Narrated by Elizabeth Bower, Ben Elliot, Nicola Stanton, Steven France
I was in the mood for Chick Lit, and One Plus One by Jojo Moyes fit the bill.
Meet relentless optimist Jessica Rae Thomas, aka Jess. She’s a single mom with two jobs, two kids, and a huge, drooling, flatulent dog named Norman. The older kid, Nicky, aka “goth boy,” is really Jess’s ex Marty’s son with his ex-partner. Those inter-connections are your first clue that this is a tale of what relationships make a modern family. Teenaged Nicky is constantly bullied at his school and his neighborhood, and spends most of his life playing videogames and withdrawn. Jess and Marty’s biological daughter, Tanzie, is a maths genius. When Tanzie is offered a 90% scholarship to a prestigious private school, Jess sees it as Tanzie’s ticket to a better life. Unfortunately, Jess’s earnings as a housecleaner and bartender are not enough to raise the 10%, and Marty has abdicated his responsibilities. Then Jess hears of a math Olympiad in Scotland whose prize is just the amount for her share of a year’s private school tuition. Jess desperately needs to get her family to Scotland.
Enter Ed Nicholls, the unlikely knight-in-tarnished-armor. Ed is a computer geek, and an accidental millionaire laying low in Jess’s town amid an investigation for insider trading. Jess and Ed have actually had a number of unfortunate meet-cutes prior to Ed’s “rescue.” A series of events converge, leading Ed to offer Jess and her menagerie a ride. They end up on a road trip that forever changes their lives.
The story itself took a while to get out of the gate. Once they hit the road, the pace picked up, and evoked one of those road trip indie movies, reminding me of that film “Little Miss Sunshine.”
The ensemble cast of narrators enhanced the cinematic feel. True to the genre, the story is more than just about Ed and Jess. Tanzie and Nick each get their points of view. There are four voice actors, each corresponding to one point of view. The character through whose viewpoint the event unfolds delivers each chapter.
The shift in voices and point of view by chapter is seamless. Having four narrators really gives this dimensionality so we get four main characters. Jess has that bright tone that is true to her optimistic nature. Tanzie sounds like the brilliant little girl she is who is way older than her years. The male narrators are also clearly distinguishable. The narrator for Nick was especially spot on for the troubled teen that Nick is.
The ensemble narration is pitch perfect. Jojo Moyes’ writing is funny, poignant, and just right if you are in the mood for chick-lit. I’ll end with this funny exchange between Jess and Ed.
“What is this?” He stared at it suspiciously.
“Scotch, triple sec, and orange juice.”
He took a sip. And then a larger one. “This is all right.”
“I knew you’d like it. I made it especially for you. It’s called a Mithering Bastard.”
Megan
Narration: A
Book Content: B+
Steam Factor: You can play it out loud
Violence: None
Genre: Contemporary Romance – Chick lit
Publisher: Penguin Audio
One Plus One was provided to AudioGals by Penguin Audio for review.
Just recently finished this story and agree with your analysis of the narration. This was my first experience with four narrators and I loved it.
I loved One Plus One when I listened about a month ago. I wondered about the four narrators, mostly because I was concerned about a story told from four POVs, but I thoroughly enjoyed it all.
This is how The Help is done – 4 narrators – and it is very effective when the book is clearly delineated by POV. There are 3 character narrators, and one generic (third person) section narrated by the 4th. The Time Traveler’s Wife is another example – it’s only 2 narrators, but the author writes from only 2 POV, both in first person. When the audiobook production team takes the time to really plan out how the narration might best enhance the book, it’s wonderful!
The large cast of narrators would be new for me- perhaps this would be a good book to give it a try.
It was my first experience with 4 narrators, too! Melinda is right. I think the key must have been planning, and it shows when well-thought out, the audiobook production can really enhance the story.
There are 189 holds on this at my library!!!