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A Life of Her Own

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A Life of Her Own

By: Fiona McCallum
Narrated by: Jennifer Vuletic
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About this listen

 When knowledge gives you the power to change your life ... Alice Hamilton loved being a mature-age student, but now that she's finished her university degree she needs to find herself a career. But the job market is tough and it doesn't help that her partner David keeps reminding her about their sizeable mortgage. When she's offered a role in a major real estate agency, she jumps at the opportunity. David is excited by her prospects in the thriving Melbourne housing market, and Alice is pleased that she'll be utilising her exceptional people skills. But Alice quickly realises all is not as it seems. What is she doing wrong to be so out of sync with her energetic boss, Carmel Gold, agent extraordinaire? Alice is determined to make it work, but how much will it affect her values? As everything starts to fall apart, a sudden visit home to the country town Alice escaped years ago provides an unexpected opportunity to get some perspective. Surrounded by people who aren't what they seem, or who have their own agendas, can Alice learn to ask for what she really wants ... on her own terms?©2019 Fiona McCallum (P)2019 Bolinda Publishing Contemporary Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Inspiring

Critic Reviews

'A master storyteller.' (Good Reading)
'McCallum has a keen eye for fine detail and writes about raw emotion better than any other contemporary writer I know.' (Warcry Magazine)
All stars
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I found this book fascinating in the depth of understanding and ackowledgement of workplace bullying.

what a great read!

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Loved it. Another great read by talented Austrian author. Can't wait for the next one

They keep coming!

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This book and the sequel was almost my story it was very validating. The phrases used around the effects and responses to being the target of a narcissistic parent were ones I had said myself.

These books enabled me to travel through my own journey and actually validated mine through eyes of another.

Thank you for leading me through this. I just hope that my story comes it is proper ending

This could almost been my story

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It’s difficult to sympathise with a one-note character, which is the downfall of what should have been a good read with a strong setup. Instead, A Life of Her Own is a repetitive read with a central character that’s too weak and frustrating to care about.

It’s important to note that McCallum presents a realistic sense of oppression in the protagonist, Alice Hamilton, whose passive-aggressive boyfriend manipulates her regularly by chipping away at her self-esteem. Add an aggressive, manipulative boss at work, and poor Alice struggles to find her own self-worth.

It’s a setup that offers a lot of potential but instead, Alice becomes perhaps the most unlucky woman in the world, moving from one manipulative influence to the next on a cycle that doesn’t show enough variation to be interesting.

Jennifer Vuletic does a nice job in the narration of the audiobook. She has a real sense of character, particularly in showing the wide expanse of personalities, ranging from weak to strong, and making something of some one-dimensional personas. Fans of McCallum’s writing may prefer the audiobook version to breathe life into this disappointing tale.

As an introduction to McCallum’s writing, this story doesn’t make me want to explore her further as an author, despite her popularity as “Australia’s master storyteller” (according to the Harper Collins website). It’s meant to be an inspirational story, but only inspired me to want to sleep.

Disappointing and repetative

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.