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Tunnel of Mirrors
- Narrated by: Tony Reynolds
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
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Tunnel of Mirrors
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Summary
From the very first time you open your eyes, they are all talking at you–telling stories, telling secrets. So why when at last you can make them understand you, are they so surprised that you remember, that you know?
Rachel Isaacson, spirited, otherworldly, and haunted, is born into a rigidly Old World family in New York’s Lower East Side. Hungry for independence, Rachel enters a marriage of convenience with violent consequences.
Across the Atlantic, storyteller, fiddler, and cliff climber Ciaran McMurrough is raised in pastoral innocence on Rathlin off the coast of Ulster. His upbringing in a tight-knit, isolated community leaves him unprepared for the subtle political passions following the Irish Civil War.
Outcasts—one by choice, one by chance—Rachel and Ciaran meet on the docks of lower Manhattan in 1928. Drawn to each other in this lyrical story, they seemed doomed as eternal lovers to repeat a cycle of love and loss.
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Critic reviews
"This novel is quietly, subtly, an epic told on a human scale. From the very beginning, I found myself submerged in early 1900s New York. The setting and the characters were painted in stunning detail as the story of young Rachel unfolds, a girl whose spirit cannot be confined by her rigid Jewish upbringing. She discovers a hidden power in thinking for herself and defying her repressive family. Meanwhile, across the world on a small island off Ireland, we meet Ciaran, a young man who likewise carries a spirit that sets him apart from his own people. That the author so deftly brings these two completely different people and their worlds so authentically to life left me in awe." (Joe Stillman, Academy Award®-nominated screenwriter)
What listeners say about Tunnel of Mirrors
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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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
- Jennifer Steil
- 13-06-23
A brilliant novel, exquisitely narrated
This book is a marvel. I cannot remember the last time I fell so head-over-heels in love with a novel. Ferne Arfin is a deft and enchanting storyteller, taking us deep into the lives of both an Irishman growing up on an island off of that country and a Jewish woman growing up in New York’s Lower East Side. I found myself so mesmerized listening to this book that I didn’t want it to end, parceling it out to myself over weeks so that I didn’t have to leave the characters and their voices, so lyrical they got stuck in my head like a song. Every detail of the disparate cultures, family relationships, and impossible journeys contributes to the vibrancy of the worlds Arfin creates. There is a sharp emotional intelligence to her writing as well as intellectual complexity. The plot is masterfully rendered; the language is exquisite; the voices haunting. I don’t want to write too much about the story, as I don’t want to deprive any reader of discovering its intricacies for herself.
I was walking in a park when the audiobook finished, and I stopped and yelled “No!” in despair at having to leave the people Arfin has so artfully created.
Tony Reynolds somehow manages to convey a wide range of accents and nationalities, from lower east side New York Jewish accents to the lyrical accents of Irish islanders. I could listen to him read all day.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amy
- 10-05-23
Poetic, emotional, beautiful
Beautifully written. I loved the imagery of the landscape, description of the behaviours of the characters, the atmosphere and the dialogue.
Unfortunately I did not enjoy the voice performance. I found the mimic of female voices somewhat
distracting. Perhaps I am too much a physical book person, preferring my own imagination than a listener.
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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
- Rana Ismail
- 21-04-23
Mesmerizing story about finding love and happiness
It’s no secret that I love the classics; they take me back to simpler times and truer feelings. This story did that too. The language and writing style are so superior to anything “modern” I have read and I am completely in love with the journey it took me on.
You see, I am a millennial who grew up very far from both New York and Ireland. I have never visited either (though Ireland is on top of my list) but this enchanting story took me there. Ireland lay there open on the palm of my hand for me to explore and the New York cold gave me shivers.
The story starts with a young Rachel whose curiosity and inquisitive spirit reminded me so much of Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird (one of my all-time favorite books). Her questions and rebellious spirit made me grin and cheer her on. Her frustrations and perseverance to break free from a strict upbringing led her to making a decision that would impact her life forever. But we see her grow more fierce, while also more grounded, in her pursuit of a better life.
As we are getting to know Rachel, we get introduced to an older Ciaran all the way across the other side of the world in Ireland. I loved everything about this character; his charisma jumps out at you and you’re instantly mesmerized. His story-telling and that accent… oh my!
It was so beautiful to see how their paths led them to each other slowly but surely. That destiny was inescapable and I waited for it patiently wondering when and how it would happen. Then when it happened, it was so raw and genuine – just love it! I could see the whole scene play out and felt what Rachel was feeling, her confusion but also discreet joy and desire.
Towards the end, Ms. Ferne gave me a scare and I held my breath fearing for their happy ending. I even sped up the audio a bit for the reveal and ended up missing an exit and getting stuck in traffic. I have zero regrets though because that ending was just so smooth and subtle – exactly how I like it!
I could go on and on about the little things I loved about this book but I will conclude by listing what avid readers look for and care about: beautiful descriptive writing, lovable characters and character development, genuine dialogue and dialects that give so much credibility to the story (and I think this was elevated even further by the amazingly talented narrator Tony Reynolds) and, last but not least, an author who is a master story teller (now we know where Ciaran got it from, lol).
Finally, I received a copy of Tunnel of Mirrors from the author in the form of an audiobook in exchange for an honest review and I am now a life-long fan. I will buy a copy of this book and re-read it again to take in anything I might have missed on audio.
Highly recommended and insanely immersive…
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