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A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar: A Novel Audiobook
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(3.00) - 1,357 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
It is 1923. Evangeline (Eva) English and her sister Lizzie are missionaries heading for the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar. Though Lizzie is on fire with her religious calling, Eva's motives are not quite as noble, but with her green bicycle and a commission from a publisher to write A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar, she is ready for adventure.
In present day London, a young woman, Frieda, returns from a long trip abroad to find a man sleeping outside her front door. She gives him a blanket and a pillow, and in the morning finds the bedding neatly folded and an exquisite drawing of a bird with a long feathery tail, some delicate Arabic writing, and a boat made out of a flock of seagulls on her wall. Tayeb, in flight from his Yemeni homeland, befriends Frieda and, when she learns she has inherited the contents of an apartment belonging to a dead woman she has never heard of, they embark on an unexpected journey together.
A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar explores the fault lines that appear when traditions from different parts of an increasingly globalized world crash into one other. Beautifully written, and peopled by a cast of unforgettable characters, the novel interweaves the stories of Frieda and Eva, gradually revealing the links between them and the ways in which they each challenge and negotiate the restrictions of their societies as they make their hard-won way toward home. A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar marks the debut of a wonderfully talented new writer.
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"I liked most of this book, but I did not like Millicent and her reckless behavior. People say religion leads you down the righteous path, but sometimes it just leads you down a really odd path, especially if you do not use common sense. Even though Millicent made a lot of bad choices and endangered Lizzie and Eva, I still was not happy about her fate. I really would have liked this book better if it had not been for what happened to Lizzie and Millicent. I really enjoyed Frieda meeting Tayeb, and I wanted to know more about what happened with them at the end."
— Sweetbearies (4 out of 5 stars)
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Beautifully written in language too taut, piercing, and smartly observed to be called lyrical, this atmospheric first novel immediately engages, nicely reminding us that odd twists of fate sometimes aren't that odd.
— Library Journal Starred Review
A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar Listener Reviews
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" oh the writing! i swooned on every page. truly. why not a 5? it's not sticking with me. somehow the deeper emotional resonance wasn't reached but so worth reading. "
— Jennifer, 2/16/2014 -
" I give up. I tried and wanted to finish it, but this book was slow and did not hold my interest. I don't mind books that bounce between time periods and have two in one stories, but this one was not for me. "
— Megan, 1/15/2014 -
" Not a lot to say about this book. I finished it a month or so ago and just saw it in my Kindle and remembered I had read it. Nothing in particular stands out in my memory in either a good or a bad way. "
— Kristen, 1/15/2014 -
" It just isn't a very well-written book. The premise is unique, but neither story -- from the past or modern day -- was made interesting by the author. So I quit before I got too far in. "
— maven, 1/7/2014 -
" I bought this book with great expectations. Unfortuntely, from one of the first scenes that takes place in a men's urinal with a pair of sleazy maricones (for lack of a better word), I knew I was in trouble. I kept going, but when I found the modern-day main character to be unlikeable, I slipped the book into the garbage before my kids accidentally stumbled upon it. "
— Sophie, 10/19/2013 -
" Had a difficult time getting through this one. I heard the buzz on it, just couldn't get into it. Eventually it grew on me, and I had to find out how it ended. "
— DeAnn, 10/17/2013 -
" Loved this book - it took me away to another time and place and then brought me back again! Wonderful! "
— Joan, 10/14/2013 -
" Rambling story of 2 different places and times. Finally ties it together but still left me hanging. "
— Sharon, 9/29/2013 -
" I loved this. A rare split narrative where both tales are equally enjoyable. "
— Sophie, 9/21/2013 -
" Despite some instances where it seemed like the story was stalling, particularly with Frieda, debut author Suzanne Joinson paints a fascinating picture of an exotic land and a woman finding her place in life. "
— Nina, 8/17/2013 -
" A great book set in the early 20's and present day. Loved it! "
— Lynne, 8/7/2013 -
" Interesting, well-written, but not really my style of novel, so only rated it a "3". "
— bert-bobbi, 3/31/2013 -
" It started slow, and I did not get the connection of the present time and the 1920's. This book was a good read once I got into the different times and the book told a good story. "
— Mike, 2/8/2013 -
" I think the Inklings (my book club) would enjoy reading this book. I really found it to be different and fascinating. Attributes I love in a book! "
— Tricia, 1/5/2013 -
" Absolutely brilliant, don't be put off by the title, it is such a good read. "
— Justine, 12/18/2012 -
" I had such high expectations for this one. What a disappointment. When I got to the part when the Freida found the owl and was wondering how to feed it and the story STILL wasn't going anywhere, I gave up. "
— Psalm, 8/29/2012 -
" I found this very strange and the characters unbelievable. Story is intriguing however. "
— Phyllis, 8/25/2012 -
" The story in this book (or stories--one in the past, one in the present) were a bit too fragmented for my taste. I also felt the characters never really got developed and the story meandered without a lot of meaning or completion in the end. Nice try but just didn't come together for me. "
— Emily, 8/7/2012
About Susan Duerden
Susan Duerden is an actress and an Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator. Her reading of The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht earned her an AudioFile Best Voice Award and a Booklist Editors’ Choice Award. She has won ten AudioFile Earphones Awards. Here career spans film, television, theater, voice-overs, and animation. She has played critically acclaimed and award-winning theatrical roles on London’s West End and Off Broadway; acted in the features Lovewrecked and Flushed Away; and held a recurring role on ABC’s Lost.