Audio only
Length8h 12m
About this audiobook
A riveting family drama evocative of Angela’s Ashes and The Glass Castle, about a woman who discovers the shocking secret at the center of her mother’s life.
Justine had always been told that her mother came from royal blood. The proof could be found in her mother’s elegance, her uppercrust London accent—and in a cryptic letter hinting at her claim to a country estate. But beneath the polished veneer lay a fearsome, unpredictable temper that drove Justine from home the moment she was old enough to escape. Years later, when her mother sent her an envelope filled with secrets from the past, Justine buried it in the back of an old filing cabinet.
Overcome with grief after her mother’s death, Justine found herself drawn back to that envelope. Its contents revealed a mystery that stretched back to the early years of World War II and beyond, into the dark corridors of the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of Exposed and Deserted Young Children. Established in the eighteenth century to raise “bastard” children to clean chamber pots for England’s ruling class, the institution was tied to some of history’s most influential figures and events. From its role in the development of solitary confinement and human medical experimentation to the creation of the British Museum and the Royal Academy of Arts, its impact on Western culture continues to reverberate. It was also the environment that shaped a young girl known as Dorothy Soames, who bravely withstood years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of a sadistic headmistress—a resilient child who dreamed of escape as German bombers rained death from the skies.
Heartbreaking, surprising, and unforgettable, The Secret Life of Dorothy Soames is the true story of one woman’s quest to understand the secrets that had poisoned her mother’s mind, and her startling discovery that her family’s fate had been sealed centuries before.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.0 (4.3K)
Includes Goodreads, StoryGraph, Amazon, LibraryThing
GenreBiography and Memoir, Self-Help
Length8 hrs 12 mins
Narrated byLisa Flanagan
FormatAudiobook
Publish dateJan 12, 2021
LanguageEnglish
John Muir: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth & Letters to a Friend (Annotated)John Muir10h 13m4.7 (1.1K)$0.99 · $0.00
Invisible StormJason Kander6h 48m4.7 (3.2K)$24 · $0.00
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m4.7 (5K)$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m4.7 (4.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
MotherlandJulia Ioffe17h 52m4.7 (2.5K)$40 · $0.00
Evidence Not SeenDarlene Deibler Rose11h 11m4.6 (11.9K)$29 · $0.00
A Bridge Not Too FarDeepak Ohri4h 55m4.8 (179)$15
Where Cowards Go to DieBenjamin Sledge8h 42m4.7 (351)$20 · $0.00
Will You Love Me?Cathy Glass9h 5m4.6 (9.3K)$29 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m4.7 (343)$20 · $0.00
HostageEli Sharabi5h 25m4.6 (10.8K)$24 · $0.00
A Narrative of Some of the Lord's Dealings With George Müller (The Complete Four-Volume Edition)George Müller43h 37m4.7 (304)$2 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m4.6 (256.4K)$29 · $0.00
Scandal Between the Sheets & Stranded with the Tempting StrangerBrenda Jackson9h 22m4.8 (141)$24 · $0.00
The complete novelsJane Austen73h 18m4.6 (54.2K)$3.50 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m4.7 (384)$20 · $0.00
The Boys and MeMark Miller8h 32m4.8 (218)$23
The Life of Uncle Billy - Memoirs of General W. T. ShermanWilliam Tecumseh Sherman39h 12m4.7 (1.1K)$0.99 · $0.00
The Complete Works of William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare89h 26m4.6 (76K)$3.50 · $0.00
Forever BoyKate Swenson9h 27m4.7 (5K)$29 · $0.00
You Are Worth ItKyle Carpenter, Don Yaeger8h 53m4.7 (4.8K)$29 · $0.00
The Happiest Man on EarthEddie Jaku3h 48m4.6 (178K)$7 · $0.00
Finding MeViola Davis9h 15m4.6 (256.4K)$29 · $0.00
AretéBrian Johnson19h 57m4.7 (2.2K)$35
Spiritual AnatomyDaaji Kamlesh D. Patel9h 47m4.7 (319)$29 · $0.00
The Dangerous Truth about Today’s MarijuanaLaura Stack CSP, MBA9h 57m4.7 (384)$20 · $0.00
Birdie & HarlowTaylor Wolfe7h 50m4.6 (6.5K)$26 · $0.00
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the HorseCharlie Mackesy58m4.6 (351.2K)$11 · $0.00
Ghetto BastardK’wan7h 37m4.6 (2.9K)$20
Legally YoursManasi Chaudhari8h 52m4.7 (223)$29 · $0.00
CrossroadsKaleb Dahlgren7h 56m4.6 (4.9K)$26 · $0.00
Life on the BridgeKaelynn Partlow5h 40m4.6 (1.1K)$24 · $0.00
From Questioning to KnowingLisa Barnett5h 34m4.7 (244)$17
Keep Your Love OnDanny Silk9h 4m4.6 (8.1K)$10 · $0.00
The Manifestation CodeRaimon Samsó5h 54m4.7 (655)$18
Parents And ChildrenCharlotte M. Mason13h 8m4.6 (1K)$2.30
The Tao of Joy Every DayDerek Lin10h 24m4.6 (762)$20 · $0.00
UndividedVicky Beeching9h 2m4.6 (1.3K)$29 · $0.00
Level UpRob Dial7h 42m4.6 (3.3K)$26 · $0.00
You may also like
The Bird HotelMaynard, Joyce12h 12m4.2 (24.6K)Free
The GranddaughterBernhard Schlink10h 15m4.2 (10.4K)$29 · $0.00
I Couldn't Love You MoreEsther Freud10h 32m3.9 (2.4K)$29 · $0.00
American DaughterStephanie Thornton Plymale, Elissa Wald9h 5m4.3 (5.5K)$29 · $0.00
The American FianceeEric Dupont26h 2m4.0 (2.3K)$53 · $0.00
This Is Not A Book About Benedict CumberbatchTabitha Carvan6h 29m4.0 (5.5K)$24 · $0.00
A Woman's WorkVictoria Purman9h 9m4.1 (1.2K)$29 · $0.00
The House GirlTara Conklin14h 42m3.9 (74.6K)$33 · $0.00
The Poppy FieldsNikki Erlick9h 51m3.7 (44.6K)$29 · $0.00
The Secrets of Roscarbury HallO'Loughlin, Ann8h 20m3.9 (5.6K)Free
Don't You EverMary Carter Bishop7h 11m4.0 (492)$24 · $0.00
The Keeper of StoriesSally Page10h 17m4.1 (115.2K)$25
SundogJim Harrison7h 58m4.1 (1.6K)$20
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
The Girls with No NamesSerena Burdick12h 25m4.1 (31.3K)$8 · $0.00
Screaming on the InsideJessica Grose6h 30m3.8 (5.2K)$24 · $0.00
Dear AmericaJose Antonio Vargas6h 9m4.4 (21K)$24 · $0.00
Like a MotherAngela Garbes7h 1m4.3 (15.9K)$24 · $0.00
Hope and GloryJendella Benson11h 4m3.8 (2K)$29 · $0.00
Somewhere We Are HumanReyna Grande, Sonia Guiñansaca8h 16m4.4 (789)$26 · $0.00