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Help Yourself

By: Rachel Michael Arends
Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon, Ben Owen, Kevin Stillwell
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Publisher's summary

Help Yourself is a big, modern-day fairy tale that interweaves the stories of three engaging characters as they navigate pivotal passages in their lives.

Merry Strand spent all her days in a rural North Carolina mountain town before being lured to the Atlantic coast by the promise of an inheritance from the biological father she never knew existed. The windfall could save her adopted family from financial ruin, but in order to receive it she must earn it by completing a series of tasks.

Fritz Forth - Merry's late father's loyal attorney - promised to help Merry, but he would infinitely rather be back at home in London with his rock-star-wannabe lover. And Jack Morningstar, a Midwestern widower attempting to reconcile his memories of his late wife with his newfound knowledge of who she really was, numbly occupies the beach house next door.

An abandoned barrier island in the offseason is the setting for the poignant ups and downs and eventual transformations of these characters as they learn to help each other and ultimately to help themselves. The Dickensian supporting cast lends comic relief and additional pathos in the forms of a curmudgeonly dead Englishman, a crazy mountain-town radio therapist, a suicidal software engineer, a matchmaking dog, and possibly a ghost.

©2014 Rachel Michael Arends (P)2014 Audible Inc.
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What listeners say about Help Yourself

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Listened entirely within a 20 hour span.

Enjoyed the story line, characters & how the narrators brought the story to life. Great descriptions of surroundings so one could envision the scene settings. Would love to see as a movie!

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Lots of voices bring it life

As other reviewers have said, the story is comfortable and while a little predictable, it's refreshing and engaging. The narroator of the Audible version are terrific, as they each try to do the other's voice -- Merry doing the posh Brit and the posh Brit trying to replicate Merry. My only problem with the whole book is that y'all refers to multiple people. Even mountain folks, where Merry is from and I live, do not use y'all to refer to just one person. Overall a nice listen.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Good story

Although, parts were a little predictable. It was fairly enjoyable. Merry is a sweet character.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Lots of potential

The premise behind this book is fantastic. I fell in love with all of the characters right away and the performance was fantastic. The story fell kind of flat at the end and ended too quickly.

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