Marriages Are Made in Bond Street
True Stories from a 1940s Marriage Bureau
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Marriages Are Made in Bond Street
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Narrated by:
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Patience Tomlinson
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By:
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Penrose Halson
About this listen
In the spring of 1939, with the Second World War looming, two determined 24-year-olds, Heather Jenner and Mary Oliver, decided to open a marriage bureau. They found a tiny office on London's Bond Street and set about the delicate business of matchmaking. Drawing on the bureau's extensive archives, Penrose Halson - who, many years later, found herself the proprietor of the bureau - tells their story and the stories of their clients. We meet a remarkable cross section of British society in the 1940s: gents with a 'merry twinkle', potential fifth columnists, nervous spinsters, isolated farmers seeking 'a nice quiet affekshunate girl' and girls looking 'exactly' like Greta Garbo and Vivien Leigh, all desperately longing to find 'The One'. And thanks to Heather and Mary, they almost always did just that.
A riveting glimpse of life and love during and after the war, Marriages Are Made in Bond Street is a heartwarming, touching and thoroughly absorbing account of a world gone by.
©2016 Penrose Halson (P)2016 Macmillan Digital AudioListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Marriages Are Made in Bond Street
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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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs. L. J. Twomey Acc
- 07-06-19
Evocative
A good book, a great insight into the era. Exceptional detail. It did go on a bit!
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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
- Lucy P
- 21-01-18
Thoroughly enjoyed
Engaging, cosy story of a successful 1930s Marriage agency start up.
From the owners’ story, the book moves into individual customers marriage stories. Gets a bit ‘bitty’ as the stories generally can’t connect (how could they?).
Also customer’s and the bureau’s class, race and religion labels are repeated without judgement. Hmmm. Not sure if half of them needed to be repeated - It feels some are included for shock value, not a whole picture. Hence a star taken off.
Overall, a very good listen despite this.
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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
- Nelle
- 22-02-20
LOVELY
Beautifully read and wonderful story. I loved it. i just felt a little cheated at the end, as there was a long list of write ups from the letters/interviewers but no "conclusion" as such.
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