different

this book was very different to the genres I usually listen to, but was chosen for this months book club.

I can understand why a lot of people have issues with the narration and would agree to an extent. I thought the narrator did as good a job as possible and once I got into the book, his attempt at the accent became unnoticed and normal.

the story was wonderful! I loved the folklore element and twist behind it. a very good plot! and I generally love the propriety of that era between men and women.... but, I do think Helena got away with her misbehaviour and jealousy .... she acted spoilt (in my own opinion - for example, her outburst at the church)

overall, if you can get past the narrators accent issues, it's a good book :-)

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Poor narration

Would you try another book written by Alison Littlewood or narrated by Paul McLaughlin?

Unlikely

What could Alison Littlewood have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Made it a bit less drawn out and disjointed. Found it hard to follow.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

He didn't know how to do a Yorkshire accent or deal with the way they say 't' properly which grated on my nerves. He mispronounced 'epitome', and frequently lines were repeated. He was also rather monotone.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

No

Any additional comments?

No

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Awful narration made it impossible to listen to

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The narrator. I can put up with regional accents being a bit dodgy, but this was a stinker! The northern accents were so awful I had to give up after a couple of chapters. Think Monty Python's Yorkshiremen sketch and you're on the right track. So dreadful I couldn't even laugh at them.
A great pity as the story itself seemed to be promising.

Would you be willing to try another book from Alison Littlewood? Why or why not?

Only if it was a different narrator. In fact, I'd have another go at this one if they re-recorded it.

Who might you have cast as narrator instead of Paul McLaughlin?

Anyone. Seriously, I could have done a better job myself.

Could you see The Hidden People being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

Didn't hear enough of the story to judge.

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Poor narration

What would have made The Hidden People better?

A different narrator would have made the story much easier to follow. The regional accent was dreadful. He placed emphasis on the wrong words and completely spoiled the flow of the story.

What was most disappointing about Alison Littlewood’s story?

The start of the story was quite good but I felt it never lived up to the early promise. I thought that the story was OK but could have been better.

What didn’t you like about Paul McLaughlin’s performance?

His voice was breathy and grated on the nerves. He was poor at accents. To be honest, he spoiled the story for me and I had to force myself to listen to the end.

What character would you cut from The Hidden People?

I am not sure that any of the characters could have been cut from The Hidden People.

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dreadful narrator

What disappointed you about The Hidden People?

Could have been a great book were it not for the annoying accents of the narrator, his Yorkshire accent is on a par with the cockney accent of Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins .

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Great book, terrible narration and production

I should say first that this is a great novel. It deals ambiguously and sensibly with folklore and fairy belief and sets up a very plausible and fascinating period backdrop. It's compelling, interesting and poetic and it keeps the reader guessing. However my heart goes out to Alison Littlewood as her brilliant book has been savaged by the most ham fisted and lazy audio prouduction I've ever heard.

I don't believe the blame lies entirely with Paul McLaughlin, who is clearly not a British English speaker and turns in a fairly convincing accent (for the most part). However his slips in pronunciation go far beyond transatlantic differences. The producer demonstrates his or her incompetence from the start by allowing the narrator to open with a quote from W B "Yeeets". This sets he tone for what is to come, not enough to spoil the story entirely you might think. But then come the Yorkshire dialect sections.

Now at one point during the recording of this you would think that the actor or producer would have said, "Hey should we maybe take a listen to a recording of some Yorkshire people talking". Instead they insult listeners from all over the world by assuming they won't know the difference and opt for a kind of demented middle earth approximation of what they think a Yorkshire accent would probably sound like.

One of the great strengths of Littlewoods book is her use of real folk song in the story and its parallels and hints to the narrative that unfolds. Again you might expect an audio producer to direct an actor who had no knowledge of English folk song to simply speak the verse sections, or perhaps spend a little bit of time listening to some recordings if only to get a feel for traditional English song. Not a chance ! The voice actor instead seems to have been encouraged to guess at the sound of these songs by imagining a world where music had not yet been invented. If I'm wrong about Paul McLaughlin and he is in fact a native British English speaker then... well... Wow.

I don't mean to savage the voice artist here, I think he's been let down almost as much as the author. It's the producer who is simply not up to the job. If you somehow managed to ignore all the foregoing, the technical flaws and fluffs will certainly get to you. The whole thing is scattered with uncorrected edit points and repetitions. The funniest arises from the actors difficulty with the name Baraclough. In the earlier section of the book when the name crops up it has clearly been cut out and re-inserted with a modified pronunciation. The effect is rather like those automated telephone voice messages used by big cinema chains. When the name occurs in later chapters the producer doesn't bother with the edits and leaves in what was obviously the first guess, "Baraclo".

I persevered because I loved the story so much and have enjoyed playing sections of it to friends for laughs. Actually if you're from Yorkshire you might enjoy it more than you ought to for this reason alone. I don't imagine many listeners will get as far as the end though. The word changeling occurs a lot and for me became particularly irksome. Surely nowhere in the English speaking world people say "change-er-ling" do they ?

I'm sure the book would appeal to lovers of Jim Crace's Harvest, which unfortunately suffers in a similar way in the Audible version. Read the book if your a lover of nineteenth century mysteries, folklore, traditional song and carefully poised and compelling narratives This audio version is strictly for laughs or perhaps a useful guide for aspiring audio book producers on how not to do the job.

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4 people found this helpful

Good Story, shockingly bad narration

I’m still persevering with this as I like the story but I’m constantly tempted to give up due to the awful narration, bland voice and accent and his inability to master any other voices of other characters in the story made it awful to listen to at times. The worst bit of all is the Yorkshire accent! OMFG!! I can’t even understand what he’s saying and I’m missing big chunks of story because of it.
I would say don’t bother trying with this audio, if you’re like me, you’ll end up swearing and mimicking the ridiculous attempts at words that are just part of the usual literary language.
Shame because the story is good but this bloke makes it boring.

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