Gilded Summers

By: Donna Russo Morin

Narrated by: Lisa Cooley

"A lush and evocative novel of the Gilded Age period, brought vibrantly to life in this powerful work." (Anne Girard, author of Madame Picasso)

Pearl and Ginevra grow up in the era known as the Gilded Age in Newport, Rhode Island. One lives above the stairs, the other below.

Surrounded by Astors and Vanderbilts, Pearl fills her days with teatime and shallow friendships, yearning for something more. A chance meeting with Mary Cassatt sparks her secret desire to be an artist. Meanwhile, Ginevra, fresh off the boat from Italy, finds her own dreams out of reach as she joins the unwelcoming household as a servant and seamstress.

Kindred souls, the girls become fast friends but must keep their friendship hidden from Pearl’s controlling mother. Every summer, they meet in a hidden spot beneath the weeping beeches to talk of art and life, and their struggles to break the barriers of their lives.

Soon, the two young women must decide who they want to be in this world, and survive what it takes to get there…no matter what it takes.

©2018 Donna Russo Morin (P)2020 Donna Russo Morin

good story poor reader

the reader had such a plain soft voice it was monotonous. but worse was that she consistently mispronounced words throughout. shame. it was a nice story told in an interesting manner.

twists and turns abound

loved it. I was captivated and learned so much
about the strict social society rules.

Well written. Would definitely recommend

I quite enjoyed it. Here is why not 5 stars. Didn’t care for the simple tense used for the current events. The beginning and the end sounded like a memo. Was missing few more chapters or events between the story and current events to develop the antagonist more in the reader’s eye. Both characters had the same voice (both in writing and narration.) one needed to have a slightly different character, they were essentially the same exact person. For the performer, it would have been nice to put a different tonality or style of reading from one character to the other. Yes, few words were mispronounced but that didn’t at all take away from the overall experience. So I disagree with other reviewers on this point. There was a solid, well written story with attention to nuances. Nice use of era and genre appropriate language. Great plot twist. And the reader’s voice was very much aligned with characters’ youthful nature.

The poor narration

The number of words mispronounced by the narrator was at times almost unbelievable. The story was very enjoyable but the narrator’s mistakes were at times comical.

Horrible narrator

The story was interesting and entertaining enough, but the narration was terrible! At least 40 grossly mispronounced words. Shouldn’t the reader actually know the correct pronunciation of the words she’s reading?