The Silk Factory
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The Silk Factory
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Narrated by:
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Antonia Beamish
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By:
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Judith Allnatt
About this listen
A beautiful and eerie story of love and memory from the author of The Moon Field.
Anyone who’s ever lost someone is haunted
Rosie Milford inherits a house in an old silk factory after her mother’s death and moves there with her young children. The discovery of a shocking truth about her own childhood, when she is already reeling from the breakup of her marriage, fills her with distrust and fearfulness. Then she starts seeing a strange child, wandering in the garden, who seems as lost as she is.
In 1812, silk master Septimus Fowler has grand plans to keep his factory in step with the industrial revolution: he will plant mulberry trees, rear silkworms and import new mechanized looms. Orphan Beulah Fiddement works as a bobbin winder and has secrets that the master would go to any lengths to get. Caught up in a dark adult world of illicit love, rebellion and revenge, Beulah must put away her childhood and draw on all her spirit to protect those she loves.
Beulah’s story of guilt and bravery will echo down two centuries and change Rosie’s life as she struggles to overcome the hand of her own past and find redemption.
©2015 Judith Allnatt (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
‘There is so much to love about The Silk Factory – an utterly compelling story, a fascinating setting, characters you care about deeply. Judith Allnatt is a wonderfully warm and empathic writer, with a real feeling for the thread of the uncanny that runs through our lives’ Margaret Leroy author of The Soldier’s Wife
'Fascinating and tender’ Catharine Arnold, author of Globe: Life in Shakespeare's London
Praise for The Moon Field:
‘Genuinely and deeply moving’ THE TIMES
‘Deeply engaging and unsentimental…really memorable’ CHARLES PALLISER, author of The Quincunx
Praise for The Poet’s Wife:
‘Allnatt gives her an affecting, beautifully written afterlife’
THE TIMES
‘'This is a beautifully written, poignant novel, lyrically descriptive of the landscape, detailed in the country life of the time and reminiscent of the gentle style of the genius peasant poet'
CHOICE MAGAZINE
Praise for A Mile of River:
'A novel of rare insight, exquisitely written. A standing ovation for this debut’ Michael Morpurgo
‘'Excellent…The writing is restrained but powerful and the description of that remorseless heat is masterful’
NEW BOOKS MAGAZINE
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,257
Young Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a strange letter arrives summoning him away from his family. He is to begin an apprenticeship as a bookbinder - a vocation that arouses fear, superstition, and prejudice among their small community, but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse. For as long as he can recall, Emmett has been drawn to books, even though they are strictly forbidden. Bookbinding is a sacred calling, Seredith informs her new apprentice, and he is a binder born.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Just wow
- By RUKiddingMee on 05-18-19
By: Bridget Collins
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Summer
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Grace Conlin
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 682
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 566
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Story4 out of 5 stars 562
Wharton's most erotic and lyrical novel, Summer explores a daring theme for 1917, a woman's awakening to her sexuality. Eighteen-year-old Charity Royall lives in the small town of North Dormer, ignorant of desire until the arrival of architect Lucius Harney. Like the succulent summer landscape in the Berkshires around them, Charity's romance is lush and picturesque, but its consequences are harsh and real.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent first audible purchase!
