Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

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.
The Lost Letters of Aisling cover art

The Lost Letters of Aisling

By: Cynthia Ellingsen
Narrated by: Aoife McMahon, Stephanie Cannon
Try for £0.00

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

Buy Now for £27.59

Buy Now for £27.59

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 Winemaker's Secret cover art
The Promise of Rain cover art
The Last Boat Home cover art
When We Were Sisters cover art
Lovers at the Museum cover art
A Heart Like Home cover art
The Choice I Made cover art
Dry Spells cover art
The Monstrous Misses Mai cover art
The Lost Memories cover art
When the World Goes Quiet cover art
Long Time Dead cover art
A Piece of Heaven cover art
Friends in Napa cover art
The Shell House Detectives cover art
The Waves Take You Home cover art

Summary

A woman faces the past she fled in a heart-stirring novel about unforgettable love and indomitable courage by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Lighthouse Keeper.

Rainey’s grandmother makes a startling request: Take me home. To Ireland, the country she fled post-World War II. Though they’re inseparably close, Rainey knows few of her grandmother’s secrets. Until they arrive at Aisling—the majestic estate on the southern coast of Ireland where her grandmother was raised—and Rainey discovers a collection of seventy-year-old letters in a trunk.

Dublin, 1945. The Germans surrender, celebrants crowd the streets, and fourteen-year-old Evie meets her best friend, the spirited Harding McGovern. Years on, they are more like sisters when rumors begin that Harding works in the black market trade—a source of wealth that could give her a dream life in America but could also cause great danger. Evie is uncertain of the truth but will stand by Harding, whatever the cost.

As Rainey uses the letters to reunite her grandmother with the past, what unfolds is a never-forgotten story of family, friendship, and love, and the healing that comes from letting go of secrets.

©2024 Cynthia Ellingsen (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Rich and evocative, The Lost Letters of Aisling is a portrait of true friendship and the long-reaching sacrifices made to protect the ones you love. A beautiful blending of past mysteries and present betrayals, fans of Karen White will adore this book.”—Susan Crandall, author of Whistling Past the Graveyard and The Myth of Perpetual Summer

What listeners say about The Lost Letters of Aisling

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

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

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing.

This is a story about Evie a 96 year old woman returning to Ireland from the US after an absence of over 75 years, accompanied by her American grand-daughter.

The storyline moves between 1945 - 52 to the present day. The main character, Evie meets a girl called Harding in Dublin in 1945 when both were teenagers, they eventually become friends.

The portrayal of Evie, aged eighteen in 1949, and Harding was silly. Evie behaved / spoke more like a seven year old child.

The narration by Aoife McMahon was disappointing at times. She used a "sing song" childish voice more suitable to a young child. This narrator is always superb, she makes stories come alive. Maybe she was narrating in such a childish voice because it suited the author's silly childish text for an eighteen year old woman.

The narration of Rainey, the American grand-daughter, by Stephanie Cannon was harsh American, however it softened during the story, thankfully.

While the story is fictional, historical facts should be accurate. In chapter one Evie comments about the uniforms of the "American soldiers who had questioned us at the blockade leading into the city" There were no American soldiers on duty in the Republic of Ireland during WW11 or officially at any other time.

Overall a mixed audio book. It had nice moments, especially as the story progressed. However it was an endurance test in the beginning to continue listening to a silly, immature girl, I nearly abandoned the book.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!