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The Marriage of Opposites Audiobook
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Publisher Description
“A luminous, Marquez-esque tale” (O, The Oprah Magazine) from the New York Times bestselling author of The Museum of Extraordinary Things: a forbidden love story set on a tropical island about the extraordinary woman who gave birth to painter Camille Pissarro—the Father of Impressionism.
Growing up on idyllic St. Thomas in the early 1800s, Rachel dreams of life in faraway Paris. Rachel’s mother, a pillar of their small refugee community of Jews who escaped the Inquisition, has never forgiven her daughter for being a difficult girl who refuses to live by the rules. Growing up, Rachel’s salvation is their maid Adelle’s belief in her strengths, and her deep, life-long friendship with Jestine, Adelle’s daughter. But Rachel’s life is not her own. She is married off to a widower with three children to save her father’s business. When her older husband dies suddenly and his handsome, much younger nephew, Frédérick, arrives from France to settle the estate, Rachel seizes her own life story, beginning a defiant, passionate love affair that sparks a scandal that affects all of her family, including her favorite son, who will become one of the greatest artists of France.
“A work of art” (Dallas Morning News), The Marriage of Opposites showcases the beloved, bestselling Alice Hoffman at the height of her considerable powers. “Her lush, seductive prose, and heart-pounding subject…make this latest skinny-dip in enchanted realism…the Platonic ideal of the beach read” (Slate.com). Once forgotten to history, the marriage of Rachel and Frédérick “will only renew your commitment to Hoffman’s astonishing storytelling” (USA TODAY).
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“This massive family tale is an appealing audiobook…The narrators’ performances are skilled and appropriate for each role. While each narrator’s voice is distinctive, they share a common intensity, a complete immersion in the lyrical language that is a Hoffman specialty. Gloria Reuben’s voice has a simmering, husky quality, while Tina Benko’s delivery is more measured and subtle, which is appropriate for that section of the novel. Santino Fontana brings the listener forward in time, his crisp delivery sounding a bit more modern. Even with such scope, this audiobook manages to capture the imagination and transport listeners to another time. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
Quotes
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“[A] luminous, Marquez-esque tale.”
— O, The Oprah Magazine -
“Astonishing storytelling.”
— USA Today -
“Rich with details…Hoffman elevates what could have been little more than a summer getaway book to a work of art.”
— Dallas Morning News -
“An entrancing saga of sacrifice, forbidden loves, betrayals, and family tragedies endured in a world fractured by religion, class, and race, and redeemed by art and by love. Hoffman is at her resplendent best in this trenchant and revelatory tale of a heroic woman and her world-altering artist son.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“Lilting prose, beautifully meted out folklore, and historical references and Hoffman’s deep conviction in her characters (especially those ‘willing to do anything for love’) make reading this contes du temps passé a total pleasure.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review) -
“Hoffman’s subject matter and her evocative writing style are a wonderful fit for this moving story, which illuminates a historical period and women whose lives were colored by hardships, upheavals, and the subjugation of personal desires.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Brings into focus the birth of impressionism and the forces that shaped Pissarro’s artistic drive through the complicated, rich, adventure-filled life story of his fiery mother.”
— Library Journal -
“Hoffman mixes fact and fiction to produce a richly imagined tapestry shot through with her signature blend of folklore, fairy dust, and romantic passion.”
— Washington Post
Awards
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An August 2015 LibraryReads Pick
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Winner of an AudioFile Earphones Award
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A New York Times bestseller
The Marriage of Opposites Listener Reviews
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sonia mcvean, 4/2/2018
About Alice Hoffman
Alice Hoffman is the author of more than thirty works of fiction, including the Practical Magic series and the Oprah’s Book Club selection Here on Earth, among others. Eight of her novels have made the New York Times bestsellers list.
About the Narrators
Gloria Reuben is an actress, jazz singer, and social activist with an impressive list of credentials in television, film, theater, and music. Many remember her from the hit NBC series ER, whose groundbreaking role garnered her two Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe nomination. Since then, she has had multiple starring roles in a variety of other television series and movies.
Tina Benko’s Broadway appearances include Irena’s Vow, Top Girls, The Real Thing, Not About Nightingales, and Hedda Gabler. She toured internationally as Desdemona/Othello in the concert-play Desdemona. Her off-Broadway credits include Tales from Red Vienna, The Little Foxes, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Marie and Bruce, Wintertime, and LifeGame. Her numerous film and television credits include The Avengers, Ugly Betty, and three seasons on Showtime’s Brotherhood.
Santino Fontana is a stage actor, director, and composer. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program and recently provided the voice of Prince Hans in Frozen. In 2015 he became the first guest artist to perform three times in the space of one year with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.