year-old woman finds a five-year-old girl abandoned on her doorstep, she is thrust into a sorrowful past that can only be conquered with the help of the girl who opened her memory - the very girl she is trying to save. This first novel, according to author Jacquelyn Mitchard, is one of "exquisite power, honesty, and conviction...quite nearly without flaws."
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1 out of 5 stars
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filthy language and violent content
- By Anna on 12-16-11
By: Lori Lansens
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Garden Spells
- By: Sarah Addison Allen
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,119
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,446
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,457
The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina. Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers.
Generations of Waverleys tended this garden. Their history was in the soil. But so were their futures.
Together again in the house they grew up in, the Waverley sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy - if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom - or with each other.
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4 out of 5 stars
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I so want to give it 5 stars...!!!!
- By Joihelene on 10-09-10
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The Garden of Happy Endings
- A Novel
- By: Barbara O'Neal
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 129
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 114
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 114
In Barbara O’Neal’s novel of hope and renewal, two very different sisters discover that life is like a garden: Tend to it daily, nourish it with patience and optimism, and then watch the beauty unfold. After tragedy shatters her small community in Seattle, the Reverend Elsa Montgomery has a crisis of faith. Returning to her hometown of Pueblo, Colorado, she seeks work in a local soup kitchen. Preparing nourishing meals for folks in need, she keeps her hands busy while her heart searches for understanding. Meanwhile, her sister, Tamsin, as colorful as Elsa is unadorned and steadfast, finds her perfect life shattered when she learns that her husband is a criminal.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Spiritually Stunted
- By Dina on 01-28-14
By: Barbara O'Neal
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How to Be an American Housewife
- A Novel
- By: Margaret Dilloway
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington, Emily Durante
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 238
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 196
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Story4 out of 5 stars 197
How to Be an American Housewife is a novel about mothers and daughters and the pull of tradition. It tells the story of Shoko, a Japanese woman who married an American GI, and her grown daughter, Sue, a divorced mother whose life as an American housewife hasn't been what she'd expected. When illness prevents Shoko from traveling to Japan, she asks Sue to go in her place. The trip reveals family secrets that change their lives in dramatic and unforeseen ways.
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2 out of 5 stars
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big disappointment
- By Kirsten on 04-12-12
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Dear Carolina
- By: Kristy Woodson Harvey
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer, Meredith Mitchell
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 228
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 209
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 206
Frances "Khaki" Mason has it all: a thriving interior design career, a loving husband and son, homes in North Carolina and Manhattan - everything except the second child she has always wanted. Jodi, her husband's 19-year-old cousin, is fresh out of rehab, pregnant, and alone.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Sweet Summer Read
- By Mona-Alisa on 06-10-20
What listeners say about The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Lisa
- 08-20-09
A great read by Judith Ivey
Judith Ivey brings all the characters to life in an amazing performance. Not as sassy as the Ya-Ya's, but more "homespun" like Fannie Flagg's stories.
Having been to New Orleans before, the story takes the reader to many popular attractions I enjoyed revisiting.
I would definitely seek out more Judith Ivey reads and will continue to read Rebecca Wells without considering other reviewers' comments.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Doublerfarm
- 11-12-20
Wonderful!
This was a great listen. I am a true Southerner, born and raised and lived in the South all my life. The story was so true to the South and the narration was the best southern accent I have ever heard on audible books by not being phony or over-exaggerated.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Karen
- 01-18-12
Absolutely Fabulous!
What did you love best about The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder?
Just a wonderful story that brought back wonderful childhood memories for me!
What did you like best about this story?
The description of everything was Great, made me feel like I was there!
Have you listened to any of Judith Ivey’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
no not yet
Who was the most memorable character of The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder and why?
Calla & her girlfriends
Any additional comments?
Wish there was a part 2 to pick-up where this story ended! It needs to continue!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sparkly
- 06-29-15
Not the YaYas
Well it was too much to expect. Enjoyable southern story but I was hoping for one I would love and want to re-read/listen over and over
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Laurie
- 12-06-09
A winner by Wells
I have loved all the books by Rebecca Wells, and this book is no exception. Really a nice story, very touching, and Judith Ivey doesn't just read it, she PERFORMS the book. Great listen.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Linda
- 07-24-09
Entertaining but...
The book started out strong and I didn't want to stop listening, however has it went on, I got the feeling that Calla Lily was a little pious. I actually stopped listening for a couple of days as I felt her "wonderfulness" became too much. Other than that and wishing the ending had been stronger, for the most part the story was entertaining and teh narration was spot on!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bonnie S. Whitley
- 07-23-16
Superior
Calla Lily Ponder is a character you'll never forget. It is a book you can savor, and relish as you experience La Luna. The narrator did and excellent job with the dialect of the south. I may just listen to this one again!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mrs. Marrrtinez
- 04-30-23
Loved the narration
The characters voices and the story were both great!! I found the Louisiana accent very calming while listening to the book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 12-05-12
Great.
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Laughed and cried listening to this wonderful story! I thought it was great and want more.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Marisela
- 01-23-15
It good book...Good Author
I liked it. I've always enjoyed her books.
However in parts of the book...it dragged. I had to fast forward. Also, I really didn't like the voices that narrator used for the male characters.
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3 people found this helpful