River of Destiny cover art

River of Destiny

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
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.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

River of Destiny

By: Barbara Erskine
Narrated by: Gina Peach
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
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.
Cancel

About this listen

From the bestselling author of Time’s Legacy and Lady of Hay comes a thrilling new novel, River of Destiny, an epic story that spans Anglo Saxon Britain, Victorian Suffolk and the present day.

Perfect for fans of Kate Mosse’s Labyrinth.

On the banks of the River Deben in Suffolk are ancient barns dating back to Anglo Saxon times – within these walls lie secrets that have been buried for centuries.

New arrivals Zoe and Ken move into one of the converted barns, ready to start a life away from the hustle and bustle of the city. To the outside world they seem happy, but they are growing further apart by the day. Meanwhile the strange presence Zoe feels within their home and the ghostly shapes she sees through the cloying mists on the river are getting harder to ignore.

Nearby, farmers are ploughing the land beside the river and human bones are found. Are they linked to the Victorian tragedy the locals whisper about? The secret of the grassy mound has remained untouched through history, but now that it’s been disturbed, will there be devastating consequences?

©2012 Barbara Erskine (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers Limited Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Psychological Small Town & Rural Fiction

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Hiding from the Light cover art
Whispers in the Sand cover art
Sleeper's Castle cover art
The Dream Weavers cover art
The Ghost Tree cover art
Kingdom of Shadows cover art
Echoes of the Runes cover art
The Lady of the Loch cover art
The Witch's Tree cover art
Daughter of the Mists cover art
Watch for Me by Moonlight cover art
The Wind Chime cover art
Beyond the Moon cover art
The Witch's Knight cover art
Trade Winds cover art
The Silent Touch of Shadows cover art
All stars
Most relevant  
Another really good book from Barbara. I love all the twists and turns and the different characters she creates in her stories. Now I'm on the hunt for another good read. This book has such lovely indepth plot, with lots of other storylines going on. I really enjoyed this book, and I imagine I will hear of them on audible.

Great book. Good reading choice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’ve no problem with the storyline jumping around, but the editing was so tight that it often seemed to jump from present day to Anglo Saxon times within a sentence!

Over zealous editing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not read / listened to Barbara Erskine for a while, I forgot how good she was... Loved the three stories that all entwined, the characters and the narrator... definitely worth a few hours of happy escapism...

Ms Erskine never disappoints

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

Any additional comments?

Even after finishing, I'm still not sure about this one. For me, Barbara Erskine has never topped Lady of Hay or Kingdom of Shadows but as LoH is abridged and KoSh not recorded, thought I'd try it. I lived in that part of Suffolk for over 20 years, and loved hearing the local references, but the story began to drag for me part way through. The narration was ok, even with a couple of strange mispronounciations, and the book did pick up pace later. What lets it down is the production. The whole thing is set around 3 ancient barns, much rebuilt over time and now finally converted to upmarket homes, and a nearby Anglo Saxon burial mound. Echoes and shadows from tragedies in both the Anglo Saxon time and the mid-1800s spill into the present day and lives and memories become entwined. Add to that an aggressive 'right to roam' campaigner who portrays the worst behaviours of townie incomers riding roughshod over local tradition and there's an additional clash. Maybe it was deliberate, for dramatic effect, but the narration moves within the 3 time frames without a pause for breath, sometimes all in the same sentence. That can make it hard to keep up with, but rather than the reading, I suspect that is down to the editing.

Nearly gave up 1/2 way, but pleased I finished

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love the mix of real and ghostly in Barbara Erskines books. This keeps you on your toes.

Barbara Erskine at her best

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Another excellent story that weaves through history. Great story line, had me hooked from the beginning and very well narrated.

Another excellent story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This book is another really good one by my new favourite author, Barbara Erskine. Outwrites all the rest. Well narrated by Gina Peach, but needs to check pronunciations before reading, especially the authors name.

Another amazing book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoyed reading this book, I found it very easy to follow. I was kept on my toes and highly engaged with the subplots. There are many twists and turns to this story to understand before you get to the plot. Excellent pacing, with threads that slowly unwinds as it takes the reader through to a web of mystery, with the many interesting characters which helped the story to unfolds. This is a very well written historical novel!

Well constructed and an enjoyable read!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love her stories the ghostiness is exciting and different. This is a great story that I will re listen to then write a better review.

Barbara Erskine always has a surreal story to tell

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A good story plot though found at times the time shift slightly confusing would recommeand

iver of Destiny<br />

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews