The Darling Buds of May
The Larkin Novels, Volume 1
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The Darling Buds of May
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Narrated by:
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Philip Franks
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By:
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H. E. Bates
About this listen
When Cedric Charlton, an unsuspecting tax inspector, arrives at the door of the Pop Larkin farm, he soon forgets the purpose of his visit: The fun-loving Ma and Pop Larkin distract him at every turn with strawberries, cream, alcohol, and their attractive young daughter, Mariette. Well known by the popular TV series starring David Jason and Catherine Zeta-Jones, The Darling Buds of May is the quintessential feel-good country romp. It will have you falling wholeheartedly in love with the Larkin family and their carefree way of life. So grab a bowl of ice cream, pull out a deck chair, and share in the "perficktion" of country life.
Download the accompanying reference guide.©1958 H. E. Bates (P)2015 Naxos AudioBooksListeners also enjoyed...
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By: Stella Gibbons
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East of the Sun
- By: Julia Gregson
- Narrated by: Tania Rodrigues
- Length: 19 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 161
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 112
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Story4 out of 5 stars 113
Autumn 1928. Three young women are on their way to India, each with a new life in mind. Rose, a beautiful but naive bride-to-be, is anxious about leaving her family and marrying a man she hardly knows. Victoria, her bridesmaid couldn't be happier to get away from her overbearing mother, and is determined to find herself a husband. And Viva, their inexperienced chaperone, is in search of the India of her childhood, ghosts from the past and freedom.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Indian history takes a back seat to 3 young women
- By Richard on 05-24-16
By: Julia Gregson
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Behind the Scenes at the Museum
- A Novel
- By: Kate Atkinson
- Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 475
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 416
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 415
Ruby Lennox begins narrating her life at the moment of conception, and from there takes us on a whirlwind tour of the 20th century as seen through the eyes of an English girl determined to learn about her family and its secrets.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Another Kate Atkinson multi-generational story
- By Satisfied Customer on 11-08-18
By: Kate Atkinson
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Owls Do Cry
- By: Janet Frame
- Narrated by: Heather Bolton
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Owls Do Cry is Janet Frame's first novel. She describes her idea behind it in the second volume of her autobiography: 'Pictures of great treasure in the midst of sadness and waste haunted me and I began to think, in fiction, of a childhood, home life, hospital life, using people known to me as a base for main characters, and inventing minor characters.'
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4 out of 5 stars
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well told but a wee bit depressing.
- By Muzza on 11-03-19
By: Janet Frame
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Small Things Like These
- By: Claire Keegan
- Narrated by: Aidan Kelly
- Length: 1 hr and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,767
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,605
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,603
It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man, faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery that forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Charming and Inspiring
- By David P on 09-05-22
By: Claire Keegan
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National Velvet
- By: Enid Bagnold
- Narrated by: Annette Chown
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
National Velvet is a classic tale of dreams, ambition and one girl's belief in a horse. Velvet is mad about horses. When she wins a piebald horse in a raffle, she knows he's something special. His heart is as big as the five-foot fences he jumps, and he'll do anything for Velvet. Soon she and her friend, Mi, have their sights set on the biggest race in England. But can a girl win the Grand National?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Just wonderful
- By Shiloah Baker on 11-18-16
By: Enid Bagnold
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Picnic at Hanging Rock
- By: Joan Lindsay
- Narrated by: Jacqueline McKenzie
- Length: 3 hrs and 1 min
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 103
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 97
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Story4 out of 5 stars 96
St Valentine’s Day, in the midst of the hot summer of 1900, a party of schoolgirls went on a picnic to Hanging Rock. Some were never to return…. An Australian classic, the disappearance of three girls and a schoolteacher at Hanging Rock has captivated and intrigued audiences for generations. Jacqueline McKenzie’s interpretation of the best-selling novel captures all of the beauty of the Rock and illustrates the eerie sense of the unknown for which the story is legendary.
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3 out of 5 stars
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NOT UNabridged!
- By Doreen on 05-09-15
By: Joan Lindsay
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Breakfast at Tiffany's
- By: Truman Capote
- Narrated by: Michael C. Hall
- Length: 2 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13,118
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11,910
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11,891
Golden Globe-winning actor Michael C. Hall (Six Feet Under) performs Truman Capote's masterstroke about a young writer's charmed fascination with his unorthodox neighbor, the "American geisha" Holly Golightly. Holly - a World War II-era society girl in her late teens - survives via socialization, attending parties and restaurants with men from the wealthy upper class who also provide her with money and expensive gifts. Over the course of the novella, the seemingly shallow Holly slowly opens up to the curious protagonist.
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5 out of 5 stars
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"Better to look at the sky than live there"
- By W Perry Hall on 02-12-14
By: Truman Capote
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Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English
- By: Natasha Solomons
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 109
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
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Story4 out of 5 stars 82
At the start of World War II, Jack and Sadie Rosenblum flee Berlin for London with their baby daughter, Elizabeth. Upon arrival, Jack receives a pamphlet from the German Jewish Aid Committee on how to act like a proper Englishman. He follows it to the letter -Saville Row suits, the BBC, trips to Covent Garden, a Jaguar - and it works like a charm. The Rosenblums settle into a prosperous new life.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Endearing
- By Emily on 09-09-11
By: Natasha Solomons
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The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
- By: Jacqueline Kelly
- Narrated by: Natalie Ross
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 540
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 434
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 433
The summer of 1899 is HOT in Calpurnia Virginia Tate's sleepy Texas town, and there aren't a lot of good ways to stay cool. Her mother has a new wind machine from town, but Callie might just have to resort to stealthily cutting off her hair, one sneaky inch at a time. She also spends a lot time at the river with her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist. It turns out that every drop of river water is teeming with life - all you have to do is look through a microscope!
