Narrated by India Plum
Once again I’m impressed by Mayberry’s ability to tell a story rich with real emotion and real-life scenarios, that also has some lightness. These aren’t suspense novels – just a slice of life, the slice in which two people discover attraction which builds to friendship and love.
Audrey and Zach work together at Makers Hardware Cooperative (it sounds like Ace Hardware in the States) in Melbourne, Australia. She started in the company at age 19 and worked her way up; Zach joined the company six months previously at her level with higher education but different experience. Although she is attracted to him, her initial reaction is that he’s a blueblood, since he has more education and wears expensive clothes. As it turns out, Zach was raised by a single mom heroin addict, was often homeless, and worked hard to get where he is. They are both candidates for a promotion in their department, hence the rivalry. When they are partnered on a project for the new CEO, they end up acting on their mutual attraction.
The conflicts in Her Favorite Rival are all internal – Zach tells her his parents are dead when in fact his mother is alive but still an addict. He’s compartmentalized his life – there’s the old Zach, who must continue to take care of his mother, and the new Zach, the one with the expensive clothes and competitive job. Audrey also has a story from her past that she doesn’t want to face – in her teens, she ran away from home and lived on the streets for 18 months. Even though she returned to the fold, she has never felt that her family forgave her for her youthful indiscretion. But when she learns by accident that Zach’s mother is indeed alive, and that he refuses to share any information about her with Audrey, even though Audrey has shared her past with him, she decides that is a deal breaker. The story is emotional and funny and real.
Narrator India Plum appears on 8 audiobooks at Audible.com, most of which, including this one, she reads in an Australian accent. To be honest, I couldn’t tell you if her accent was completely authentic, but it sounded puro Aussie to me! But one is read in a very credible American accent. Her reading in Her Favorite Rival is very good, and she differentiates her characters well and consistently, with both pitch and regional and character accents. My one issue with her voice is the slight smoker’s hoarseness that always makes me think a speaker has vocal nodes and needs to go to a doctor. Some people call it husky and find it attractive, but I’ve got a mental block about it! Whenever I hear an actor with this kind of voice, I cringe. But that little quirk of mine aside, Plum reads and acts the story very well. And I’m glad the narrator reads the entire book, including the narrative, with an Aussie accent. Mayberry is Australian, and many of her books are set in Australia. The other audiobooks of her work set in Australia have been read with American accents (although at least one of the narrators attempts Australian accents with her characters). For me, it enhances the experience to hear a native speaker read the story.
I tried to find more biographical info on Ms. Plum. Is she an American reading in an Australian accent, or an Australian reading in an American accent? To further confuse me, there’s a Brick Shop Audio Soundcloud excerpt of her reading in what sounds more like a British accent for the narrative, with distinctly American accents for both the characters. Conclusion: she can read in several English language accents! But that’s all I know. Give her a try and let me know what you think!
Melinda
Narration: B
Book Content: B
Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in
Violence: None
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd.
I’m so glad it’s not just me who’s anal about accents! But there really are times when even the very best of them slip up if they’re not reading in their natural accent, or there are little things that really give them away, which can range from “oops, never mind” to being really grating.
I’ll have to listen to that clip ;)
I would love to hear what you think – which is Plum’s “native” accent? Her intro to the Soundcloud excerpt is, well, not American (Brit? Aussie? South African???) so I’m thinking her native accent is not American, but her American accents are very, very good. Flawless. Coulda fooled me.
https://soundcloud.com/brick-shop/secrets-india-plum
Wow, she’s really good. I haven’t so far come across any narrators who can do both an English and American accent that convincingly. The intro is definitely British, but not posh…
I’m going to guess she’s a Brit, simply because try as I might, I really couldn’t hear anything that gave her away as being anything else. Sometimes non-Brits give themselves away by sounding almost too good, like they’re trying too hard, but she sounds very natural.
As she did with the American accent.
cool, and see, the Mayberry was Australian – we need Kaetrin to give it a listen and confirm it’s just as natural.
Have you heard Barbara Rosenblat? I looooove her reading of Judith Ivory’s The Indiscretion, and she flips from American (Texan cowboy) to British uppercrust to British lower class (Scots or Yorkshire?) so easily. The Audible sample doesn’t give much of the dialogue, and Rosenblat reads the narrative in her natural American accent. She’s a master narrator, and I only wish she did more romance! (24 out of 251 at Audible)
I’ve got a couple of Barbara Rosenblat’s audios… one is an Amanda Quick and the other is Ivory’s The Proposition. She has the most amazing voice.
I agree, we need Kaetrin to weigh in on the authenticity (or otherwise) of the Aussie accent!