Paradise Postponed cover art

Paradise Postponed

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Paradise Postponed

By: John Mortimer
Narrated by: Paul Shelley
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £15.99

Buy Now for £15.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

When Simeon Simcox, a socialist clergyman, leaves his entire fortune not to his family but to the ruthless, social-climbing Tory MP Leslie Titmuss, the Rector's two sons react in very different ways. Henry, novelist and former 'angry young man' turned grumpy old reactionary, decides to fight the will and prove their father was insane. Younger brother Fred, a mild-mannered country doctor, takes a different approach, quietly digging in Simeon's past, only to uncover an entirely unexpected explanation for the legacy. An exquisitely drawn saga of ancient rivalries and class struggles, featuring a glorious cast of characters, Paradise Postponed is a delicious portrait of English country life by a master satirist. Read by Paul Shelley.

©2012 John Mortimer (P)2014 Audible, Inc.
Classics Family Life Fiction Literary Fiction Political
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Dunster cover art
Summer's Lease cover art
Under the Hammer cover art
Where There's a Will cover art
Felix in the Underworld cover art
Rumpole of the Bailey [Recorded Books] cover art
Rumpole: A BBC Radio Collection cover art
Killing Helen cover art
The Fountain cover art
Staying On cover art
Sea Change cover art
Murder on the Lusitania cover art
Monsieur Pamplemousse and the Militant Midwives cover art
Monsieur Pamplemousse and the French Solution cover art
The Man in the Queue cover art
Stamboul Train cover art

What listeners say about Paradise Postponed

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    60
  • 4 Stars
    33
  • 3 Stars
    12
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    3
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    69
  • 4 Stars
    20
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    48
  • 4 Stars
    29
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A middling novel

In all ways this book takes a middle course and, as a necessary consequence, is neither especially good or distinctly bad.

Set in middle England, its account of life in one of the shires spans the period from the mid-50s to Thatcher’s 80s. With conflict in one family following the death of a high profile C-of-E cleric at its centre, it jogs along in a companionable way without hitting any great heights.

An unexceptional but moderately intelligent train journey option.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

a nice easy listen

story jumped once or twice but overall an easy listen, a nice change from the vile

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The quality of the writing and story line.

This is a wonderfully observed and written story about social classes in the period after the Second World War. There is humour and beautifully crafted characters. The story is not straight forward and holds the reader to the end. What is there not to like.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good story

I enjoyed this book but it was a bit drawn out. I found myself getting a lost in parts and my concentration waned on occasions due to so many different characters, We were kept guessing right to the end regarding the outcome of the will but it did leave me a bit confused as to where the rector's money actually went,

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

intelligent captivating humane

After some lazy years of unchallenging crime thrillers and general pap, I returned to John Mortimer (and others of that vintage) and realised what an absolute joy and treasure his writing is. So satisfying and absorbing - wonderful 'un-dumbed-down' language and references which are such a refreshing change from cliche and formulaic prose engendered by 'writing' courses and undoubted pressure from publishers to be thoroughly bland even though sprinkled with sensationalism.
Loved this and will listen again many times - thank you too for the inestimable talents of Paul Shelley as a truly great narrator.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

I loved this book and felt I was on the sidelines listening and learning all about the family who were in a way sharing my family’s experiences. My many thanks to both the author and the excellent narrator Paul Shelley.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

Delightful story beautifully narrated. One of those wonderful discoveries that I know I will return to again and again

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Absolutely loved the telling of this gentle, sweetly funny, well- told story. Will be looking for more of the same.......

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable

Well-written with empathy and compassion - and enough of a mystery to keep the reader guessing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An old friend

Not the most remarkable book or a cliff hanging thriller but a gentle story set in past times from the 50s to the 80s. I re-read it every few years and it was a pleasure, this time, to hear it with audible. Some likeable and not so likeable characters, humour, atmosphere - some of it tinged with nostalgia. It won't appeal to everyone but it's always been one of my favourite books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

16 people found this helpful