Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
Pearl in a Cage
- Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein
- Length: 20 hrs and 32 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
Pearl in a Cage
Buy Now for £16.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
On a balmy midsummer's evening in 1923, a young woman - foreign, dishevelled, and heavily pregnant - is found unconscious just off the railway tracks in the tiny logging community of Woody Creek. The town midwife, Gertrude Foote, is roused from her bed when the woman is brought to her door. Try as she might, Gertrude is unable to save her, but the baby lives.
When no relatives come forth to claim the infant, Gertrude's daughter, Amber - who has recently lost a son in childbirth - and her husband, Norman, take the child in. In the ensuing weeks, Norman becomes convinced that God has sent the baby to their door, and in an act of reckless compassion and lonely desperation, he names the baby Jennifer and registers her in place of his son.
Loved by some but scorned by more, including her stepmother and sister, Jenny survives her childhood and grows into an exquisite and talented young woman. But who were her parents? And why does she so strongly resemble an old photograph of Gertrude's philandering husband?
Spanning two momentous decades and capturing rural Australia's complex and mysterious heart, Pearl in a Cage is the new novel by one of our most talented storytellers.
Listeners also enjoyed...
Editor reviews
Joy Dettman's compelling saga is set in the rural Australian logging town of Woody Creek in the early 1900s, when Gertrude Foote discovers a pregnant woman near the railroad, unconscious and near death. She doesn't survive, but the child does, and is soon taken in by Gertrude's daughter, Amber, and her husband, Norman, who have recently lost their son in childbirth. The fairy tale turns dark, though, as young Jenny suffers under the neglect and abuse of her new mother. Diedre Rubenstein's performance is sharp and precise, bringing deft characterization and heightening the emotions of this brutal tale.
What listeners say about Pearl in a Cage
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- Amazeon Customer DHL
- 03-01-18
Beautifully Read
I like this book initially, and thought the story sounded hopeful, but found it incredibly depressing. The story spent far too much time the some of the characters who weren’t the main person described in the description details, so the story seems to lie it’s way. Then a sudden change in direction really does bring the book to its lowest point in the later stages, so quite disappointed, it is reasonably well written, but I wouldn’t recommend this book on.
But the reader was brilliant, if not for her I would have persisted with it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Botha
- 15-09-14
Would have liked more in the end....
19 CD's on one book and then ended in a way that the listener feels dispointed, like something is missing. The book captures your attention to listen, well written and narrated but ends as if a lot can still be said and explained.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful