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Cherrywood

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Cherrywood

By: Jock Serong
Narrated by: Elisa Armstrong, Phillip McInnes
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About this listen

From multi-award-winning author Jock Serong comes Cherrywood, an imaginative, darkly playful and deeply meaningful delight, a novel about legacy, community, wonder, love and reinvention.

'One rainy Friday evening in the winter of 1993, a taxi swept through the streets of East Melbourne, on its way from the city to Richmond. That year was one of the few remaining when a great deal was known of the world but not yet so much that the world had become over-known. Small gaps remained ...'

Edinburgh, 1916: A rich Scottish industrialist, Thomas Wrenfether, impulsively embarks on a mad scheme to build a paddlesteamer out of dubiously sourced European cherrywood on the other side of the world, in booming Melbourne, Australia. But nothing goes according to plan.

Melbourne, 1993: Martha is a clever, lonely and frustrated lawyer. One night, on impulse, she stops at a strange pub in Fitzroy, The Cherrywood, for a bottle of wine. The mysterious building and its inhabitants make an indelible impression, and she slowly begins to deduce odd truths about the pub.

From multi-award-winning author Jock Serong comes a darkly delicious, playful and rich novel about legacy, community, wonder, love and reinvention - Cherrywood is haunting, magical and a true original.

'A wildly imaginative, intricately woven tale of beauty, love and loss. Serong is an exceptionally gifted writer, and Cherrywood is his best book yet' Mark Brandi

'Beneath its captivating intricacy lies an exploration of grief, love and the haunting proximity of the past ... A work of exuberance, rare charm and, above all, heart' Lucy Treloar

Sublime and haunting' Toni Jordan

'As magical as it is mesmerising. Every chapter presents the reader with another storytelling treasure more narratively wondrous than the last. Serong's wild imagination is a gift that keeps on giving.' Trent Dalton

'What an adventure. This beautiful novel of ambition and grief has me feeling ghosts at every step' Tim Rogers

©2024 Jock Serong (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers
Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Magical Realism World Literature Heartfelt
All stars
Most relevant  
I was disappointed with the overall experience. I listen to a lot of audio books and found the reader didn’t capture or change the voices of the characters, particularly Nan. Nan was an old lady in the story yet her voice was that of a young woman - the reader’s voice didn’t reflect this. As in other audiobooks, I think two readers would have told the story better and given more credibility to the cast of important characters. Towards the end of the book, I lost the plot, particularly with all the historical characters appearing at the Cherrywood for a meeting??? Didn’t understand the disappearing of the pub into the ether and reappearing. I think I enjoyed the first part leading up to the sinking of the Cherrywood and then it became somewhat confusing and I wanted the story to end. I didn’t like the ending and felt dissatisfied with the denouement.

Lost the plot

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I should have read the reviews before listening to this book. The beginning was ok, enough for me to continue despite the terrible narration however I spent the last 2 hours wondering why I didn't just put the book aside. The story was convoluted without purpose, and the end wholly confusing. Unfortunately, all the strands the author lay out didn't come together in a tidy web but remained largely very loosely tangled. No magic I'm afraid.

Disappointing

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Elisa Armstrong’s narration made the listening difficult at times and robbed the characters of their character - for example a 70 plus year old woman born at the start of last century she depicts as a petulant overly Aussie accented harradin. She was clearly abandoned by any production staff, left to mispronounce words and use a different pronunciation of a key character to that being used by the male narrator. Bolinda you cannot lock narrators in a booth and leave them to it- you must actually produce the performance - discuss accent choices, avoid drone like sing song rhythms and so on and actually listen to the performance.

Charming beautiful story - v disappointingly narrated

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Felt slow at times and seemed to drag out at the end, finishing how we all knew it would.

Fitzroy

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The character development, and the interweaving of historic and contemporary Melbourne with multiple and fluid realities.

Quality of narrative

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The story didnt quite hit the mark for me. However others have enjoyed it so….

Potential

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This was such an interesting story and I loved the journey through Melbourne! I can’t wait to read more of Jock Serong’s work

Fabulous intriguing story

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I preordered this, having been blown away by an earlier Jock Serong audiobook (The Rules of Backyard Cricket, read by Rupert Degas), and I wish I hadn't wasted my money. One of the two narrators hired for this production reads as though it's their first time seeing the words on the page, and I can't believe that the publishers saw fit to put this substandard offering on the market. The smug ad at the end of the title, exhorting the listener to never leave home without a Bolinda audiobook, was the rotten cherry on the mouldy cake. If you are interested in this story and this writer, please read the book - listening to this trashfire will only leave you feeling cheated.

Jock Serong needs to find a new audio production house

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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.