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When We Believed in Mermaids cover art

When We Believed in Mermaids

By: Barbara O'Neal
Narrated by: Sarah Naughton, Katherine Littrell
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Publisher's Summary

An Amazon Charts, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best seller

From the author of The Art of Inheriting Secrets comes an emotional new tale of two sisters, an ocean of lies, and a search for the truth.

Her sister has been dead for 15 years when she sees her on the TV news....

Josie Bianci was killed years ago on a train during a terrorist attack. Gone forever. It’s what her sister, Kit, an ER doctor in Santa Cruz, has always believed. Yet all it takes is a few heart-wrenching seconds to upend Kit’s world. Live coverage of a club fire in Auckland has captured the image of a woman stumbling through the smoke and debris. Her resemblance to Josie is unbelievable. And unmistakable. With it comes a flood of emotions - grief, loss, and anger - that Kit finally has a chance to put to rest: by finding the sister who’s been living a lie.

After arriving in New Zealand, Kit begins her journey with the memories of the past: of days spent on the beach with Josie. Of a lost teenage boy who’d become part of their family. And of a trauma that has haunted Kit and Josie their entire lives.

Now, if two sisters are to reunite, it can only be by unearthing long-buried secrets and facing a devastating truth that has kept them apart far too long. To regain their relationship, they may have to lose everything.

©2019 Barbara Samuel (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

What listeners say about When We Believed in Mermaids

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Mellow yet emotional

I nearly didn’t bother with this book after reading some of the American reviews which were so disparaging of the narration. They were very critical of one of the narrator’s abilities to pronounce certain words. Turns out the narrator (and the character) just have a kiwi accent and her pronunciation was perfectly fine. Granted, a US/Kiwi accent is a bit of a mouthful, but it’s what the character has so it’s how she was narrated!
Anyway, this is a gently paced story of self discovery, reflection and love. Probably not one I’ll think of often but certainly enjoyable and engaging.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it

I really, really liked this book. Dammit, I loved it.

Bought this on a complete whim and was hooked from the beginning. Found the characters highly relatable and fell in love with Javier from the moment he arrived. Also enjoyed the inclusion of Kitt's relationship with Hobo, anyone with this type of love in their life will relate to her feelings of guilt and wariness in placing it under stress,

Disturbing at times but well handled in the telling. Looking forward to discovering more of Barbara O'Neal's work.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful

It’s not often that you get a story that is full of heartbreak, twists and turns but at the same time lifts you and makes you believe in the good without boring you with the mundane. Didn’t want it to end.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Totally engrossing

I nearly didn’t buy this book after reading reviews that weren’t very complimentary about the narrators. I thought they were brilliant!
Great book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Moving

A beautiful, heart wrenching story. Loved it. Only slight detraction was the pronunciation of "Maori".

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Dodgy kiwi accent

Liked the overall story but as someone who lives in NZ, I cringed every time they attempted the kiwi accent...so bad!!! If you’re familiar with the accent, maybe stick to reading this one! If you’re not familiar, the kiwi accent sounds nothing like this (just so you know!)

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A whimsical story of two sisters with terrible NZ accents

The rendition of this story was marred by the worst attempts of New Zealand accents I’ve heard. I found the fake accents both irritating and distracting from the character development and plot line. This is a book to be read and not listened to.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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A breath of literary fresh air!

I’m an avid reader and audible listener and I hadn’t realised what I was missing in my novelists recently till I listened to ‘When We Believed In Mermaids’. The language is thought out and exquisitely descriptive. The emotions are real. The story always holding a couple of questions and yet giving the right amount to keep you interested in every chapter. This was my first Barbara O’Neal novel and I’m about to dive into another right now. Also a big congratulations to the narrators. I loved listening to you both. The kiwi accent adding the perfect amount of authenticity!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

An easy story to listen to

Hi
Thank you for ‘when we believed in mermaids’ it was an easy story to listen to with some excellent research done. I laughed at the previous reviews on the performance accents not being a correct. I thought the accents were ok, being married to a New Zealander I can tell you this is not far off the mark. 😁. I enjoyed this novel.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved the book

The attempt at a NZ accent is distracting and awful. A bit of fact checking should have been done about NZ. It’s Queenstown not Queensland. There are no cyclones in NZ. But these are minor details. I enjoyed the book.

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