Alexandra Reynolds has narrated 2 audiobooks on Listento.it by 1 author. The most-rated is Iris in Winter.
Mixed Marriage
Summary
Read by the great-granddaughter of Elizabeth Cadell, Alexandra Reynolds! This is the diary of an English girl who falls in love with an eligible young Portuguese, Afonso. The bride recounts, vividly and hilariously, her and her mother's plans for an English country wedding, how they dealt with Uncle George (The Head of the Family), and their success in making sure that on her wedding day the church was filled with music and flowers (both officially banned due to the “mixed” marriage of a Catholic bridegroom and a Church of England bride). She subsequently finds herself living on a horse-rearing estate in a rural part of Portugal, coping with a truculent cook, a primitive kitchen (no electricity, no gas, no fly screens, no taps - unlike the stables, which were far more up-to-date) and watching a husband gradually turning into a horse before her eyes.... In Lisbon, a four-hour drive away, lived her husband's parents, his nine brothers and sisters, an unending procession of aunts, uncles, and cousins, and a large number of family servants. She recounts the ups and downs of the early months of her married life at Reinaldo, the family property which she struggles to make her own. Iron bedsteads, straw mattresses, and numerous pictures of the Holy Family gradually make way for chintz, bookshelves, and comfortable veranda furniture; chicken with rice and peppers is replaced by duck and lemon meringue, though a new young cook is swiftly appropriated by her mother-in-law, which could be thought of (but not by the writer) as a compliment. Friends and neighbours are also keenly observed in this light-hearted, observant and humorous account of a girl's path from an English country cottage and a London flat, to love, marriage, and motherhood on a traditional country estate in Portugal. *Note, these titles contain the original, unabridged text exactly as the author first wrote it. Many later editions of Elizabeth Cadell's works were heavily abridged or changed.
©1963, 2017 Elizabeth Cadell (P)2018 The Heirs of Elizabeth Cadell
Iris in Winter
Summary
High Ambo, in England, is the setting. It is winter, and Caroline West - a very human, placid, and unexcitable person - has gone there to escape her late husband's relatives. Like so many good-hearted people, she is immediately put upon. Caroline's sister Iris comes first, full of impulse and determination to be a reporter - an ambition abruptly deflected by a handsome young schoolmaster - an authority on birds. Then comes Robert, with his sweet, ingenuous fiancée Polly, and thus making the three-ring circus of a genuine Cadell household. A great number of little boys with big ears and caps are supporting players - English private school variety. Altogether, this audiobook is in the happiest tradition of the English social comedy, and those who want to find as much life and laughter as possible will enjoy listening to it.
©2016 Elizabeth Cadell (P)2017 The Heirs of Elizabeth Cadell