English book,American accent - why?

This was a lovely book predominantly featuring English aristocracy around the First World War. So why the American accent? It detracted so much from the story that I nearly gave up and read the book instead! Some of the pronunciations were so excruciatingly wrong that I wondered who had edited the audio book? I practically hit the roof over ' Passchendaele' in particular. If you can get over the accent then you'll enjoy the story. It has been difficult to rate the book and I eventually settled on 4 out of 5 - a different narrator would have been 5 stars.

9 people found this helpful

A thoroughly enjoyable read

Penny Vincenzi at her best. I loved this audiobook and kept listening at every opportunity. It flowed well and was easy to follow. My only criticism was the reader's cockney accent - it's terrible. However, the book is 26 hours long so you do get used to it after a while so don't let this put you off.

7 people found this helpful

No Angel

This is by far the best book I have ever read BUT WHY oh WHY use an american to read a quintessential english novel. Her accent is absolutely terrible, the book is FAB!

5 people found this helpful

Great read, shame about the narrator

Who's bright idea was it to have an American narrator for what is undeniably an English/England inspired read? The Aussie/cockney accent is atrocious not to mention the complete mispronunciation of English counties and other oddities that we, British born and bred, have enough difficulty with! All that having been said, No Angel is a great read and at 26 hours certainly worth the price of the audio book. Ms Vicenzi has a great way with words and knows how to tell a story and engage the listener and once I stopped sniggering at the mispronunciations etc, found myself eager to listen and enjoy right to the end.

3 people found this helpful

No Angel

I want ALL Penny's books via Audible, but the majority of them are abridged, and I hate that. Penny succeeds in writing about issues we all wonder about, but with a flair that you cannot possibly stop reading.
So please, will you get them all in the UNABRIDGED format please, because whatever she writes is Brilliant and compelling, As is this one.

3 people found this helpful

American Accent!

Would you listen to No Angel again? Why?

It is a very good book - I love Penny Vincenzi - but an American narrator on an English novel is a no no - spoilt the experience over and over - having said that I finished the book and found it moving at the end - I stuck with it because I liked the characters.

2 people found this helpful

Terrible, TERRIBLE English accent

This audiobook was ruined for me by terrible narration. For some reason, the narrator is American (why, when this is a British story based in London?). Her British accent is tolerable (but still awful) when narrating voices of Lytton family, but it's frankly laughable when narrating cockney English. It ruined the story completely for me, and I wouldn't say this audiobook is worthy of such a price tag.

But still, at least she gives Dick Van Dyke a run for his money.

2 people found this helpful

Book was Ok, but some of the accents were awful

Would you try another book written by Penny Vincenzi or narrated by Carrington MacDuffie?

I would not buy another book, set in England, narrated by Carrington MacDuffie

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The story was OK. It was the awful accents and pronounciation that made it unenjoyable.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Carrington MacDuffie?

As the story was set for at least 95% of the time in England, I would have cast an English narrator. Or, at the very least, someone who could immitate an English accent. To be fair, there were one or two accents that were believable (the totally sterotypical upper class ones), but most were absolutely cringe worthy. I was pleased when one of the characters died because it meant I didn't have to listen to his totally unrealistic voice again.

Names, places and words were mispronounced constantly. I accept that Americans pronounce some words differently, but when an English character is saying things in a way that only an American would, it ruins the flow the story.

Carrington MacDuffie is obviously a very comptetant narrator, but not when it comes to English accents and pronounciations.

Did No Angel inspire you to do anything?

No Angel almost inspired me to return the book for a refund!

The book was good. The storyline was fine. It was the narration that totally spoilt it for me.

I might buy another book by the same author, but I would definitely check who was narrating it first, or buy it in a different format (ie Kindle or 'real' book)

Any additional comments?

It was the narration that spoilt it for me. Most of the accents were painful to the ear.

Why on earth was an American narrator chosen for this project?

2 people found this helpful

Only on the first book...

but the narrator is driving me daft !..Why, oh why would anyone in their right mind employ this lady to read this story??!!

2 people found this helpful

why, oh why

is an American-accented narrator reading this totally English book? While the narrator has a pleasant voice and the book is fine (passes the time while doing boring chores), the accent's like chalk scraping on an old-fashioned blackboard. note to self: listen to the sample before buying the book! (she also mispronounces place names which easily could be correctly pronounced, even with the 'wrong'accent: that's just plain lazy)

2 people found this helpful