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Lovely Coming of Age Story
- By Julie on 03-13-12
By: Jacqueline Kelly
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Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules (Unabridged Selections)
- By: Edited by David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Mary-Louise Parker, Cherry Jones
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 359
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 216
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Story4 out of 5 stars 217
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories, some classic, others impending, selected and introduced by David Sedaris.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great stories but only 5 of 17 are included
- By Terri Kirk on 07-13-12
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Three Comrades
- By: Erich Maria Remarque, Arthur Wesley Wheen - translator
- Narrated by: Michael Braun
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
The year is 1928. On the outskirts of a large German city, three young men are earning a thin and precarious living. Fully armed young storm troopers swagger in the streets. Restlessness, poverty, and violence are everywhere. For these three, friendship is the only refuge from the chaos around them. Then the youngest of them falls in love and brings into the group a young woman who will become a comrade as well, as they are all tested in ways they can have never imagined.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Love and friendship in a dying world.
- By Tarquin on 03-18-19
By: Erich Maria Remarque, and others
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I Capture the Castle
- By: Dodie Smith
- Narrated by: Jenny Agutter
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,870
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,671
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,671
In this coming of age story, Dodie Smith introduces the visionary and eccentric character of seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortmain. The youngest daughter in a family of impoverished artists, it is her imagination and writing that takes us away from the ramshackle old English castle where they live, and towards an intriguing tale of husband-hunting and light-hearted sibling rivalry.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Well, that was a surprise
- By Matthew on 12-16-13
By: Dodie Smith
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Reflections in a Golden Eye
- By: Carson McCullers
- Narrated by: Christopher Kipiniak
- Length: 3 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 79
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 75
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Story4 out of 5 stars 74
Set on a Southern army base in the 1930s, Reflections in a Golden Eye tells the story of Captain Penderton, a bisexual whose life is upset by the arrival of Major Langdon, a charming womanizer who has an affair with Penderton's tempestuous and flirtatious wife, Leonora. Upon the novel's publication in 1941, reviewers were unsure of what to make of its relatively scandalous subject matter.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Square pegs and round holes
- By Darwin8u on 02-01-20
By: Carson McCullers
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An Irish Country Doctor
- A Novel
- By: Patrick Taylor
- Narrated by: John Keating
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,361
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,876
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,878
Barry Laverty, M.B., can barely find the village of Ballybucklebo on a map when he first sets out to seek gainful employment there, but already he knows that there is nowhere he would rather live than in the emerald hills and dales of Northern Ireland. The proud owner of a spanking-new medical degree and little else in the way of worldly possessions, Barry jumps at the chance to secure a position as an assistant in a small rural practice. At least until he meets Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Something's Missing ... But It's Not the "F Bomb"!
- By Bookworm on 09-06-13
By: Patrick Taylor
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Cocaine Blues
- By: Kerry Greenwood
- Narrated by: Stephanie Daniel
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,042
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,493
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,484
It's the end of the roaring twenties, and the exuberant and Honourable Phryne Fisher is dancing and gaming with gay abandon. But she becomes bored with London and the endless round of parties. In search of excitement, she sets her sights on a spot of detective work in Melbourne, Australia. And so mystery and the beautiful Russian dancer, Sasha de Lisse, appear in her life. From then on it's all cocaine and communism until her adventure reaches its steamy end in the Turkish baths of Little Lonsdale Street.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A series that just gets better
- By Barbara Kindle Customer on 02-01-11
By: Kerry Greenwood
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The Saturdays
- By: Elizabeth Enright
- Narrated by: Pamela Dillman
- Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 376
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 260
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Story5 out of 5 stars 259
The four Melendy children live with their father and Cuffy, their beloved housekeeper, in a worn but comfortable brownstone in New York City. There's thirteen-year-old Mona, who has decided to become an actress; twelve-year-old mischievous Rush; ten-year-old Randy who loves to dance and paint; and thoughtful Oliver, who is just six-years-old.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent for children and adults
- By Dale on 05-15-04
What listeners say about The Darling Buds of May
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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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
- Amazon Customer
- 08-19-23
Philip Franks IS Cedric "Charlie" Charlton!
How wonderful that Philip Franks — who played Charlie on the ITV ultimate version of "The Darling Buds of May" (also starring David Jason, Pam Ferris, and Catherine Zeta Jones) is reading the H. E. Bates' series of Larkin family books! His personal connection to the TV series and incredible skill in narration (PERFICK!) makes this audio book series (this is the first in the series) beyond special. So often book TV / film adaptations are sadly world's apart, but having first seen the TV series, I find these books almost identical in character descriptions, plots, scenes, etc., so kudos to the TV series producers/writers. So if you've already seen the original TV series, you'll not be disappointed in this series of books.
If you've never seen the TV series or are unfamiliar with the books, you will find respite in this world of a large, loving family and their often crazy adventures; a host of unique village neighbors; farm/country life; and the ambiance of 1950s Southeast England — Kent in particular — when rural England was still quite safe, unspoiled, and life was simple but never boring.
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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
- Hayley
- 02-28-24
Perfik!
Narration is fantastic! Mr Frank’s does a wonderful job and really brings the characters to life. This will be a repeat listen for me. What a scream!
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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
- Jennifer Rundlett
- 07-03-23
Loved it!
These stories were totally new to me and I am so glad I discovered them. I am hooked! So very very charming!!
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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
- Amazon Customer
- 04-05-20
Even better read aloud
I recall reading all five of the Larkin books about 30 years ago and loving them. With so much general dread and fear in the world, I thought this would be an ideal time to reread the Darling Buds. The reader was outstanding, particularly differentiating the various English accents. Purfick!
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3 people found this helpful