- By lilyglint on 08-23-04
By: Edith Wharton
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A Change of Climate
- A Novel
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Sandra Duncan
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 93
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Story4 out of 5 stars 77
Ralph and Anna Eldred are an exemplary couple, devoting themselves to doing good. 30 years ago as missionaries in Africa, the worst that could happen did. Shattered by their encounter with inexplicable evil, they returned to England, never to speak of it again. But when Ralph falls into an affair, Anna finds no forgiveness in her heart, and 30 years of repressed rage and grief explode, destroying not only a marriage but also their love, their faith, and everything they thought they were.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautifully written
- By Patricia S. on 10-11-15
By: Hilary Mantel
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The Bermondsey Bookshop
- By: Mary Gibson
- Narrated by: Anne Dover
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 179
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 163
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 160
Set in 1920s London, this is the inspiring story of Kate Goss' struggle against poverty, hunger and cruel family secrets. Her mother died in a fall, her father has vanished without trace, and now her aunt and cousins treat her viciously. In a freezing, vermin-infested garret, factory girl Kate has only her own brave spirit and dreams of finding her father to keep her going. She has barely enough money to feed herself, or to pay the rent. The factory where she works begins to lay off people and it isn't long before she has fallen into the hands of the violent local money-lender.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A glimpse into the past
- By Luci-Lu on 10-27-21
By: Mary Gibson
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The Playground
- A Novel
- By: Jane Shemilt
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 149
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 129
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Story4 out of 5 stars 128
Over the course of a long, hot summer in London, the lives of three very different married couples collide when their children join the same tutoring circle, resulting in illicit relationships, shocking violence, and unimaginable fallout. There’s Eve, a bougie earth mother with a well-stocked trust fund; she has three little ones, a blue-collar husband, and is obsessed with her Instagrammable recipes and lifestyle.
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5 out of 5 stars
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remarkable
- By lisa on 01-10-20
By: Jane Shemilt
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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 1,670
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,512
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,510
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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The Woman in the Green Dress
- By: Tea Cooper
- Narrated by: Casey Withoos
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 216
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 185
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Story4 out of 5 stars 185
After a whirlwind romance, London teashop waitress Fleur Richards can’t wait for her new husband, Hugh, to return from the Great War. But when word of his death arrives on Armistice Day, Fleur learns he has left her a sizable family fortune. Refusing to accept the inheritance, she heads to his beloved home country of Australia in search of the relatives who deserve it more.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Haunting 6- Star Review
- By Victoria J. Mejia-Gewe on 06-09-21
By: Tea Cooper
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Girl in Hyacinth Blue
- By: Susan Vreeland
- Narrated by: Loren Lester, Sheryl Bernstein
- Length: 5 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 209
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 134
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Story4 out of 5 stars 134
A professor shows a colleague a painting that he has kept secret for decades. The professor swears it is a Vermeer - but why has he hidden this important work for so long? The reasons unfold in a series of stories that trace ownership of the painting back to World War II and Amsterdam, and still further back to the moment of the work's inspiration.
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4 out of 5 stars
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wonderful
- By Sybil on 04-07-03
By: Susan Vreeland
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The Parisian
- By: Isabella Hammad
- Narrated by: Fiona Button
- Length: 20 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 166
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 140
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Story4 out of 5 stars 142
A masterful debut novel by Plimpton Prize winner Isabella Hammad, The Parisian illuminates a pivotal period of Palestinian history through the journey and romances of one young man, from his studies in France during World War I to his return to Palestine at the dawn of its battle for independence.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Overly ambitious
- By Placeholder on 06-16-19
By: Isabella Hammad
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The Story of Lucy Gault
- By: William Trevor
- Narrated by: Katherine Borowitz
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 68
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4 out of 5 stars 55
The Story of Lucy Gault traces the repercussions of a child’s attempt to remain in her beloved home.Threatened with a move from Ireland to England, 9-year-old Lucy runs away, setting off a series of misunderstandings that will eventually touch each inhabitant of her village.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A Most Heart warming read
- By Elizabeth K. Morse on 12-12-11
By: William Trevor
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The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted
- By: Robert Hillman
