Farthing
Small Change, Book 1
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Farthing
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Narrated by:
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John Keating
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Bianca Amato
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By:
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Jo Walton
About this listen
One summer weekend in 1949 - but not our 1949 - the well-connected "Farthing set", a group of upper-crust English families, enjoy a country retreat. Lucy is a minor daughter in one of those families; her parents were both leading figures in the group that overthrew Churchill and negotiated peace with Herr Hitler eight years before. Despite her parents' evident disapproval, Lucy is married - happily - to a London Jew. It was therefore quite a surprise to Lucy when she and her husband, David, found themselves invited to the retreat. It's even more startling when, on the retreat's first night, a major politician of the Farthing set is found gruesomely murdered, with abundant signs that the killing was ritualistic.
It quickly becomes clear to Lucy that she and David were brought to the retreat in order to pin the murder on him. Major political machinations are at stake, including an initiative in Parliament, supported by the Farthing set, to limit the right to vote to university graduates. But whoever's behind the murder, and the frame-up, didn't reckon on the principal investigator from Scotland Yard being a man with very private reasons for sympathizing with outcasts and looking beyond the obvious. As the trap slowly shuts on Lucy and David, they begin to see a way out - a way fraught with peril in a darkening world.
©2006 Jo Walton (P)2011 Audible, Inc.Critic Reviews
What listeners say about Farthing
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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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- soo jay
- 28-01-2017
Promised much, but disappointing
I expected this book to be an interesting exploration of post-war Britain in the "what if the Nazis had won" mode. Very superficial treatment of that theme so the story ends up not much more than a typical "murder at the Manor house".
The reading performance was mixed; the female reader was excellent and really seemed to understand her character. The male narrator was irritatingly wooden and seemed to be reading the book for the very first time.
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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
- S
- 14-08-2016
Unexpectedly enjoyable.
What made the experience of listening to Farthing the most enjoyable?
I am a audio book addict. That means I am constantly searching for new titles. This one was a shot in the dark, but the story, narration and plot were out of the ordinary.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The translation of history is altered to imagine a world in which political persuasions are dramatically different. This enabled many possibilities within the plot.
Any additional comments?
I didn't expect to enjoy it, but I am now purchasing the second in the series.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- The McBeans
- 30-03-2023
Engaging counterfactual
If it is at times too taken up with details of the case to be solved it is also, and more importantly, a dissection of English social culture at its core perhaps best thought of as part 1 of a more comprehensive work.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- David Maher
- 18-03-2022
I feel cheated.
Beware! This is an incomplete story that can not stand alone. it should be marketed as a "to be continued," or an "episode", not a novel. To find out what happens you will need to buy the next book.
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