How It All Began
A Novel
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How It All Began
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Narrated by:
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Anna Bentinck
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By:
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Penelope Lively
About this listen
When Charlotte is mugged and breaks her hip, her daughter, Rose, cannot accompany her employer, Lord Peters, to Manchester, which means his niece, Marion, has to go instead, which means she sends a text to her lover which is intercepted by his wife, which is…just the beginning of the ensuing chain of life-altering events.
In this engaging, utterly absorbing and brilliantly told novel, Penelope Lively shows us how one random event can cause marriages to fracture and heal themselves, opportunities to appear and disappear, lovers who might never have met to find each other, and entire lives to become irrevocably changed.
©2011 Penelope Lively (P)2012 Isis Publishing LtdListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
What listeners say about How It All Began
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Amanda
- 18-07-12
How it all began
A good read with lots of dipping in and out of the lives of all these people who make the story come together. Easy to listen to and flows alone nicely. A good story.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Amanda
- 23-12-12
Great listening
Bentinck narration was perfect for this book. I'm a big fan of Penelope Lively's work and this one did not disappoint. I loved the way she developed the ripple effect of a singly incident and gave the look into the lives and behaviours of a cast of very believable characters.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- C
- 09-05-13
Amusing, enjoyable, lovely structure
Penelope Lively does a very good job with the 'interconnectedness of all things'. The novel is structured with a lot of balance and movement, from person to person, picking up on their changing fortunes and feelings. The story does have you wondering - will they or won't they? It's a gentle story, told at a good pace, a comedy that strikes a chord with life today, particulalrly I suspect for the over-40s!
The reader, Anna Bentinck, does a lovely, lively job with the large and varied cast, with some neat nuances of accent and tone that really brought them to life for me.
I'd recommend this as a very enjoyable listen, light-hearted and engaging.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Butterball
- 19-07-24
The dialogue - insightful and read brilliantly
loved the reading and all the wonderful characterisation by Penelope Lively and acted out so well by Anna Bentinck.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ann D
- 28-04-15
Multi layered and original!
Any additional comments?
So many books on the subject of women's lives and relationships are formulaic. This was a little different. Intelligently written, rich characters and not the usual predictable stuff. The narration was also first class.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MS REBECCA WARREN
- 20-11-18
The repercussions of being human
I love the way that Penelope Lively allows one to come to your own conclusion in regard to if you like or approve of a character or not. Superb writing I thoroughly enjoyed listening to How It All Began and the insight into how things worked out. Anna Anna Bentinck as usual gave a worthy performance
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- bed
- 28-08-17
So clever
The plot of this book is so clever. Shows the knock on effect of an event and how many lives can be changed.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 04-05-12
A delightful and insightful listen
Every woman will relate to the characters Penelope Lively draws so sympathetically in this beautifully written novel. Charlotte, in her 70s, is knocked down by a mugger and has to adjust to a sudden loss of independence. Her daughter Rose, middle-aged, falls in love. Stella has to deal with her errant husband, and Marion with the challenges of running a business as the recession bites. All their lives, and those of the men in them, change as a result of that casual mugging. The author understands so well what makes them all tick, and writes with delicacy and humour. It would be a great read but is an even greater listen because of Anna Bentinck's perfectly nuanced reading. All the characters come alive and she respects every word of the text. I have listened to it twice and found it as enjoyable the second time around. Now off to get every other Penelope Lively and anything else read by Anna Benctinck!
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Melanie
- 03-07-15
Penelope Lively at her best.
How a single event can trigger a whole chain of other events. This is Penelope Lively at her very best - examining the way peoples' lives are linked together in some sort of web. Excellent portrayal of ageing and memory too. Loved it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Molly
- 23-04-22
The butterfly effect
Really lovely story about the knock-on effects of one event- the mugging of an elderly woman. The ripples that spread out have far-reaching effects on many people.
Cleverly interwoven and with Lively’s usual flair this is a compelling listen.
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