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Backpack
- Narrated by: Emma Fenney
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
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Backpack
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Summary
The wonderful first novel from the critically acclaimed author of The Sleeper and The Sisterhood.
It's New Year's Day and the year isn't kicking off well for Tansy: her mother's dead, she's a cocaine addict and her boyfriend has just left her. A trip around the world seems like the only option except that she's not interested in seeing the world, just escaping from it, and the last people she wants to hang out with are backpackers.
Like a lot of travellers on the Lonely-Planet-led Asian Grand Tour, Tansy is intensely irritating at first. Always on the look out for the "real" Vietnam--the one in which she can walk around "like a model, fanning myself gently, strolling into ancient temples and learning about inner peace"--she is opinionated, narrow-minded and remarkably naive (for a supposed media luvvy). Once she has shrugged off her addiction to lines of coke, skinny lattes and Nicole Fahri jumpers, she becomes more appealing. So by the time she's fallen for Max, a fellow traveller, she'll have won you over and you'll be just as worried as she is about the serial killer who appears to be on her trail.
Emily Barr has written columns and travel pieces for the Observer and the Guardian for several years, and her previous novels have all been critically acclaimed. She lives in Cornwall with her husband and three children.
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What listeners say about Backpack
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Starling
- 23-06-15
Not extremely impressed
Not extremely impressed :/ slightly disappointed about the story line.
Did not particularly enjoy it I have to say.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Orvieto
- 04-09-23
Ok, but far too long
It started off well,with good descriptions of Asia, but only to be expected from a travel journalist, but a third of the way through the story it lost its way, far too much unnecessary ramblings, just went on and on, in fact I skipped several chapters, and it didn’t seem to matter! I suspected who the baddie was early on and it became very far fetched. Good narration though.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- leebee 112
- 15-01-23
This was fantastic !
I couldn’t stand this Character initially She was a total Bitch! So selfish,
Sometimes hilarious Put downs and opinions of others. Then as her Journey continues the layers and self awareness show up someone quite different. Then there’s more a lot more to Tamsey, Dare she wish for it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jeeds
- 04-12-14
Great Story, Great Narration!
Having read/listened to other books by Emily Barr, I had no qualms in using my monthly credit to download 'Backpack'. I found out that 'Backpack' is one of Emily Barr's early books; in fact I believe it is her first, and as I am familiar with her style and plot choices in later books, I did see the main reveal at the end of the book coming. However, it is still a great story and there were other smaller surprises along the way.
The author creates an honest and tangible description of Asia and the main character, Tansy, starts off quite hateful (yet some of her comments are laugh out loud funny) but she really goes on a "journey" ending the story as a much more enlightened and balanced young woman. I loved the narration and thought that Emma Fenney was fantastic at conveying pace and emotion and her accents for different characters were pretty darn good too! All around an excellent listen!
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Mr Chops
- 12-11-14
Escape
I read this on my first round the world trip so it has special memories for me. I enjoyed the audible version, it also transported me away from grey oppresive London to the energy and life of a holiday in Asia.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Nikki
- 02-05-15
Guessing till the End
I didn't even even guess that it was him. Great writing once again by this brilliant author. Will read more.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- JaDe
- 08-07-15
What is the genre?
I enjoyed Backpack. It is a bit confused though. Is it a voyage of self-discovery? A romance? A crime novel? Initially the main character came across as shallow and self-centred to the extent that I wondered why anyone liked her. However she improved on deeper acquaintance and was clearly trying to come to terms with her past difficulties. These difficulties were extreme and once this became clear it seemed a miracle that she was as grounded as she was. Also, given the traumatic nature of her past, her character could have been explored more thoroughly.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- dazzlebown
- 13-08-22
Fairly lightweight travel-romance-whodunnit.
But the performance: the narrator is great at conveying emotion in a restrained, limited way but it’d be nice if she knew the difference between a Peak District and a generic eebegum Yorkshire accent and knew how to pronounce the names of the places the travellers visit. Every time she pronounced the ‘s’ on the end of ‘Laos’ it made me flinch.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nicks
- 14-04-19
Very engaging!
I really like this author as you cant predict her plots or endings (different to the usual thrillers). As the characters travel around various countries, some interesting information is presented without it being too 'heavy'. Definitely a recommended book and the narration was brilliant!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Annie112358
- 24-10-20
Brilliant
I absolutely loved this book, a compulsive read with humour, drama and mystery. It was well written and well performed.
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