Book description
A Blooming Tale That Stretches Through Time
Julia Kelly's The Last Garden in England is a lush, time-spanning narrative that feels like walking through an old manor garden after the rain-each flower, each stone revealing another story. The audiobook version brings this sensation to life, with a narrator whose voice shifts smoothly between eras, giving Emma Lovett, Venetia Smith, Beth Pedley, Stella Adderton and Diana Symonds their own distinct timbres.
From the very first chapter we are pulled into present-day Emma's world: her passion for reviving forgotten gardens is palpable, and her excitement about restoring Highbury House's 1907 grounds sets an almost cinematic tone. The audio pacing keeps us hooked as she uncovers layers of history that seem to have been waiting just beneath the soil.
Kelly masterfully weaves three distinct timelines-1907, 1944, and today-into a single thread without losing momentum. Venetia's ambition to design for the elite is rendered with vivid descriptions of stone terraces and meticulously laid out hedges, while her personal growth amid societal expectations feels authentic. The war years bring a different texture: Beth's longing for home, Stella's desperate break from servitude, and Diana's fight to preserve dignity in a requisitioned house. Each voice carries its own urgency yet converges around the garden's secret-a motif that ties the novel together like a hidden path.
What makes this audiobook shine is not just the plot but Kelly's prose: "gorgeously written" indeed, it feels like walking through period detail while the narrator paints with sound. Her dialogue is crisp and true to character; her descriptions of light filtering through foliage are almost tactile. The pacing is steady-no long pauses that would break immersion-and each chapter ends on a note that compels you to continue.
For fans of historical fiction, The Last Garden in England offers the perfect blend of romance, mystery, and vivid setting. It's an audiobook that invites listeners into a living story, where every whisper of wind seems to carry a memory. If you've enjoyed books like The Light Over London or The Girl They Left Behind, this will be another garden you'll want to explore again and again.
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Playing a wide variety of audio formats
Works on all devices with iOS 13 and newer
Huge amount of features for a small price
Frequent updates to add new features and improve existing ones
Advanced playback controls
Live sound processing
Changing the timbre of the reader's voice and noise reduction
Translated into more than 20 languages
If you love listening to fiction audiobooks, ListenBook has features to make the process easier.
Edit book data: title, author, cover
Use equalizer to make the sound comfortable for you
Adjust the playback speed
Enjoy dark and light app themes
Supported formats: MP3, M4B, AWB, FLAC, OGG audio files and many more (must be DRM free)
Auto-Bookmarks make it easy to find your place
AirPlay support allows redirection of audio output.
VoiceOver support
Dark mode for night owls
Convenient bookmarking system helps you mark the most important places.
Unlimited bookmarks for each audiobook
Put your own cover on the wager
Share your audiobook with friends
Lock-screen control
Customise app with extensive options
Sleep timer with shake to reset, set custom notification sounds, and a few unique options
Auto rewind depending on paused time, customize rewind times to your liking
Removing background noise from recordings made in classrooms and meetings
Changing the timbre of the reader's voice for a better listening experience