The Magic of Ordinary Days

A Novel

By: Ann Howard Creel

Narrated by: Justine Eyre

Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Olivia Dunne, a studious minister's daughter who dreams of being an archaeologist, never thought that the drama of World War II would affect her quiet life in Denver. An exhilarating flirtation reshapes her life, though, and she finds herself banished to a rural Colorado outpost, married to a man she hardly knows. Overwhelmed by loneliness, Olivia tentatively tries to establish a new life, finding much-needed friendship and solace in two Japanese American sisters who are living at a nearby internment camp. When Olivia unwittingly becomes an accomplice to a crime and is faced with betrayal, she finally confronts her own desires.

Beautifully written and filled with memorable characters, Ann Howard Creel's novel is a powerful exploration of the nature of trust and love.

©2001 Ann Howard Creel (P)2016 Tantor

I liked the story, but I can’t listen to it again!

I love to go back and listen to my audiobook collection. But, this book, unfortunately, will never be heard again due to the nasal, whining voice of the narrator. I’m so sorry!

The warmth with high the people were portrayed

The story was lovely.
The reader had a voice like a very old man, for all the parts. I almost quit in tears he middle because it was so annoying. Too bad. The rest was good.

Lovely romance

A lovely romantic story. There is one glaring problem, however. Livey, the main character, is rather unsympathetic ( for me, at least ) and her abrupt change of character and feelings toward Ray is changes the story's dynamic. Yes, I wanted her to appreciate his kindness, but there is no explanation or revelation on how she comes to change her attitude. The lovely narration by Justine Eyre was PERFECT for the story.

excellent story.

loved it. I was hoping it would surpass the movie and it did. One of my favorite Hallmark HoF.

Hope

This book shows what loneliness can make people do things they would never dream of doing in norm times.

A tender story of love not expected

I loved the Hallmark Hall of Frame movie of this story so decided to read the book. no surprise that the book is even better than the movie and the story slightly different.

Good book, poor narration.

I liked the story but was immediately put off by the narrator’s voice. I almost quit listening because of it. I did persevere to the end though because I didn’t have the time to sit down to read.

Good story line with awful narration

Tourture listening to this narration of a good novel I struggled through having originally enjoyed the movie.
I can't recommend you listen to this rendition read the novel instead.

I love this story

I have loved this movie for awhile, and now I’m happy to find I love the book too. The narrator is not as good as some I have heard, but she doesn’t ruin it for me. I am left feeling a bit sad as the ending of the book is different than the movie and doesn’t work out as well for all the characters, but it is still such a wonderful story.

My kind of reading-Enjoyed it!

Saw the movie first, and really loved it, but I felt that there were gaps and places that really didn't make sense. I discovered the audiobook later and now I understand why. The movie took a LOT of license! However, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The narration was not my favorite. Generally, when I'm listening to an audiobook, The narration is so smooth and seamless that I forget that all of the dialogue is being done by one person. This book was not like that. Although some of the dialogue was excellently done particularly for the the women, at times I was drawn away from the story and into the narration because of some awkwardness or disbelief.