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Mad Hatter
- Essential Prose, Book 164
- Narrated by: Amanda Hale
- Length: 14 hrs and 35 mins
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Mad Hatter
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Summary
When British hat manufacturer Christopher Brooke is arrested under Regulation 18B in June 1940, a slow process of personal disintegration begins, affecting his family irreversibly.
Taking us into the pre-war political era of Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, Mad Hatter delves into the lives of Britons, tracking them through a darkening time.
Irish farm girl, Mary Byrne, arrives in England in July 1940 to work as housekeeper for Cynthia Brooke and her three children, bonding with the family. When Mary is shockingly expelled from the house upon Christopher's release from internment in 1943, her narration continues through the mouth of 15-month-old Katie, conceived on a prison leave.
Mad Hatter follows the Brooke family into the postwar period, charting the slow unraveling of a marriage as the story moves inexorably to a tragic conclusion in which Mary Byrne is once again embraced by the family, but in a most surprising manner.
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What listeners say about Mad Hatter
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
- Angela
- 13-05-21
Dark. Brooding. Excellent.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. It's well researched and regales us with a part of history from the Second World War within Britain that I was not aware of (namely, fascist sympathisers). The writing was dark and brooding, but there were plenty of touching moments, and funny moments, to not make it overly depressing. Told from multiple POV's, and spanning many years, Hare has really accomplished something quite unique.
I'm normally quite hesitant to listen to the audio of a book that is narrated by its author, but Hare has done a really good job with this and has a lovely, soothing voice.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request via Audioboom and have voluntarily left this review.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 22-09-20
A very good read!
This book is about the darker side of WW2 that is not so well known. It is extremely
well written with very vivid concise descriptions of each situation that one can easily empathise with it and believe that the author was part of it herself.
I work as a volunteer at Chartwell, Churchill’s family home, so it was a very relevant subject for me to know more about and some of the feelings towards Churchill
at the time.
The book is easy to listen to and who could be better to read the story but the author herself.
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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
- James Williams
- 01-08-20
A Gripping Experience
With its wonderful descriptions beautifully read by Amanda Hale, with her gift of different accents, we felt as though we were IN the story and didn’t want to pause it - even for a second!
We would recommend it to anyone.
Ginny & Jim
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Kerry Bark
- 21-05-21
Ok, but a bit slow and monotonous
This was a difficult book to get through, the narrator (the author) did their best to bring it to life but the narrative was occasionally overly detailed, and repetitive. But each character was well designed and given life in their dialogue.
Give it a listen and see what you think. You may enjoy it more than I did.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review
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