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Prodigal Summer
- Narrated by: Barbara Kingsolver
- Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins
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Prodigal Summer
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Publisher's Summary
Down the mountain, another web of lives unfolds as Lusa Maluf Landowski, a bookish city girl turned farmer's wife, finds herself in a strange place where she must declare or lose her attachment to the land that has become her own. And a few more miles down the road, a pair of elderly, feuding neighbors tend their respective farms and wrangle about God, pesticides, and the possibilities the future holds.
Over the course of one long summer, these characters find connections to one another, and to the land, and the final, urgent truth that humans are only one piece of life on earth.
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- Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
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- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 20
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 19
Animal Dreams is a passionate and complex novel about love, forgiveness, and one woman's struggle to find her place in the world. At the end of her rope, Codi Noline returns to her Arizona home to face her ailing father, with whom she has a difficult, distant relationship. There she meets handsome Apache trainman Loyd Peregrina, who tells her, "If you want sweet dreams, you've got to live a sweet life."
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5 out of 5 stars
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 21
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 19
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 19
Born in the United States, but reared in Mexico, Harrison Shepherd finds precarious shelter but no sense of home on his thrilling odyssey. Life is whatever he learns from housekeepers and, one fateful day, by mixing plaster for famed muralist Diego Rivera. When he goes to work for Rivera, his wife, exotic artist Kahlo, and exiled leader Lev Trotsky, Shepherd inadvertently casts his lot with art and revolution.
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Boring
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The Poisonwood Bible
- Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
- Narrated by: Dean Robertson
- Length: 15 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 210
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 174
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 173
The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it - from garden seeds to Scripture - is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family’s tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Make sure to listen to the sample reading first
- By Mel on 2021-02-09
Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
-
The Bean Trees
- Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
- Narrated by: C. J. Critt
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head-on. By the time Taylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completely unexpected child, a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle, and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity of putting down roots.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
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Unsheltered
- A Novel
- Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
- Narrated by: Barbara Kingsolver
- Length: 16 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 119
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 103
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Story4 out of 5 stars 101
Brilliantly executed and compulsively listenable, Unsheltered is the story of two families, in two centuries, who live at the corner of Sixth and Plum, as they navigate the challenges of surviving a world in the throes of major cultural shifts. In this mesmerizing story told in alternating chapters, Willa and Thatcher come to realize that though the future is uncertain, even unnerving, shelter can be found in the bonds of kindred - whether family or friends - and in the strength of the human spirit.
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2 out of 5 stars
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- A Novel
- Written by: Barbara Kingsolver
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 21 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 646
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 585
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 582
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses.
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What the critics say
"Readers will be seduced by [Kingsolver's] effortless prose." (Publishers Weekly)
What listeners say about Prodigal Summer
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- K.C. Brock
- 2018-07-31
Enlightening and entertaining.
A mostly female cast of characters who were strong and independent, capable and informed, but often preachy and sanctimonious. The male characters may leave a reader feeling emotionally unsatisfied. A well told story showing human scarcity consciousness and animal abundance consciousness.
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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
- C
- 2023-01-24
Wonderful stories woven together
Prodigal Summer was immensely enjoyable. The characters were real and believable. Barbara Kingsolver was heavily invested in their stories.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Twood
- 2018-09-14
Great story
The book was really enjoyable and the readers voice was great. She didn’t change her voice very much which was confusing at first when the stories were switching. I figured it out and it is great!
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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
- Steve
- 2024-02-07
Such a beautiful listen!
I loved this book so much. I such wonderful characters. I only wish there was more.
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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
- 2019-12-03
Beautifully narrated
The story was both captivating and enchanting. It’s narrated beautifully by the author. I highly recommend.
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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
- mike the kite
- 2020-09-15
Awesome
I enjoyed every minute. Masterfully written. And to have Barbara read it with her amazing use of the dialects was an extra treat.
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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
- john ehrlich
- 2023-05-24
Stunning and captivating and engaging
Barbara Kingsolver weaves absolute beauty through this story. Her narration is perfect, too. Will captivate the reader with each word
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Wolfe
- 2019-08-04
just can't listen anymore
I got this right after Where The Crawdads Sing and even though I listened to the sample the authors voice became more intolerable. there is a slight overly sweet and strange affect and the p's just started to make me want to throw the phone. I'm sad because it is probably a good story. as a voice over actor myself I know how important voice is on an audiobook or on educational materials. it has to be almost unnoticeable.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Diane McGuigan
- 2022-10-28
Slow evolving story
Felt it dragged on.
Positively detested the birds tweeting and chirping at every chapter break.
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