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The Throwaway Children
- Narrated by: Anne Dover
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Publisher's Summary
Rita and Rosie Stevens are only nine and five years old when their widowed mother marries a violent bully. Under pressure from her new husband, she is persuaded to send the girls to an orphanage.
It is not long before the powers that be decide to send a consignment of orphans to their sister institution in Australia. Among them, without their family's consent or knowledge, are Rita and Rosie, the throwaway children.
Critic Reviews
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What listeners say about The Throwaway Children
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Performance
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- cheryl Fyfe
- 07-03-2017
Fabulous!
Great story enhanced by the narrator. Well worth the listen. Looking forward to "the girl with no name" by Disney Costeloe.
4 people found this helpful
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- Lynette
- 12-07-2019
Fantastic story and narration
This is one of the best books I've listened to for a long time. I recommend it 100%!
3 people found this helpful
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- Elizabeth
- 07-02-2018
Fantastic story. So heart wrenching . Very well re
Fantastic story based on history. It was heart wrenching. very well read and portrayed. A must listen
3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Sue T
- 10-05-2016
An absolutely gripping tale
You won't want to pause this story too often! Beautifully read so that the characters' form in your mind as you get swept along with the lives of Rita and her sister Rosie and the series of unfortunate events which split the family apart.
I laughed with them and cried with them and willed them along when up against seemingly impossible odds to survive against a cruel world.
A story of love, life, courage. survival and family.
2 people found this helpful
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- Sarah
- 12-06-2018
Pretty predictable
An interesting enough tale, but no real plot twists or surprises. From the description you could pretty much predict the entire novel. Pretty depressing with very few moments of joy or hope to balance out the endless bad luck the girls encounter. Australian accents were a tad grating.
1 person found this helpful
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- Donna
- 11-05-2016
Love it
What a realistic storey ive heard many similar storeys from my grandparents the book and narrator took me there
1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 08-04-2016
could not stop listening
loved this book. narrated wonderfully she gad you there and in the moment. tears flowed many many times
1 person found this helpful
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- Marina
- 29-01-2016
Great story
great story! The narrator reminds me of an old school teacher, doesnt suit the story at all
1 person found this helpful
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- angela c llewellyn
- 10-05-2022
Excellent read/ listen
So many twists and turns and keeps the page turning! A great book and worth reading! I couldn’t stop listening
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- S. Moore
- 03-03-2022
Twists and turns
This is the first time I have ever cried with a book….a few times.
There are twists and turns in this book….mixed emotions of anger, sadness, joy.
I enjoyed the book.
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- Anonymous User
- 16-08-2020
Heart rending
A sad but very real story i am sure. Beautifully narrated. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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- Elizabeth
- 28-02-2017
A wonderful novel, beautifully narrated.
I enjoyed this book so much that I just could not stop reading and listening, even though I did not want it to end. I felt totally immersed in the lives of the characters, brought even more vividly to life by the excellent voices of the narrator. The harrowing parts are so powerfully and accurately depicted, but these moments are counterbalanced with heartwarming moments of love and hope. I loved all the twists and turns in the story. There were plenty of surprises and I enjoyed the moments of conjecture, when little clues hinted at what was to come.
I absolutely loved this book. I laughed, I cried and I gasped in amazement, totally transported by this amazing story.
37 people found this helpful
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- Jeannette
- 26-08-2015
A Gripping Book
Would you listen to The Throwaway Children again? Why?
No. The story is unforgettable so I would not want to listen again but I would listen to any other book written by this author.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Throwaway Children?
There are so many. I'm a happy ever after kind of lady so enjoyed Gran reading the letter from a grown up Rita.
Which character – as performed by Anne Dover – was your favourite?
Difficult to say. All the characters were performed really well. If I had to choose just one then it would be Daisy.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
How can children be treated so cruelly.
Any additional comments?
I was rivetted by this book which spanned the same years as my own childhood.
22 people found this helpful
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- Scott
- 11-07-2017
Diney Costeloe does it again!
After listening to, The Girl With No Name by Diney and loving it. I decided to give her, The Throwaway Children a go. I'm so glad I did, as it captivated me just as much.
Based around a shameful chapter in British history. The cruel and heartless deportation of our children then within the "Care System" to Australia.
Although a work of fictional characters. It surely brings to light the treatment and conditions, which many of those real children endured, from what I previously knew about this period.
This makes the story even more heartbreaking at times, knowing events mustn't have been far from the truth for many.
Wonderfully narrated by Anne Dover, as to be expected. How she didn't choke up at times during her narration, I don't know? Because I did! Not through over sentimentality either, I'm not that way inclined. But i imagine she had to do some retakes?
This so deserves to be made into a TV miniseries by the BBC. Period dramas are what they do best in my opinion.
This book is thoroughly recommended.
21 people found this helpful
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- Tina Smith
- 24-10-2015
A real tearjerker!
I loved this right from beginning to end with a few tears along the way. So beautifully written I felt like I was really part of it.
19 people found this helpful
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- sally
- 20-06-2017
not quite thrownaway
A story with many truths. A sad inditement of the way children from poor sociology economic backgrounds have been historically treated.
The narrator sets the scenes and depicts the characters beautifully turning a sad tale into an enjoyable story..
12 people found this helpful
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- Miss Georgina E Fielder
- 30-10-2016
Couldn't stop listening
A beautifully written story that I didn't want to end. Highly recommend but have some tissues handy.
9 people found this helpful
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- tristanthomas
- 07-09-2016
Easy Listening
Nothing complicated, just a good story, fictional characters but historical truth. Enjoyable listen and easy to follow story
9 people found this helpful
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- kimmidp
- 04-09-2015
Thought provoking and heartfelt but riveting easy listen. 17 hrs felt like 4 !
Just love Anne Dover narrating. I'm a sucker for a nostalgic by- gone - year tale. Within an entertaining, sad family drama spanning approx 3 decades comes tragedy, loss, hope and enduring love. Taking place post WWII some of the events in this book are based around truth and history is described through a riveting story.
19 people found this helpful
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- Meg Thomas
- 28-11-2015
thoroughly great listen
Not what I expected but thoroughly enjoyed. Despite the sadness that this story evokes.. I could not put it down. I found it very easy to follow the characters on their journey and did not want the book to end.
17 people found this helpful
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- Vonny Milonny
- 31-01-2017
Gripping from start to finish
A heartbreaking story written and narrated beautifully. I can't remember the last time I cried this much during a story or being moved to the point of shouting at my device, at a couple of points I had to stop listening, reluctant to hear what happens next.
I would absolutely recommend this story but would advise you to have a tissue handy.
15 people found this helpful
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