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The Godmother

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The Godmother

By: Hannelore Cayre, Stephanie Smee - translator
Narrated by: Julia Franklin
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About this listen

A taut and darkly funny account of an unusual woman and her voyage into the underground ecosystem of crime and justice in contemporary France.

Meet Patience Portefeux, 53, an underpaid Franco-Arab judicial interpreter for the Ministry of Justice who specialises in telephone tapping.

Widowed after the sudden death of her husband, Patience is now wedged between university fees for her two grown-up daughters and nursing home costs for her ageing mother. She’s laboured for 25 years to keep everyone’s heads above water.

Happening upon an especially revealing set of police wiretaps ahead of all other authorities, Patience makes a life-altering decision that sees her intervening in - and infiltrating - the machinations of a massive drug deal.

She thus embarks on an entirely new career path: Patience becomes The Godmother’

This is not life in the French idyll of postcards and stock photos. With a gallery of traffickers, dealers, police officers and politicians who are more real than life itself, a sharp and amusing gaze on everyday survival in contemporary France and an unforgettable woman at its centre, Hannelore Cayre’s best-selling novel shines a torchlight on a European criminal underground that has rarely been seen.

©2019 Hannelore Cayre (P)2019 Bolinda Publishing Crime Crime Fiction Mystery Fiction
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I really enjoyed The Godmother I was taken to Paris and into her life. Don’t suppose it was a life I would agree with but as a story great.
Loved the narrator Julia Franklin. Must find her in other stories.
I recommend it.

Terrific story

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What an entertaining listen and clever twists throughout. A first generation refugee brought up in a privileged gangster’s household finds financial independence back in the hood.

So much fun

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A story about immigrants. A wonderful story that is reasonably complex but easy to follow. Loved the literary references. The humour is fast paced and very colourful. The narrator really added to the story. If you liked the movie La Haine you will like this book.
I would recommend.

‘Listen to it, you’ll love it.’

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Really liked this for it's glorious descriptions, dark humor of a fantastically original protagonist! The author sets up the irony and comedy of such a juxtaposition of worlds extremely well, thoroughly enjoyed this book!

Wild Pace, Rich, Biting Humor!

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It is a great performance lifting the text. I very much enjoyed it and I would love to see it as a film

Delightful - loved it

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