A Very Real Story

This story took me a bit to get into because it was sad. Mom died, can't get pregnant, depressed lady. But it was very real and since my mom had died when I was a teen, and I struggled early on with infertility, I related well and became caught up. I do recommend!!!

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Great Book

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Great plot, writing and character development.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Helen was honest and real and vulnerable and strong.

What does Tanya Eby bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A sense of irony and wryness.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

I cried out loud.

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I can't believe I listened to the end

Sappy story, but Catholic readers might enjoy. Heavy on the religious references. Narration was decent.

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Heartwarming

I was caught up into this story immediately. Certainly opened my mind about the adoption system in China!

Helpful read for prospective adopting parents

Readers interested in adopting and people dealing with the loss of a family member would possibly find this book very helpful and interesting. At my age I am not interested in adopting. I prefer to have to extrapolate myself rather than listen to a blow by blow narration. Some readers would love the detail and enjoy the numerous levels of familial relationship. When I start a book unless it is very bad I finish listening so I listened to the very end. The ending was predictable.

heart warming

it is a story of how cancer can affect generation after generation. Also, how a mother's love is so big that it can spread even when it is not your own blood but from your heart.

Wonderful must read

A story with such a big range of emotions, ranging from sisterhood, death, adoption and faith. I couldn't put it down.

Narration could be better.

What would have made Daughters for a Time better?

Better narration

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Narration was so rushed sometimes and exhausting to listen to. The sing-song manner did not help as well.

Emotional and Personal Story of Adoption

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

As an adoptive mother, I was very interested in this story. It is well narrated, The story tells of the emotion and pain of infertility. It tells of emotional growth and the joy of adoption and motherhood. it is worth reading if you are considering adoption.

Would you ever listen to anything by Jennifer Handford again?

Yes she is a very fine story teller. I enjoyed her narration.

Could you see Daughters for a Time being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

not a movie story.

Potential squandered

This is a good story and Handford is a good storyteller. The narrator did an excellent job. My problem was that, after about the the first couple of hours, I'd had about all I could stand of the unrelenting self-absorption, self-centeredness and self-pitying of Helen, the central character of this book. She really spoiled the story for me only because she was so endlessly whiny and self-pitying. I do understand that the author had beset this poor woman with many woes in her childhood and young adulthood, but her life wasn't exactly horrible. I just got so sick of her endless self-pity. Even when she did things "right," she still seemed terribly self-absorbed and constantly ready for life to deal her another blow.

And, of course, it did. And in the end, she grew up and grew a backbone, so I suppose that was the point. But she was very annoying.

I very much enjoyed the part of the book that dealt with the adoption of her first child from China. That was very interesting.

It's not that I don't think you should buy the book, but I was mildly distracted by Helen.