Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • The Morning Gift

  • By: Eva Ibbotson
  • Narrated by: Kate Lock
  • Length: 16 hrs and 18 mins
  • 3.6 out of 5 stars (53 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.
The Morning Gift cover art

The Morning Gift

By: Eva Ibbotson
Narrated by: Kate Lock
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 £17.99

Buy Now for £17.99

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 Secret Countess cover art
A Song for Summer cover art
Magic Flutes cover art
Madensky Square cover art
The Star of Kazan cover art
The Friendly Air cover art
The Four Last Things cover art
The Light Years cover art
A Family Affair cover art
Voyage of Innocence cover art
Villa on the Riviera cover art
The Poisonwood Bible cover art
The Frozen Lake cover art
Villa in Italy cover art
The Complete Short Stories cover art
The President's Hat cover art

Summary

Ruth lives in Vienna and is wildly in love with Heini Radik, a brilliant young pianist. When Hitler’s forces invade, Ruth’s family flees to London, but she cannot get a passport.

Quin, a young professor and friend of the family, visits Ruth and offers a marriage of convenience. On their return to London, Quin begins to fall desperately in love with her. But then Heini turns up.…

©1993 Eva Ibbotson (P)2013 W F Howes Ltd

What listeners say about The Morning Gift

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    24
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    10
Performance
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    17
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    15
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    30
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    2

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

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

This is the worst narrator I have Ever listened to

Would you try another book written by Eva Ibbotson or narrated by Kate Lock?

The narrator was so awful that I found it impossible to get beyond the first chapter, therefore I cannot comment on Eva Ibbotsons work. May I suggest Kate Lock is better suited to narrating children's books?

What was most disappointing about Eva Ibbotson’s story?

See above

Would you be willing to try another one of Kate Lock’s performances?

Never.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Morning Gift?

Not applicable.

Any additional comments?

None

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

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

Beautiful story RUINED by this narrator

Who gave this narrator the job
There must have been no editor or producer to supervise
Absolutely terrible narration. The voices for the characters, tempo. Sentiment. All terrible
Ruined the story completely

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

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

Appalling narration

I love this story. It's one of my favourite books ever, and when I saw it on Audible I was excited to buy it, but the narration is so unbearable I couldn't possibly listen to it - and I gave it a good chance, in hopes of it acquiring some redeeming features. It did not. The characters' voices are just horrendous: rich, complex characters with great intelligence reduced to caricatures with horrible whiny faux-Austrian accents. The problem is this is narrated as if it's a book for 7 year olds, when it is not a children's book at all. I don't even agree with its recategorisation to YA to be honest but that's a separate point.

All in all, wonderful, beautiful story. Horribly narrated. I'm terribly disappointed.


Addendum: out of interest I searched for reviews of other books narrated by Kate Lock and every single book I looked at had poor reviews for narration. I really hate to say this, but I will remember her name as I would be 100% put off by listening to any book narrated by her.

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
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Atrocious Narration

This is a wonderful book. I was really looking forward to listening to it, unfortunately it was ruined by really bad narration. The narrator puts on a fake Austrian accent for much of the book which ruins the personalities of the characters and is unbearable to listen to. I gave up in the end. Such a shame that more attention is not given to the quality of narration - I'm sure Kate Lock is capable of a lovely performance

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
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

torture yo my ears

This was a book club read and I decided to have an audio version so that I could listen to it while cooking and washing up as I find it hard to find time to sit and read.
Right from the beginning the narrator grated on my nerves. She over exaggerated every character's accent which turned them into characatures. She made Ruth sound like an old lady or a simpering idiot and totally ruined my enjoyment of the romance between her and Quin. it was like being in an episode of Allo Allo at times!!!
I had to stick with it as I didn't want to purchase the book when I had already bought the audio. It was however torture to the ears from start to end. I believe that this narrator should stick to narrating children's books. A well written and interesting book was reduced to a joke. Judging by the reviews I am not alone in my thoughts about this narrator. It has made me wary about purchasing any more fiction audible books. I will certainly read the reviews beforehand from now on.

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
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A great book spoilt

I love Eva Ibbotson and this book but this a painful rendition. I usually listen to audio books at bedtime but I find this version actually stressful to listen to. The way the characters are voiced is both irritating and a poor reflection of the way their characters are described.

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
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing book, ruined by narrator

As all the other reviews say! The narrator puts on AWFUL voices for each character, completely ruining their personalities and the overall story. However the story is one of my favourites. Read the book instead!

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
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Sweet

Quite sweet but a bit of a standard love will out story with every silly obstacle and misunderstanding that in all books of this I’ll

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

Still loved listening to it the second time

Great audiobook - if you love a romance then this is for you! I have listened to it twice and enjoyed it equally both times

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

unlistenable

I love Eva Ibbotson but couldn't get close to finishing due to ludicrous OTT narration

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!