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The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper
- Narrated by: Peter Joyce
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
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The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper
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Summary
Having been married for over 40 years, 69-year-old Arthur Pepper is mourning the loss of his wife. He finally musters the courage to go through her possessions and happens upon a charm bracelet that he has never seen before.
What follows is a surprising adventure that takes Arthur on an epic quest to find out the truth about his wife's life - a journey that leads him to find healing, self-discovery, and love in the most unexpected of places.
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What listeners love about The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper
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
- Rachel Redford
- 16-04-16
A charming delight from start to finish!
Arthur Pepper has been a widower for almost a year. Enveloped in his grievous pain, distanced from his son and daughter, 'empty as an egg without a yolk', he has become imprisoned by his daily routines, watering the pot plant he has named Frederica and trying to avoid Bernadette, the good-hearted neighbour who keeps calling with pies and cakes. That is until he finds a charm bracelet he doesn't recognise as he packs up his wife Miriam's clothes for the charity shop. It's the beginning of a succession of journeys both literal and spiritual.
As he researches each of the charms on the bracelet beginning with the little elephant, Miriam's life before she met Arthur is revealed, a life full of incidents and exotic experiences of which he knew nothing and which initially fill him with hurt. Why did she never tell him? Has their long marriage been a lie? Had he been a disappointment to the wife whom he loved so deeply and who had had such adventures?
The whole is a kind of parable revealed as the story behind each charm brings Arthur closer to learning to reconnect with life once more as he meets people and does things for the first time - things which he could never have imagined possible. Instead of shutting himself away with Frederica, he blossoms as he explores Miriam's early life. His heart heals and opens out and he learns to treasure the happy years Miriam had given him. It's a lovely, uplifting, tender and touching story!
But how lucky is the author Phaedra Patrick having this her first novel read by Peter Joyce! He is one of a handful of the very best audiobook narrators there is. His character voices, accents and phrasing make the listening to all the nuances of emotion in these stories stunningly real - and there is a huge cast of characters for Joyce to bring alive, not just from Arthur's Yorkshire, but from all walks of life and countries including India, Eastern Europe and Australia. Peter Joyce makes this a first class listening experience - a real delight!
19 people 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
- Jenni
- 23-08-17
Such a sweet story
The story was so sweet, of adventure, love, memories and of finding ones self.
There were parts where you wanted to have a good cry and then parts where you were crying with laughter.
It is a really easy read and i hoghly recommended
7 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Czarniecka
- 01-02-17
lovely book and an outstanding performance
It was easy for this book to become a silly, full of clichés read about ups and downs of life, but it's everything but it. It's funny and intelligent and charges the batteries of the reader with a pure optimism. Peter Joyce's performance is incredible, surely one of the best on Audible.
7 people 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
- Mrs S Dunbar
- 26-10-16
Charming story, so different
This is a charming book, lovely descriptive passages without being
boring. Arthur Pepper is typical of his generation, afraid and not always capable of showing or expressing his feelings after the death of his wife of 40 years. Its his journey through grief and finding his self, but not depressing. Its is thought provoking as well as humorous and the narrator conjures up a picture of a bumbling northern man and his discovery that although life as he knew it is over, a new and exciting one is just beginning,
5 people 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
- Kindle Customer
- 12-06-19
lovely heartwarming story with a great performance
lovely, heartwarming story with a great performance. makes you think as well about love and the value of life.
3 people 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
- Dolly
- 28-05-19
Arther Pepper
I absolutely loved this book!
The story is a heart warming journey of a life lived and loved
The story and narration were perfect, un put down able .
3 people 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
- sue
- 18-03-18
A great listen.
Wonderfully narrated. A gentle story of memories intertwined with the unknown. A highly recommended read.
3 people found this helpful
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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
- MRS SYLVIA A MORGAN
- 20-01-20
charming and different
a little light relief from some heavier listening.
interesting storyline well read. good character development.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Rosemary
- 13-06-18
Charmingly different
A story that will linger in your memory. Superbly sympathetic narration does justice to excellent, carefully crafted writing. I absolutely loved it.
2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- MegaMegan
- 08-12-19
Touching
Took me a few chapters to get used to the voice but after that I thoroughly enjoyed this. I laughed out loud a few times too. Really lovely story.
1 person found this helpful