- Narrated by: Daniel Lapaine
- Length: 9 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 77
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Story4 out of 5 stars 77
It is 1968 in rural Australia and lonely Tom Hope can't make heads or tails of Hannah Babel. Newly arrived from Hungary, Hannah is unlike anyone he's ever met - she's passionate, artistic, and fiercely determined to open sleepy Hometown's first bookshop. Despite the fact that Tom has only read only one book in his life, the two soon discover an astonishing spark. Recently abandoned by an unfaithful wife - and still missing her sweet son, Peter - Tom dares to believe that he might make Hannah happy.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Listener beware
- By Little old lady from Iowa on 06-11-23
By: Robert Hillman
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Fludd
- A Novel
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 90
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Story4 out of 5 stars 79
One dark and stormy night in 1956, a stranger named Fludd mysteriously turns up in the dismal village of Fetherhoughton. He is the curate sent by the bishop to assist Father Angwin - or is he? In the most unlikely of places, a superstitious town that understands little of romance or sentimentality, where bad blood between neighbors is ancient and impenetrable, miracles begin to bloom. Fludd becomes lover, gravedigger, and savior, transforming his dull office into a golden regency of decision, unashamed sensation, and unprecedented action.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Small, tight irreverant novel that wryly inverts
- By Darwin8u on 07-21-13
By: Hilary Mantel
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Foster
- By: Claire Keegan
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 1 hr and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 709
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 607
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 604
It is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A child is taken by her father to live with relatives on a farm, not knowing when or if she will be brought home again. In the Kinsellas' house, she finds an affection and warmth she has not known and slowly, in their care, begins to blossom. But there is something unspoken in this new household—where everything is so well tended to—and this summer must soon come to an end.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A story that will stay with me a long time
- By CTKG on 11-01-22
By: Claire Keegan
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All for Nothing
- By: Walter Kempowski, Anthea Bell - translator, Jenny Erpenbeck - introduction
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 55
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
In East Prussia, January 1945, the German forces are in retreat, and the Red Army is approaching. The von Globig family's manor house, the Georgenhof, is falling into disrepair. Auntie runs the estate as best she can since Eberhard von Globig, a special officer in the German army, went to war, leaving behind his beautiful but vague wife, Katharina, and her bookish 12-year-old son, Peter. As the road fills with Germans fleeing the occupied territories, the Georgenhof begins to receive strange visitors - a Nazi violinist, a dissident painter, a Baltic baron, even a Jewish refugee.
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5 out of 5 stars
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All for Nothing
- By Lynn on 03-16-19
By: Walter Kempowski, and others
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Named of the Dragon
- By: Susanna Kearsley
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 793
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 725
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Story4 out of 5 stars 717
The charm of spending the Christmas holidays in South Wales, with its crumbling castles and ancient myths, seems the perfect distraction from the nightmares that have plagued literary agent Lyn Ravenshaw since the loss of her baby five years ago. Instead she meets an emotionally fragile young widow who's convinced that Lyn's recurring dreams have drawn her to Castle Farm for an important purpose - and she's running out of time.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Not Kearsley's best
- By Sindy on 06-27-16
By: Susanna Kearsley
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All the Murmuring Bones
- By: A.G. Slatter
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 282
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 250
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 249
Orphaned as a young child, Mirin O'Malley has been brought up by her grandparents on their isolated, rambling estate Hob's Hallow. Long ago her family prospered due to a deal struck with the mer, the terrifying creatures who live in the depths of the sea: safety for their merchant ships in return for a child of each generation. But for many years the family have been unable to keep their side of the bargain and their fortunes have suffered as a result. When Mirin's grandfather dies, her grandmother puts in train a plan to restore their glory - but at the price of Mirin's freedom.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Drags on and on.
- By Amanda Turner on 04-10-21
By: A.G. Slatter
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Fifteen Postcards
- The Old Curiosity Shop, Book 1
- By: Kirsten McKenzie
- Narrated by: Tracey Llewelyn
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 409
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 376
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 374
Determined to save the antiques store she has inherited from ruin after the unexplained disappearance of her parents, Sarah Lester discovers a jumbled collection of vintage postcards that leads her on a journey through time. Unprepared for the story the postcards weave about their reclusive former owner, Sarah’s life is thrown into disarray as she is transported to Victorian London, colonial New Zealand, and to the British Raj in 19th-century India.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Disappointing and disorganized
- By Miranda on 03-16-22
By: Kirsten McKenzie