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  • When a Child Is Born

  • A Chronicles of St. Mary's Short Story
  • By: Jodi Taylor
  • Narrated by: Zara Ramm
  • Length: 32 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (1,815 ratings)

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When a Child Is Born cover art

When a Child Is Born

By: Jodi Taylor
Narrated by: Zara Ramm
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Summary

The time-travel series that everyone's talking about.... Jodi Taylor's The Chronicles of St. Mary's is back with a short story.

It's Christmas Day 1066, and a team from St Mary's is going to witness the coronation of William the Conqueror. Or so they think.... However, history seems to have different plans for them, and when Max finds herself delivering a child in a peasant's hut, she can't help wondering what history is up to.

Jodi Taylor is and always has been a history nut. Her disinclination to get out of bed for anything after 1485 can only be overcome by massive amounts of chocolate and sometimes, if it's raining, not even then.She wanted to write a book about time travel that was a little different and, not having a clue how difficult this would make her book to classify, went ahead and slung in elements of history, adventure, comedy, romance, tragedy, and anything else she could think of. Her advice to booksellers is to buy huge numbers of her books and just put one on every shelf.

©2013 Jodi Taylor (P)2015 Audible, Ltd

What listeners say about When a Child Is Born

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    1,234
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Story
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 1 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of the best free gifts from Audible to date

This is one of four, currently free shorts by one of my favorite authors. Jodi Taylor is quite simply one of the best British sci fi/fantasy writers out there. I've recommended the series to friends and they've passed it on to theirs. I was initially put off by the hype and beautiful but very pink cover of the first book because I associated it with chick-lit. Needless to say I was wrong, unless you can't stand a heroine rather than a hero, this series should appeal to both men and women. In-fact, while Taylor has her own style, her intelligence, humor, intense love of history and ability to present things to the reader that have huge dramatic impact in a very matter of fact manner, most reminds me of Ben Aaronovitch. Zara Ramm is a really talented narrator, bringing the whole thing to life. You need to listen to the series in order, there are twists and turns that keep the fourth book as fresh as the first, so I'm not reviewing the individual story plots. My recommendation would be to search under Jodi Taylor and download these while Audible is still offering them for free. If you are new to the series you may wish to consider buying the first book in kindle format from Amazon because at the time of writing this review, it was much cheaper to buy both the kindle and then the audible version at the reduced price this gives you, than just buying the audio book itself but you need to make sure this is still the case
.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Christmas Gift from St Mary 's to Democracy

Another brilliant episode in this thoroughly engaging series beautifully read as ever by Zara Ramm. The only complaint I can mske about all the books in the series is that they are over far too soon. Zara Ramm's narration is absolutely perfect. 10 out of 10...more please!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A fun time travelling story

This is a fun time traveller story from a series of novels. I do appreciate the free short stories audible offers from time to time. They are a great way to find out if I'm going to enjoy an author without committing to a long listen.

Zara Ramm is fine as a narrator.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Everyday a special child is born.

Another story that adds to the saga of the Chronicles of St Mary's. Entertaining and and to the point, with all the usual unexpected occurrences, that take the story in unusual directions, for the reader's delight.

Well read as usual by the usual cast.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

short but sweet

A nice sweet read, or rather listen. cute little story works best alongside the others.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Another great short story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would first recommend the whole St Mary's series and then this as a companion story.

What other book might you compare When a Child Is Born to, and why?

There are 2 other short stories from the series currently available which are just as good.

What does Zara Ramm bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

I really enjoy her portrayal of Max. She really brings the character to life.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful. Just lovely.

Thank you Jodi Taylor for a heart-warming interlude. I can't wait for the next one.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Not as interesting as I'd expected.

Sadly, the reading is a bit monotonous in tone and the story itself is less than exciting... I think you'd probably have to be a devoted history geek to appreciate it, and that's simply not my field. Ah well.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A nice addition to the series

I love this series , it's so perfect for my commute that I've taken the addition of these short stories as an excuse to re listen to the whole series through in order.

This is a nice short story, full of the usual mix of action, sweet moments and humour. I hope there are many more.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Y
  • 29-12-16

Serendipitous Time Travel

This was a good short story from St Mary's Chronicles Stable and it stands alone so therefore can be listened to whenever. Max is still calamitous, however, she has a more softer tone in this story. Enjoyed it, now on with the others. Zara Ramm is always brilliant at narrating.

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2 people found this helpful