Exciting read

Exciting read with violent imagery that holds your attention amid the beauty of Crete. Narration good.

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Astonishing

Made a couple of evenings and car journeys fly by! Brilliantly well researched and gripping story. True the narrator mispronounced several Greek and English words, and went a bit gooey on some descriptions, which was mildly distracting, but not enough to spoil it! Otherwise excellent reading of a period piece. I agree that the producers should have known better, especially cyclamen! Forgive her; not her fault!
Mary Stewart is amazing and I shall read more!

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Degree in Classics required

I could not finish this story. Usually I am a great admirer of Mary Stewart and her works but to understand this one I would need a degree in Classics and a library of Greek myths and legends. It's such a shame as I had been saving this Audible as a treat but although I do have a small knowledge of the tales of Ancient Greece I just couldn't relax and enjoy this particular offering.

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Great

I enjoyed everything about this Audible production. The narration was clear and the story had me hooked

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Spoilt by mispronunciations

I don't blame the narrator - she read well. It was the job of whoever commissioned her to check the correct pronunciation of Greek words and to make sure that she used them. Practically every Greek word apart from the obvious - Delphi and Athens - were mispronounced with the stress falling in the wrong place. I found it very distracting, especially when spoken by Simon who is supposed to be a Classical scholar and speaker of modern Greek but apparently couldn't even pronounce Arachova correctly. Shame.

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optional?

not my favourite. A bit too much Greek and Greece . The description very good but the reading a bit over the top and the story better in the last quarter

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Terrific

A terrific thriller, beautifully read. Jasmine Blackborow does justice to Mary Stewart’s wonderful descriptions of the countryside around Delphi, and to her vivid writing as the tensions mount to a nail-biting finale. Don’t be put off by the age of this novel: it is timeless and still gripping.

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Classic story-odd narration.

I know the book well, so no surprises there. But the narrator manages to make the two main characters sound like OAPs rather than the late twenties/early 30s they’re supposed to be. It’s really off-putting.

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enjoyable

This was a bit dated, but still an enjoyable mystery romance. The plot was straight forward, nicely atmospheric, the characters engaging and the narrator pleasant.

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Excellent, I really did save the best till last...

Christmas came early in August for Mary Stewart aficionados this year, with the release of four unabridged novels at once. Apart from the very real disappointment of The Ivy Tree, it's been a great month, and this really is 'saving the best till last'
Another reviewer has said the narration disappointed as it sounded as if Camilla and Simon were pensioners. I can (sort of) understand where they are coming from, but don't think I agree. This book is 60 years old this year, and the action takes place in a Greece where the memories of the Second World War are still very fresh, and very raw. Watch any film of that time and you realise that voices have changed a lot in the intervening 60 years.
Simon, a man who wears grey flannels (bet he calls them 'bags'), and teaches Classics to 'his house' in a minor public school, is not your modern 21st Century man. On the other hand, he is one of Stewart's not overtly romantic but essentially kind, practical and tough heroes that are really rather nice - the type of man you would always want at your side when in trouble. For me, his voice sounds about right, as does Camilla's, another of-her-time young woman who smokes whenever she has the chance and has a major crisis of confidence in her life at the outset of the book.
I'd not heard Jasmine Blackborow before and think she handles the cast of characters really well, with a special mention of Stephanos, and the narration of both the early scene where he describes Michael's death to Simon, and the later rather Homeric finale in the quarry.
This is an excellent book, bringing Delphi - or the Delphi of 60 years ago anyway - to life with mystery, some sadness and some real beauty, particularly in the bright citadel. And it's well read. What more could we ask?
And there's four more to come in November to complete the set...
Thanks Audible (oh, and if you can see your way to re-recording The Ivy Tree I'd be eternally grateful...) Pretty please?

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10 people found this helpful