The Marriage of Opposites

By: Alice Hoffman

Narrated by: Gloria Reuben, Tina Benko, Santino Fontana

“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).

Started off GREAT, but then...

What made the experience of listening to The Marriage of Opposites the most enjoyable?

I am not sure what happened??! I was loving this story from the beginning. It is classic Alice Hoffman - so beautiful and mystical. But then, about 3 hours from the end, I just lost interest. I finished it, of course, because I had by then invested so much time into the story, but it just became tedious to me. This makes me sad because I ADORE Alice Hoffman - The Red Garden is still one of the greatest audio books I have ever listened to. But this one just lost me and that made me sad. To be fair, I just finished two pretty intense thrillers, so the pace of this story may have been just the wrong follow-up. Whatever the case, it was not easy to finish. Also, and I realize that this is picky, but I wish the male voice would have been a bit more exotic sounding. I mean, he was the voice of Camille Pissarro - the French Jew from St. Thomas! But, alas, the narrator sounded like a man from the midwest USA.

Great book, Irritating narration.

Interesting and Rich story based on historical and cultural facts… The only problem was the female narration with the very deep and forced husky voice. The book was dramatic enough, she didn’t need to have such a laughably low husky voice. I almost stopped reading several times because of it. It’s not about you, narrator!

Wonderful

Very intriguing story. Great narration! What a story. Sad to have it end. Will listen again.

I loved this book. You should definitely read it.

I got this book because it was on sale on Black Friday. it is not my normal genre and I didn't know what I was getting but I fell in love with it. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

One of the BEST books I’ve ever heard/read!!!

This story reminds me of my favorite author, Isabel Allende. Hoffman tells an inspiring story while teaching us about history...my favorite type of books. This book is addictive and the characters become part of your life. I’m sad it’s over but I’m sure I’ll listen to it over a few more times in my lifetime. I highly recommend it!!