I have taken to re-visiting some of the books I read many years ago and listening to them has been pure joy.
I read Sally Beauman’s books Destiny and Dark Angel back in the late 1990’s. While her writing does have an erotic, romance component in each book, her quality of writing is far above the typical romance novel. She does have a Daphne DuMaurier quality that is hard to achieve.
The problem with this approach to re-reading is that so many good books are not recorded! They were written before this Audible craze and if they were recorded, many were subject to not so good narrators or abridgement. The narrator issue is the case here. This narrator is just o.k. He is bearable and his ‘posh’ British accent is passable, but every other accent makes you cringe a bit, however Sally Beauman comes through and you do end up settling in to this narrator because you want to finish.
The other day I was googling Sally Beauman and was so saddened to read that she died about three years ago at the age of 71. It was discovering this sad fact that made me listen to this book. It is a very good Sally Beauman book populated with lovers and friends and a touch of malevolence. I loved it.
I wish that Audible Studios or perhaps the publisher of Destiny and Dark Angel would find a top notch narrator (David Rintoul? Juliet Stevenson?) and record these two books. They would go over spectacularly with the romance crowd and it would be such a nice tribute to Sally Beauman.
I recommend The Landscape of Love which has excellent narration.
All the best writers are leaving us! It does make me sad. I’m so glad I was able to listen to this.