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The Kingdoms
- Narrated by: Theo Solomon
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
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The Kingdoms
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Summary
Bloomsbury presents The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley, read by Theo Solomon.
Come home, if you remember.
The postcard has been held at the sorting office for 91 years, waiting to be delivered to Joe Tournier. On the front is a lighthouse - Eilean Mor, in the Outer Hebrides.
Joe has never left England, never even left London. He is a British slave, one of thousands throughout the French Empire. He has a job, a wife, a baby daughter.
But he also has flashes of a life he cannot remember and of a world that never existed - a world where English is spoken in England and not French.
And now he has a postcard of a lighthouse built just six months ago, that was first written nearly 100 years ago, by a stranger who seems to know him very well.
Joe’s journey to unravel the truth will take him from French-occupied London to a remote Scottish island and back through time itself as he battles for his life - and for a very different future.
Critic reviews
"I loved the vivid and intricate alternate universes of The Kingdoms, and the flawed and complicated people who inhabit them." (Katherine Addison)
"At once fiercely original, joyous and horrifying, The Kingdoms is an awe-inspiring feat of imagination and passion which had me in tears by the end." (Catriona Ward)
"The Kingdoms is an intricate and complex but ultimately very satisfying read, blending time slip and historical fiction with the pace of a thriller and the sweetness of a love story. A unique book." (Sinead Crowley)
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What listeners say about The Kingdoms
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- M Hauge
- 20-10-21
Mot sure about this one
I have had all 4 books by Natasha Pulley as audio books, and the first 3 I really enjoyed. I think this one was too complicated in audio format. At least for me, as I usually do other stuff at the same time as I listen.
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2 people found this helpful
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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
- N. Follett
- 18-11-21
Eh.
A bit underwhelming. Can't tell if that was meant to be a twist. Also couldn't really figure out... well, basically the main character isn't very well characterised, which is a bit of an oversight considering the plot.
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1 person 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
- LiteraryLover
- 27-11-21
Very creative storyline and so we'll told.
Very creative storyline and so we'll told. I was hooked from the start! Excellent character development. it could've ended in so many ways, but I was delighted when it kept going.
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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
- Edmund Paddington
- 12-09-22
Loved it
I've just finished The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley on Audible. I loved this book so much, by the end I found the room had become very dusty - so dusty indeed we must have been decorating or something.
It is classic Natasha Pulley, demanding much from the reader both intellectually and emotionally, skilfully weaving magical reality with plausible history. The first act is simplistic and straightforward, as befits the viewpoint of the character, but from then on the narrative structure opens up, the timeline is anything but straightforward and an emotional and narrative complexity and subtlety is revealed.
One of the sections in the centre of the book I found especially hard to read, fanning to life as it did the withered embers of my patriotism. One of the central mysteries of the book is well telegraphed and so the revelation when it was eventually reached was a little bit of a let-down, however the book still has some surprises up its sleeve and reached a conclusion which was satisfactory. I'm trying hard not to give anything away, if that's not obvious!
Just a word on the narration. I found the style hard to get along with initially, as it was spoken in the manner and style that you might read a Mister Man book to a class of 5 year olds. At the suggestion of some of the reviews on Audible, I sped it up to 1.1x which helped enormously. It's not all bad though, accents sounded authentic and each character was faithfully and consistently performed throughout the book, which I really came to appreciate in the closing chapters.
Overall, well worth your time and your Audible credit.
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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
- Kazzakirk
- 17-07-21
Clever writing as ever from Natasha Pulley
Clever writing as ever from Natasha Pulley. I’m a bit of a dozer and found I had to keep going back a couple of chapters and then decided to go right back to the beginning and start again as I kept losing the gist, with dates, places etc changing from chapter to chapter. Very complex piece of writing and once again a clever & great story by Natasha Pulley.
Narration was excellent- Theo Solomon has a lovely velvety voice and great phrasing which suits Natasha’s style of writing. Excellent
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4 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
- V. O'Regan
- 09-02-22
Wonderful and strange
This is an awesome novel that plays with alternative history and time slips in a unique way.
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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
- kimlouise
- 27-02-22
Love it
The only criticism, is that if in book form , I’d be able to flick back and forth to remind myself where I am ! In time that is !
This is beautiful. Magical . I’m going to listen again immediately
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- mandy
- 11-04-22
Sometimes confusing but overall loved it
I have loved all of her books so far and this one didn’t disappoint. It confused me now and again with the timelines but that because I’m listening to it rather than reading it.
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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
- Anonymous User
- 31-08-23
Yet another fantastic story by Natasha Pulley
I've previously read her 3 other books, they're all fantastic, great voice actor too!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- alboran
- 03-08-21
fantastic story, disappointing narration
I loved this story, I enjoyed previous books by Natasha Pullley and this one is as good. However for the first time ever I had to stop listening to the narration around the middle of the book , got a printed copy and finished it by reading. I can't put my finger on what exactly didn't work for me in the performance. Maybe it is a matter of personal chemistry. The narrators voice annoyed me and he didn't sound invested in the characters. I tried speeding it up as suggested in another review here but this didn't help either. I would definitely recommend the book but not this performance.
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