The Morning Gift

By: Eva Ibbotson

Narrated by: Kate Lock

Length: 16 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Ruth lives in Vienna and is wildly in love with Heini Radik, a brilliant young pianist. When Hitler’s forces invade, Ruth’s family flees to London, but she cannot get a passport.

Quin, a young professor and friend of the family, visits Ruth and offers a marriage of convenience. On their return to London, Quin begins to fall desperately in love with her. But then Heini turns up.…

©1993 Eva Ibbotson (P)2013 W F Howes Ltd

Okay

I didn't like the narrator. Her accents were hard to understand and some of her voices were down right irritating. I felt the end of the story was too quick trying to put all the strings together into one chapter. It really left me cold. I will never listen to this book again.

Same Storyline

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes, the characters are likable and it takes place during interesting times. It is however, the same plot as "The Secret Countess," "A Company of Swans" and "Magic Flutes." The leading man and woman are virtually interchangeable in all four books.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

It's a very satisfying ending.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

While does have a pleasant voice, she sounds like she's reading a bedtime story to a child. My biggest complaint is the way she voices the Austrian characters. They sound like Ludwig Von Drake. The children's voices sounded like Ludwig Von Drake on helium. I wanted to pull out my earbuds and stomp on them. The main character, Ruth, is supposed to have gone to an English school and had a Scottish governess. She has an English accent, with a slight "Aberdonian" lilt when she is upset. The narrator gives her a thick German accent. It's very distracting. I think she could be a good narrator, if she had more direction.

narration distracting, DNF

Lovely novel but not a great audiobook in this case. Narrator’s accent and inflection give story a grating and infantilized feel that is difficult to overlook. Read it in print if possible.

There is also a much abridged version narrated by Willow Nash that is an enjoyable listen but only 3 hrs. https://www.audible.com/pd/B0030CE6VO?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=pdp

Bad narration

What disappointed you about The Morning Gift?

I would love to tell you that I loved this story as I love all Eva Ibbotson's books, but I can't. Because five minutes into the audiobook I hated the narrator. 30 minutes in and I had lost all track of what the story was about because I was so disgusted by the narration. This is not a children's book. Please do not narrate it as such. And ending every other sentence on an upswing? Is just annoying. The voices were terrible and the deal breaker for me. If Patricia Connolly did a version of this I would snatch it up is a heartbeat. As it is I'm happy I didn't pay full price because I had to delete it.

I can't hear this audio book. It is horrible

Would you try another book from Eva Ibbotson and/or Kate Lock?

I read all books by Eva Ibbotson, but would never ever buy another book narrated by Kate Lock

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Who want to hear someone narrate a book with a fake German accent? is this supposed to be funny?
On top, the main figure sounds like she has the IQ of a potato chip.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Morning Gift?

non. Unabridged is mandatory.

Any additional comments?

I am very sorry I will never be able to listen to this wonderful book narrated.

Crazy Accents Are Distracting

I absolutely love this story, but I could not get past the very strange choices that the narrator made. Ruth, the main character, was given a very childlike, grating voice that belied her true intelligence. After one character was introduced with an inexplicable speech impediment, I finally noped out. If I hadn’t read this in book format previously, it would have probably been a DNF. As it was, I ended up downloading the other version of this audiobook and liked it much better.