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The Pact

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The Pact

By: Thomas Keneally
Narrated by: Keith Scott, Taylor Owynns, Thomas Keneally
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About this listen

From Australia's master storyteller comes an endearing and engaging novella about a journey as unexpected, painful, intriguing and character-filled as life itself.

A cruise was the promise. To cruise away from their troubles. To cruise towards the place where they first met, on the banks of the Thames. A cruise to dwell in their memories together and plan their next chapter.

Paddy and Jenny Davern have had a long and happy marriage together in Sydney. Together they embark on a cruise to London, for the last leisurely journey in each other's company. While on board, they meet a kaleidoscope of adventurous passengers that test their resolve to their promise to each other, and motivations towards their pact.

Thomas Keneally is the renowned author of Schindler's List and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith. He has won the Miles Franklin Award, the Booker Prize, the Los Angeles Times Prize, the Mondello International Prize and has been made a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library, a Fellow of the American Academy, recipient of the University of California gold medal and is now the subject of a 55 cent Australian stamp.

©2020 Thomas Keneally (P)2020 Audible Australia Pty Ltd. Contemporary Fiction Genre Fiction
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Such an interesting listen, good performance with all of the seperate voices, loved all of the little stories throughout the main theme. Had a good sook in the end. Beautiful story

Had a good sook

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Terrific narrators. Nice to hear a story from an older person's point of view. On a personal note, watching my own mother's rather rapid decline thanks to early Alzheimer's, from a vibrant, golf playing conversationalist, an able bodied and capable wife, mother, grandmother to a - though still young looking yet without a clue of anything - 70 something requiring constant care, hoisting to move from bed to recliner chair, to toilet, to feed, clean etc and round the clock care from a team of wondrous carers and still doted on lovingly by an adoring but now highly stressed husband who has yet a shell of the woman he always loved and refuses to leave her side, ever faithful... my husband and I both recognise the burden and have talked of a time that we shall make our pact as well.

Thought provoking

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I though it would be a long boring listen to get me to sleep but it was beautiful

Beautiful

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I loved these two characters and the performances were great. Such an unusual story all the way to the end..

Unusual and gripping

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Story well written, presented and performed. It got a little lost during the ship voyage with the strange characters at times and wondered whether it was just a "filler" for a while. Didn't feel the writer really explored Jenny's desire to end her life. She stubbornly stuck to her decision and did not really want it explored, leaving Paddy so lost beside her. A good read and worthy as a Book Club discussion book.

Worth Reading

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The story gives a different perspective on ageing and how differently people deal with it. I can relate to the couple's decision and enjoyed listening to the audiobook. The performance of the narrators was good but yet the story didn't grab me enough to recommend the book.

Different perspective on ageing

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Strong suicide themes, gambling addiction. I enjoyed it, however had no idea what it was about. Warning given after the ending- should be at the start

Warning should be at start of audio not at the end

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I really enjoyed this story. The love and truth of aging love was beautiful.

Sweet Love

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Lacked feeling. Seemed like the body of the narrative was padded with ending turning out to be boringly predictable. I was hoping for something deeper...

Disappointing

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Started slowly and felt predictable but built into a thought provoking story that left me sad it had finished
Narrators were great and added real emotion to the tale

Worth the time

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