Great read, shame about the narrator

Who's bright idea was it to have an American narrator for what is undeniably an English/England inspired read? The Aussie/cockney accent is atrocious not to mention the complete mispronunciation of English counties and other oddities that we, British born and bred, have enough difficulty with! All that having been said, No Angel is a great read and at 26 hours certainly worth the price of the audio book. Ms Vicenzi has a great way with words and knows how to tell a story and engage the listener and once I stopped sniggering at the mispronunciations etc, found myself eager to listen and enjoy right to the end.

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3 people found this helpful

Book was Ok, but some of the accents were awful

Would you try another book written by Penny Vincenzi or narrated by Carrington MacDuffie?

I would not buy another book, set in England, narrated by Carrington MacDuffie

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The story was OK. It was the awful accents and pronounciation that made it unenjoyable.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Carrington MacDuffie?

As the story was set for at least 95% of the time in England, I would have cast an English narrator. Or, at the very least, someone who could immitate an English accent. To be fair, there were one or two accents that were believable (the totally sterotypical upper class ones), but most were absolutely cringe worthy. I was pleased when one of the characters died because it meant I didn't have to listen to his totally unrealistic voice again.

Names, places and words were mispronounced constantly. I accept that Americans pronounce some words differently, but when an English character is saying things in a way that only an American would, it ruins the flow the story.

Carrington MacDuffie is obviously a very comptetant narrator, but not when it comes to English accents and pronounciations.

Did No Angel inspire you to do anything?

No Angel almost inspired me to return the book for a refund!

The book was good. The storyline was fine. It was the narration that totally spoilt it for me.

I might buy another book by the same author, but I would definitely check who was narrating it first, or buy it in a different format (ie Kindle or 'real' book)

Any additional comments?

It was the narration that spoilt it for me. Most of the accents were painful to the ear.

Why on earth was an American narrator chosen for this project?

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2 people found this helpful

Great story, shame about the narrator

Love these books, so could plough through despite the narrator's terrible attempts at various English accents. I don't think even posh people say "seBAARstian* (Sebastian). And I wish someone had told her we say "proDEWce" not *prod-oose" for produce. I don't mind her American accent, just her "English" ones.

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1 person found this helpful

Spoilt for me by use American narrator for English book!

The book was English through and through, so why oh why pick an American narrator. So many mispronunciations of English words and appalling cockney type accents. Really spoilt my enjoyment of the book.

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No angel

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

Yes it was superb from start to end

What did you like best about this story?

The way it gave you a taste of the problems that the rich and privileged had through out the years leading up too and after the First World War , it is a gripping tale and well worth the time . Excellent novel .

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

She is magnificent bringing both the females and males to life, an exceptional narrator.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Money, power and deceit.

Any additional comments?

The most wonderful book I have listened too this year 5 stars all the way and thank you to Carrington McDuffie for a outstanding narrative .

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Good story pity about the performance.

I was really really looking forward to hearing this book. I have read Penny Vincenzi s books before however the quality of the performance was very disappointing.
The accents the narrator portrayed for the working class where excruciatingly embarrassing. It reminded me of Dick Van Dykes in Mary Popping , so much so that I couldn't continue listening to the story. .

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English book,American accent - why?

This was a lovely book predominantly featuring English aristocracy around the First World War. So why the American accent? It detracted so much from the story that I nearly gave up and read the book instead! Some of the pronunciations were so excruciatingly wrong that I wondered who had edited the audio book? I practically hit the roof over ' Passchendaele' in particular. If you can get over the accent then you'll enjoy the story. It has been difficult to rate the book and I eventually settled on 4 out of 5 - a different narrator would have been 5 stars.

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11 people found this helpful

Good book but AWFUL English accent!!

Shocked at how awful the ‘cockney’ accent is!! Really spoils those characters. Don’t get Americans to read English accents... shockingly bad!

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1 person found this helpful

Good Story

I have read and loved all the Penny Vincenzi books. However this was spoilt by the narrator - why on earth would an American be narrating a book based in England - the English accent was shocking (reminded me of Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins at times!!) Jilly Bond or Sandra Duncan would have been a better choice.

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More Please

The cockney accent very Dick Van Dyke!!! The story riveting - I couldn't stop listening. Penny at her absolute best - the biggest disappointment this is the first of trilogy - when do we do we get the rest I'm hooked on the Lyttons! What happens next?

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2 people found this helpful