Hunting Unicorns

By: Bella Pollen

Narrated by: Christopher Cazenove, Gabrielle de Cuir

The patrician Bevan family clings to British tradition while wrestling with taxes, tree blight, and family skeletons.

Rory, the youngest son, runs a business that rents out the grand mansions for weddings and tours to help the owners pay upkeep on their dilapidated estates. Enter Maggie, an American TV journalist sent to London to do an expose on the aristocracy. She hires Rory to get her access to the most private families. The two immediately clash, bickering until a romance springs up where it seemed least likely.

A delightfully funny love story exploring loyalty and family, Hunting Unicorns is ultimately about having the courage to risk everything in the pursuit of what really counts.

©2003 Bella Pollen (P)2005 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Pollen] hits the spot every time with her funny and frank observations of modern London life." (Sunday Times [London])

"This two-voice reading works quite well. Cazenove, who can sound tetchily upper crust with the best of them, brings a world-weary drawl to his interpretation. De Cuir is up-tempo and admirably quick with the zingers that pierce Rory's reserve." (AudioFile)

Possibly the most irritating American narrator.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not really. Mediocre story....Ghastly narration....especially the American girl and Dwight...Just awful...truly grating.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Infidel.

What didn’t you like about Christopher Cazenove and Gabrielle de Cuir ’s performance?

Nasal high pitched whining girl's voice....The British narration was fine.

Was Hunting Unicorns worth the listening time?

no!

I wish it had all been as good as the best parts

I feel the burden of being the first to actually review this book on Audible. I liked the story line overall and was really struck by the graceful or funny way the author could write. But two issues were grating to me: the female narrator and the sloppy editng. The female narrator cannot do ANY other voices besides American female, and her wandering in and out of a fake - very fake - British accent was at first disconcerting and finally irritating. Especially because the male narrator was very good, flat American voice notwithstanding. In terms of editing, I can only guess that the author and the original publisher are British because that would acount for the really huge misses in the use - or no use - of American words or phrases in the female character's chapters. Not just the lack of the word "the" in "going to university" or "just got out of hospital," but other, even more basic ones like calling something a "tin" rather than a "can." Maybe it was partly the reason why I ultimately cared very much what happened to Rory but thought Maggie was irritating, unlikeable, and dumb.

A Real Gem!

This book is finding that diamond in the rough! Contemporary, well written, entertaining, humorous and worth a reread!
Pollen has written 5 other books, unfortunately not available on Audible. I recommend as an enjoyable experience.