Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Iris and Ruby

  • By: Rosie Thomas
  • Narrated by: Rula Lenska
  • Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (130 ratings)
Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Iris and Ruby cover art

Iris and Ruby

By: Rosie Thomas
Narrated by: Rula Lenska
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £16.99

Buy Now for £16.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Forgotten Garden cover art
The Kashmir Shawl cover art
The Girl I Used to Know cover art
The Summer House cover art
The Leaving of Liverpool cover art
Sweet Temptation cover art
The Light Years cover art
The Oceans Between Us cover art
White Gardenia cover art
The Long Gaze Back cover art
The Lost Letters cover art
Pocketful of Dreams cover art
The Women of Primrose Square cover art
The Woman on the Orient Express cover art
Coming Home to Island House cover art
The Corrigan Legacy cover art

Summary

Shortlisted for the Romantic Novel of the Year, 2007.

A story of love, loss, and the distance between three generations of one family, this novel centres on Iris and Ruby, a grandmother and her granddaughter, as they try and make sense of their respective lives.

©2007 Rosie Thomas (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Thomas can write with ravishing sensuality." ( The Times)
"Rosie Thomas is both a subtle and realistic author and her portrait of Iris is never less than absorbing." ( Daily Mail)

What listeners say about Iris and Ruby

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    75
  • 4 Stars
    37
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    65
  • 4 Stars
    21
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    57
  • 4 Stars
    22
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • M
  • 19-10-18

A good read

I loved the story, evocative of place and people. Beautifully read which made the story believable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Shifts in time

This audiobook got me through a week in Disneyland Paris with 2 teenagers - great to have something distracting! It was beautifully read by Rula Lenska. The story flitted very well between the two generations and made me want to escape from Paris to Cairo. The war time scenes were particularly well done and I wondered what stories my mother might tell of her own experiences at that time to her granddaughters. Well worth a listen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful moving story

This is second time I have read this book and found it just as brilliant as the first time m made even better this time with the voice of rula lenski

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Such a lovely story

Well read, easy to follow, a really lovely story of age and adolescence, of endless love, of war and loss, against a background of the streets of Cairo, now and during WWII. Well worth it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

Just not my cup of tea.

I was cajoled by a friend to read something different from my usual fare. She recommended this ( probably as a joke, our tastes in literature differ widely.)
I’m sure it will please those that like this type of book, but not me, I’m afraid. Don’t be put off by the number of stars I have given it. I tried , but failed to get engaged.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Interesting story, but felt rushed at the end

I really enjoyed this book. I like books set in interesting locations and interesting times and this met both of those, woven into the past/present, young/old stories of iris and her granddaughter.
I enjoyed it right until the end, which somehow felt hurried, like the number of words required had been reached and it had to be concluded in a hurry now.
I was left a little dissatisfied and unfulfilled. A lot of books have an epilogue, which gives just a glimpse into how the characters came out of it and a little 'what happened next' round up , I felt that something like that would have given this tale a proper ending and an extra star on the rating from me at least.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Didn’t finish it

This book is well read even if the pronunciation of some Egyptian word are cringe. It is an interesting heart warming story. For me though, the younger main character is just embarrassing, swearing unnecessarily, overly sexual, disrespectful of the culture, self obsessed. I just stopped caring about the story and with 5 hrs to go I’ve given up. I feel I have better things to do with my life than this

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

A truly beautiful story ……

I am not one for reviews although I read them before a purchase. This book however is a must read/listen to …..

Ihave a real love of Egypt and have spent a long time in the country and so this book touched my heart. I am also a History graduate and that too had me hooked from the start!

I have listened to other Rosie Thomas books but this is a triumph!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Wonderful story

Such a beautiful tale - you could almost feel the heat of Cairo and hear the sounds of the every day life there.
The relationship between Iris and Ruby is one every reader ( listener ) will surely enjoy and even though I read this years ago I adored the audio version just as much!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Lovely story beautifully narrated

Beautifully descriptive journey around Cairo and it culture intertwined with a love story and three generations and eras. Very easy to get lost in the story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!