A Certain Age

A Novel

By: Beatriz Williams

Narrated by: Mia Barron, Barbara Goodson, Adrienne Rusk

The bestselling author of A Hundred Summers brings the Roaring Twenties brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively readable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York Society, brimming with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm.

As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: she’s fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War. An intense and deeply honorable man, Octavian is devoted to the beautiful socialite of a certain age and wants to marry her. While times are changing and she does adore the Boy, divorce for a woman of Theresa’s wealth and social standing is out of the question, and there is no need; she has an understanding with Sylvo, her generous and well-respected philanderer husband.

But their relationship subtly shifts when her bachelor brother, Ox, decides to tie the knot with the sweet younger daughter of a newly wealthy inventor. Engaging a longstanding family tradition, Theresa enlists the Boy to act as her brother’s cavalier, presenting the family’s diamond rose ring to Ox’s intended, Miss Sophie Fortescue—and to check into the background of the little-known Fortescue family. When Octavian meets Sophie, he falls under the spell of the pretty ingénue, even as he uncovers a shocking family secret. As the love triangle of Theresa, Octavian, and Sophie progresses, it transforms into a saga of divided loyalties, dangerous revelations, and surprising twists that will lead to a shocking transgression . . . and eventually force Theresa to make a bittersweet choice.

Full of the glamour, wit and delicious twists that are the hallmarks of Beatriz Williams’ fiction and alternating between Sophie’s spirited voice and Theresa’s vibrant timbre, A Certain Age is a beguiling reinterpretation of Richard Strauss’s comic opera Der Rosenkavalier, set against the sweeping decadence of Gatsby’s New York.

Great Story Horrible Narrator

What made the experience of listening to A Certain Age the most enjoyable?

The storyline was great I love Beatriz Williams books and I was so excited to see references to characters from her past novels. However, the narrator for Sophie's perspective was HORRIBLE she sounded like a robot and made listening to the book almost unbearable.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Usually I am glued to my iPod when i have a new Beatriz Williams audio book but this one I found myself turning off after only a few minutes the narrator for Sophie was so bad.

Give it past chapter 4

This was a slow starting book. It definitely takes a few chapters to get into. I feel like Teresa is a character who has done the best she could with the life she was raised to have. Sophie had great character development and charm. A great story of how women’s lives were at the turn of the century intertwined with navigating a murder trial.

Fabulous author and Narrators

Love all of her books,and any of them would make a great movie.The history from 1920- 60's is fascinating !

Overall a good story

Overall it was a good story but jumping of timelines and character names that were very similar was confusing at times. In addition the use of nicknames that was not consistent throughout the book also lead to confusion in the beginning. Personally, I feel the story would have been much better without the jumping around of time lines and use of nicknames.

Not the best performance...

I must say, the women who voiced Sophie and Mrs. Marshall sounded like nails on chalkboard. I sped up the playback, which helped cut out the respective whine and harshness of both voices. It was an interesting story, but doesn't compare to the other novels by Ms. Williams.