With Hope and Love

By: Ellie Dean

Narrated by: Marlene Sidaway

Brought to you by Penguin.

Cliffehaven, 1945

The war in Europe is over, but for Peggy Reilly and the residents of Beach View Boarding House the effects of the conflict are still far-reaching.

Cockney evacuee, Ivy, and her sweetheart, Andy, are saving to get married and fulfil their dream of returning to the East End. But when tragedy strikes, Ivy is faced with a life-changing dilemma that only she can resolve.

Rita also faces an impossible choice when her sweetheart Peter proposes and asks her to live with him in Australia – just as her widowed father returns from the fighting in Europe.

Meanwhile Peggy must say goodbye to several of her evacuee chicks whilst she awaits the return of her family from Somerset and the news that her husband, Jim, can finally come home.

It’s a dream she’s held onto for six long years, but fate has one more twist in store.

Hope and Love is this story

As always, Ellie Deans latest edition in the Cliffehaven Series is a wonderful story. The author brings previous characters and situations to lovely conclusions. Peggy and her "chicks" have weathered WW2 in their part of England. While not without sadness and pain, they find on VE Day a sense of wonder and hope for the future. The one big negative is the narration. The previous narrative by Julie Maisey was spot on for characterization through voices. This new narration is way below what I was expecting. Ms. Sidaway's characters are stilted and no match to what listeners have come to expect. Hopefully, Ms. Maisey will be onboard for the next installment "Homecoming".

Another Good One

It took a bit to get used to this reader but I stuck with it. By the 3rd chapter I decided to listen as if Cordelia were reading. And somewhere along the line I know longer thought about it and was just involved in the happenings with the Cliffhaven family.

Poor narration

This is my first ever review. Felt compelled to write as the narration of this story is so bad! I love this series of books and eagerly await the next one. This story was every bit as good as the others - well written with excellent historical references and great character development. Unfortunately the narrator made it very difficult to listen to and her attempts at different accents were embarrassing.

Great narrator!

I appreciate the pacing, variety of voices and clear diction of this narrator. I hope she is asked to read Dean’s next book.

Great story-Poor Narration

The story did not disappoint. It carried forward the characters’ journeys while also bringing some of them to a satisfying conclusion. Because of this, I kept listening—even though the narrator was disappointing from the very beginning and at times made it difficult to stay engaged. This was especially noticeable when the expected distinct accents for different characters were missing; many voices sounded similar, often like a grouchy older woman. And her attempt at an Australian accent was particularly unconvincing.