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Pomfret Towers
- Narrated by: Yonnie Fraser
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
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Publisher's Summary
Pomfret Towers, Barsetshire seat of the earls of Pomfret, was constructed, with great pomp and want of concern for creature comforts, in the once-fashionable style of Sir Gilbert Scott's St Pancras station. It makes a grand setting for a house party at which gamine Alice Barton and her brother, Guy, are honoured guests, mixing with the headstrong Rivers family, the tally-ho Wicklows, and, most charming of all, Giles Foster, nephew and heir of the present Lord Pomfret. But whose hand will Mr Foster seek in marriage, and who will win Alice's tender heart?
Angela Thirkell's classic 1930s comedy is lively, witty, and deliciously diverting.
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- Constance
- 08-15-15
Sheer delight
Any additional comments?
This is an old fashioned, innocent, but intelligent and witty story of a young woman's coming of age, an Edwardian weekend house party, and a beautiful old country estate. Sound familiar? It is, but written with a light touch. Painfully shy Alice, her impetuous brother, a horsey and kind hearted best friend, an utterly un-dashing heir, and an older generation with its own array of quirks. Readers who enjoy Jane Austen will find many similar pleasures in Thirkell's stories.
18 people found this helpful
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- Douglas
- 08-24-16
Another Great Offering...
by Thirkell. She does have some stock types that seem to show up in each novel (brusque but lovable father, dim-witted but good hearted mother, someone absolutely inept with dogs), but the charm and humor abound in every novel too. This one is no exception!
4 people found this helpful
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- TX lilbit
- 09-27-15
Bad narrator
Is there anything you would change about this book?
Thirkell wrote subtly witty cute little stories. The publisher's comparison with Barbara Pym is perfect. This narrator ruins the book, stripping all humor out of the dialogue. It's clear she doesn't even know it's there.
Would you be willing to try another one of Yonnie Fraser’s performances?
No.
Did Pomfret Towers inspire you to do anything?
try to find another Angela Thirkell book narrated by someone else.
12 people found this helpful
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- Marina
- 09-17-17
Almost spoiled
This is a charming story, like all Thirkell's Barsetshire frivolities, but the reader has a terrible habit of pausing at odd places, playing merry heck with the sense of Thirkell's lovely sentences. Irritating enough that I stopped, and only finished listening two years later when I'd run out of everything else to listen to on a long drive. It's not Thirkell's best, but it's perfectly decent, except for the reader's idiosyncracy.
3 people found this helpful
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- wanda reimer
- 08-03-16
Pomfret Towers
A good story with dry houmer ,really funny at places.Very well read by the performer.
3 people found this helpful
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- Nancy E.
- 05-14-22
marvelous story
but the performance is sub par unfortunately.
I love Thirkell's books and re-read them occasionally; this person has no understanding of how the books go. Also, her breath control is all over in volume and she swallows words.
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- A Reader
- 04-23-22
Wonderful escape into another world
The story is so rich, I couldn't predict the ending at all. That is a lovely result because so many books are way too obvious about the denouement. I thought the narrator was very good as well.
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- MLE
- 10-09-17
delightfully sly
swell introduction to the series and a splendid narrator. highly recommended. delightful production, period flair.
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- Tab
- 04-15-15
Wonderful Book, Poor Narrator
I was delighted to see that Angela Thirkell's books are being released on audio in the UK (they've been available in the USA for some time), but I wonder why a different narrator has been used for this one, than for Wild Strawberries. Yonnie Fraser does not do a good job of this (unlike the really wonderful Hilary Neville, who narrates Wild Strawberries). Her character voices are all slightly wrong, and she has a slightly jerky and monotonous way of reading that is very offputting. It spoiled what is one of my favourite Thirkell novels.
5 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 10-05-19
An excellent read.
A very well read and intelligent book which gave much pleasure.
Not perhaps to everyone’s taste, but thoughtfully portraying human feelings and situations, amusingly, and an interesting portrayal of a life and mores of that time and situation.
1 person found this helpful