Length10h 27m
About this audiobook
The New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Room brings a slice of his own family history to life through extensive research and rich storytelling.
Beginning with his great-great-grandfather Abraham Block, acclaimed novelist Simon Mawer sifts through evidence like an archaeologist, piecing together the stories of his ancestors. Illiterate and lacking opportunity in the bleak Suffolk village where his parents worked as agricultural laborers, Abraham leaves home at fifteen, in 1847. He signs away the next five years in an indenture aboard a ship, which will circuitously lead him to London and well beyond, to far-flung ports on the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. In London he crosses paths with Naomi Lulham, a young seamstress likewise seeking a better life in the city, with all its prospects and temptations.
Another branch of the family tree comes together in 1847, in Manchester, as soldier George Mawer weds his Irish bride Ann Scanlon—Annie—before embarking with his regiment. When he is called to fight in the Crimean War, Annie must fend for herself and her children on a meager income, navigating an often hostile world as a woman alone.
With a keen eye and a nuanced consideration of the limits of what we can know about the past, Mawer paints a compelling, intimate portrait of life in the nineteenth century.
Audiobook details
GenreHistorical Fiction, General Fiction
Length10 hrs 27 mins
Narrated bySimon Vance
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJun 20, 2023
LanguageEnglish
More from Simon Mawer
Their Castilian OrphanAnna Belfrage14h 45m$27
With Fire and Sword, The Deluge & Pan MichaelHenryk Sienkiewicz113h 5m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Henry Rider HaggardHenry Rider Haggard694h 14m$2 · $0.00
The Count of Monte Cristo (With Original Illustrations)Alexandre Dumas54h 7m$2 · $0.00
Eagles over BritainLee Jackson12h 26m$23
The Viennese DressmakerKathryn Gauci11h 46m$23 · $0.00
The Man in the Brown Suit & They Came to BaghdadAgatha Christie15h 43m$33 · $0.00
Under the Light of the Italian MoonJennifer Anton12h 28m$23 · $0.00
THE COMPLETE PALLISER NOVELS (All 6 Novels in One Edition)Anthony Trollope172h 46m$2 · $0.00
Jubilee, 50th Anniversary EditionMargaret Walker15h 43m$25 · $0.00
Arch of TriumphErich Maria Remarque15h 51m$28
Serenade for NadiaZülfü Livaneli9h 9m$20
The Complete Novels of Robert L. Stevenson (Illustrated)Robert Louis Stevenson101h 15m$1 · $0.00
Zane Grey - Ultimate Collection: 60+ Western Classics, Historical Novels & Baseball StoriesZane Grey568h 56m$1 · $0.00
The Collected WorksElizabeth Gaskell211h 58m$1 · $0.00
Between Two WorldsUpton Sinclair31h 43m$30
Under the Java MoonHeather B. Moore12h 23m$23
FamilyJ. California Cooper4h 43m$15
Rilla of InglesideLucy Maud Montgomery11h 44m$1 · $0.00
Rilla of InglesideL. M. Montgomery12h 25m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Jane Austen (Unabridged)Jane Austen88h 8m$2 · $0.00
Beyond Temptation & Risky PleasuresBrenda Jackson10h 53m$24 · $0.00
Shōgun, Part TwoJames Clavell29h 16m$40
Showdown in the Big EasyCharles Tillman, Michael Anderle, Martha Carr7h 37m$23
Searching For ThanksgivingS.E. Smith4h 24m$20
Naughty 4Brenda Hampton7h 30m$17
The Dance with Me TrilogyShelley Shepard Gray21h 44m$35
The DopemanJaQuavis Coleman5h 25m$20
Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate CollectionArthur Conan Doyle59h 49m$5 · $0.00
My Favorite Husband, Vol. 1Hollywood 360, CBS Radio5h 40m$14
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m$29 · $0.00
Grand Opening 2Carl Weber9h 16m$20
Sons of Valor II: Violence of ActionBrian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson12h 34m$23
Malevolent MagicMildred Abbott7h 13m$17
Look TwiceEva Hudson9h 48m$20
The Complete Novels of Lucy Maud MontgomeryLucy Maud Montgomery203h 59m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Books of F. Scott Fitzgerald (all his 5 novels + all 4 short story collections published during his lifetime)F. Scott Fitzgerald87h 53m$2 · $0.00
Bikes, Toys, and Hot BoyzGenesis Woods, Shantaé13h 9m$23
The Natchez Burning TrilogyGreg Iles96h 18m$53 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m$33 · $0.00
You may also like
DorothyEvelyn Raymond4h 34m$2 · $0.00
The Possibility of LionsMarta Maretich1h 26m$14.10 · $0.00
Burnt Toast Makes You Sing GoodKathleen Flinn8h 26m$20 · $0.00
Harvesting HopeKathleen Krull9m$1
The Bird HotelMaynard, Joyce12h 12mFree
Red-RobinJane Abbott8h 4m$1 · $0.00
The KeptJames Scott12h 10m$29 · $0.00
Roy : A tale in the days of Sir John MooreAgnes Giberne8h 1m$2 · $0.00
Round about a Pound a WeekMrs. Pember Reeves4h 21m$2 · $0.00
Orphaned Yet Unbroken: 3 Classics of Orphans' ResilienceHenry MacMahon, Harriet Martineau, L. T. Meade9h 14m$2 · $0.00
What Maisie KnewHenry James11h 36m$21
The Life and Times of Kateri Tekakwitha, the Lily of the MohawksEllen H. Walworth9h 20m$1 · $0.00
The Life of Abraham LincolnHenry Ketcham9h 34m$2 · $0.00
BottomlandMichelle Hoover8h 55m$20
The New Rules of College AdmissionsStephen Kramer, Michael London7h 51m$17 · $0.00
The Cross and the Shamrock. Or, How To Defend The FaithHugh Quigley6h 33m$2 · $0.00
In Search of a SonWilliam S. Walsh3h 30m$2 · $0.00
The Pearl That Broke Its ShellNadia Hashimi13h 47m$8 · $0.00
Round about a Pound a WeekMrs. Pember Reeves5h 26m$2 · $0.00
Customs and Fashions of Old New EnglandAlice Morse Earle11h 47m$23