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Perfectly Ordinary People
- Narrated by: Mary Jane Wells, David de Vries, Helen Lloyd, Elizabeth Knowelden
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
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Perfectly Ordinary People
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Summary
In occupied France, two people sacrificed everything. Now their granddaughter has come looking for the truth…
Ruth’s childhood was a happy one, and her family—on her mother’s side—large and loving. But her father’s French origins have always remained a mystery. Now, with aged relatives beginning to die, Ruth decides to research her father’s family before it’s too late.
When she discovers a series of long-lost cassettes, everything she thought she knew about them shatters. The tapes expose an unimaginable truth–an epic wartime story of hidden love and sacrifice, stretching back to occupied France.
These long-buried confessions will rock Ruth’s family—and finally piece together the puzzle of her father’s heritage. But are any of them ready for the truth?
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What listeners say about Perfectly Ordinary People
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
- Sigrin
- 07-01-23
No ordinary book.
Firstly the narrators were simply outstanding they bought life and meaning to this marvellous book.
I have listen and read many books on WW2, but this tackled a subject that no other book in this genre has, and that is homosexuality in the war and post war.
It is all so beautifully and empathetically written, and deeply touches your emotions.
When you start you are not sure where it’s going, as it is set in the present with an Irish English family set in London and there rather funny interactions
I note there are criticism of this part with accents etc but this is an essential part of the book and grounds you as the book takes you back to the war years.
This book is like no other and I am so pleased I stumbled on it. It is simply outstanding and you will not be disappointed.
I feel bereft it’s over and jealous of any one starting it.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jem16
- 17-10-22
A different aspect of WW2
This story has some necessarily horrific content, but I really liked the main characters. It was fairly easy to guess who they were and that they would make it through eventually, but the interlinked narratives of Genny, Pierre and Guillaume on the one hand and Ruth and her contemporary family on the other kept the interest going. Beautiful, compassionate writing, which deals with an aspect of the Second World War and its times not often thought about.
The French-accented narration of Genny’s story and Marie, her interviewer, was impeccable. I found the voices used for the modern day family, especially Ruth and her father, to be a bit overly brash - almost comedic, and could have been toned down a little. But that didn’t really detract from my enjoyment of this book.
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1 person found this helpful
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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
- Cheryl Settle
- 16-10-22
Wonderful…!
I don’t usually go into words but I am making an exception here. This is quite simply a wonderful story. Funny and light and uplifting, but incredibly moving too. I know this is fiction but the war time accounts of the characters’ experiences is based on fact and therefore all the more shocking. Well done Nick Alexander 👍
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1 person found this helpful
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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
- Betty Bookworm
- 28-09-22
Wonderful and inciteful read
The narration was fabulous and kept you gripped throughout
The story was very informative and details a history of the war and homosexuals that I never knew a lot about . The story is wrapped around a number of tragedies which happened during WW2 , along with the outcomes in present day
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1 person found this helpful
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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
- Jonathan s.
- 25-09-22
Compelling moving well narrated
Written and narrated beautifully, a compelling story of the war as experienced by the characters. Gave new insight into the atrocity of war and the resilience needed to survive it and the aftermath. A very good listen from start to finish.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Christineb
- 11-08-22
A strange story
I didn't enjoy this story The present day storyline was just silly and extremely corny trying to hard to contrast the narration was terrible for the granddaughter The war story was just strange narration better but not for me
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1 person found this helpful
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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
- Ali W
- 23-09-23
A wonderful story, spanning three generations
I was gripped very early on with this book. I usually listen as I’m driving, but ended up binge listening at home.
It’s heartbreaking in parts, reminding us just how cruel the world can be. I felt like I really knew the characters and would have loved for the ones no longer here to know their loved ones were happy.
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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
- jackpot
- 22-07-23
Perfectly Ordinary People
I've read lots of books by Nick Alexander and love them all. This is my favourite so far. What a beautiful read. I cried buckets. it was written well and narrated brilliantly. It's definitely a must-read.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 26-03-23
A complex story, long and slow at times
Although a powerful story, I felt some chapters dragged on longer than necessary and at times I lost interest in what was being said.
Accents not always easy to listen to, Igor didn’t sound Polish at all.
Irritated at the wrong pronunciation of Mulhouse, which any French speaker will tell you rhymes with Toulouse…
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- villager
- 08-03-23
insightful, moving, heavy and light
loved the story. so we'll written, so engaging. Not a mystery, you knew where the lives were to connect,, but a powerful, compelling, extremely touching story.
On the narration - The performance of the story teller and journalist was very engaging, but the narration of the Londoners was pretty cringe worthy. However, because of the power of the story, I could mostly overlook this poor portrayal
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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
- Lesley
- 10-06-23
But not an Ordinary story!
Loved this story! The narrator was brilliant and the story profound, horrifying, eye-opening, heart warming and inspiring. A must read!!
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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
- Robinsuey
- 11-02-23
Loving characters
I hesitate to say I like any holocaust story. There is nothing to like about the holocaust, and this story had extremely disturbing, appalling atrocities. I cried through most of the story, however, I loved the characters and wanted them to find happiness.
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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
- Commoncent$
- 08-12-22
Choked up
This has a dual timeline of WWII Germany and the persecution of LGBT members (pink triangles) by the Nazis. The modern timeline is 1986 London immersed with a typical big, fun-loving, loud, English-Irish family. When their estranged French grandmother dies, her granddaughter realizes she missed an opportunity to know her and sets out to find just a wee bit of history but stumbles upon an extraordinary secret that rocks their lives, and things are never the same (sorry for the cliche)
Truth be told, I found myself leaning forward while listening to the audiobook as if I was watching TV, lol!!
The narrators SOLD this story so well (Mary Jane Wells, David de Vries, Helen Lloyd, Elizabeth Knowelden) I felt like this was my family or this could be anyone's family and the secret - I know this has to be real/factual on some level. But it's the aftermath of the secret that is so compelling, so thought-provoking. One of the themes that come across is family doesn't require a membership of blood, identity is a concept and that love & sacrifice are powerful forces. I almost cried at the end...and I'm so very thankful for my perfectly ordinary people.
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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
- LMH
- 03-12-22
Slow start
I’ve loved all this author’s titles but this one started off slow for me and I contemplated giving up. I’m glad I persevered. The story eventually got me hooked and it was a satisfying one.
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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
- Lucy McGoo
- 18-10-22
Fascinating historical fiction
Wonderful story of a family finding their origins and discovering secrets long buried because of so much personal and political trauma. Intensely sad and miraculous at times, and most definitely worth reading.
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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
- Susan
- 22-09-22
Best narration
I feel funny, even calling it narration. It was storytelling at its finest. The narrators brought the story to life. It was all ready to amazing story. Particularly the narrator who voiced Ruth, truly fabulous.
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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
- Jasmine
- 31-08-22
Engaging and important story that was well told
Great performance and lovely historical fiction. I laughed and cried and learned about experiences during WWll that aren't often talked about.
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