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The Queen of Dirt Island
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Emma Lowe
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
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The Queen of Dirt Island
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Publisher's Summary
“From its opening pages, this book exerts a quiet, propulsive hold over its reader. The three generations of Aylward women will break your heart and then put it back together again.”–Maggie O'Farrell
"This is a generous mosaic of a novel about the staying power of love and pride and history and family."–Colum McCann, author of Apeirogon and Let The Great World Spin
From the multi-award-winning and internationally bestselling author Donal Ryan, a searing, jubilant story about four generations of women and fierce love
The Aylward women of Nenagh, Tipperary, are mad about each other, but you wouldn’t always think it. You’d have to know them to know that—in spite of what the neighbors might say about raised voices and dramatic scenes—their house is a place of peace, filled with love, a refuge from the sadness and cruelty of the world.
Their story begins at an end and ends at a beginning. It involves wives and widows, gunrunners and gougers, sinners and saints. It’s a story of terrible betrayals and fierce loyalties, of isolation and togetherness, of transgression, forgiveness, desire, and love. Of all the things family can be and all the things it sometimes isn’t. The Queen of Dirt Island is an uplifting celebration of fierce, loyal love and the powerful stories that bind generations together.
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What the critics say
“If language — lyric, lovely and funny, steeped in County Tipperary — and women (men come and go, rarely center a chapter and are often useless, sometimes cruel) are of no interest to you, The Queen of Dirt Island is not your next read. Ryan’s book is a celebration, in an embroidered, unrestrained, joyful, aphoristic and sometimes profane style, of both . . . The Queen of Dirt Island gives the women their due, and the reader is rewarded.” -- Amy Bloom, The New York Times Book Review
“Donal Ryan’s The Queen of Dirt Island is a little Irish miracle . . . there’s as much implicit wisdom in these pages about how to live as how to write . . . Ryan has his own emotional range and a way of capturing the largeness of what look like tiny lives but aren’t . . .” -- The Washington Post
“As for Mr. Ryan’s treatment of Saoirse: I do not know of another male writer who has so perfectly captured the experiences and thoughts of a woman as he has. Saoirse’s shades of emotion and thought are poignantly true to life, recognizable, and perfectly conveyed. Further, as we have come to expect from Mr. Ryan, this very fine novel concludes on a note of sweetness and, also, in this case, triumph.” -- Wall Street Journal
What listeners say about The Queen of Dirt Island
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
- Jade D.
- 2023-06-08
LOVED it!!
Hooked in the first few moments! Engaging story with an excellent narrator! Replayed sections of the story for family and friends. Just fantastic. Roared with laughter at moments, wish I could move in with this family!
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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
- Maureen Godfrey
- 2023-11-10
Great book.
Great story and exceptional narration. i'm sure listening to the the audiobook is better than reading the book because of that.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2024-10-07
Only so so
Not a spectacular story or performance. It’s very piece meal story I struggled from start to finish. I don’t know what is the theme or the main character of the story.
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