The Age of Miracles

By: Karen Thompson Walker

Narrated by: Laurence Bouvard

What if our 24-hour day grew longer, first in minutes, then in hours, until day becomes night and night becomes day? What effect would this slowing have on the world? On the birds in the sky, the whales in the sea, the astronauts in space, and on an 11-year-old girl grappling with emotional changes in her own life? One morning, Julia and her parents wake up to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth is noticeably slowing....

©2012 Karen Thompson Walker (P)2012 W F Howes Ltd

Starts solidly, but fizzles out

What would you do if all of a sudden both the days and nights got inexplicably longer, birds mysteriously dropped from the sky, and gravity seemed stronger? It would be hard to get your head around, right? Welcome to the world of 11 year old Julia, as she not only has to grapple with the shifts in the marking of time, but the budding onset of puberty and a fascination with the new boy in school.

I was initially captured by the author's brief synopsis and went into this expecting a 'Day After Tomorrow' tone; and for the first third it delivered. The narration was crisp and descriptive, with an air of mystery and danger. But as the rotation of the Earth further slowed, so too did any urgency to the plot, which became more focused on Julia's awkward relationship with Seth and her parents. Perhaps the tonal shift from macro to micro is intentional; showing that in moments of crisis the wider world becomes less important and we focus on things more immediate to us. However it is explored in a quite weak and superficial way. The further the novel went on, the more it became apparent to me that the target audience would most likely be teens much like Julia and Seth themselves.

I can't really fault the narration. Laurence Bouvard does a good job at bringing the source material to life, and as far as stories go I've read much worse. However if you are expecting an apocalyptic joyride to the end of the world, forget about it. 'The Age of Miracles' is merely the background for an average, teenage romance novel.

Dissapointing..

This was my first listen to one of Karen Walker's books and I was quite disappointed ..
The narrator, Bouvard, came across badly and her attempts at different vocals were inadequate to say the least.
I kept on waiting for the story line to take off....
Walker seemed to run out of steam towards the finish of the book and the ending was inconclusive and rather amateurish.
I will not be purchasing any more books from this author or narrator.