The Gran Tour
Travels with My Elders
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $18.54
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Ben Aitken
-
By:
-
Ben Aitken
About this listen
When Ben Aitken learnt that his gran had enjoyed a four-night holiday including four three-course dinners, four cooked breakfasts, four games of bingo, a pair of excursions, 16 pints of lager and luxury return coach travel, all for a hundred pounds, he thought, that's the life, and signed himself up. Six times over.
Good value aside, what Ben was really after was the company of his elders - those with more chapters under their belt, with the wisdom granted by experience, the candour gifted by time, and the hard-earned ability to live each day like it's nearly their last. A series of coach holidays ensued - from Scarborough to St Ives, Killarney to Lake Como - during which Ben attempts to shake off his 30-something blues by getting old as soon as possible.
©2020 Ben Aitken (P)2020 W. F. Howes LtdListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Marmalade Diaries
- The True Story of an Odd Couple
- By: Ben Aitken
- Narrated by: Ben Aitken
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Recently widowed, Winnie, 84, was in need of some companionship. Someone to help with the weekly food shop and offer tips on the crossword. Ben, 34, was looking for a new housemate. As the UK was locked down in 2020, Ben and Winnie's lives interwove, forming an unlikely friendship, where lessons were learnt (heat the red wine in the oven with the plates, preserve or pickle whatever you can, never throw anything away) and grief, both personal and that of a nation, was explored.
-
-
Emotional
- By Joyce H. on 01-31-23
By: Ben Aitken
-
A Chip Shop in Poznań
- My Unlikely Year in Poland
- By: Ben Aitken
- Narrated by: Will M. Watt
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Not many Brits move to Poland to work in a fish and chip shop. Fewer still come back wanting to be a Member of the European Parliament. In 2016, Ben Aitken moved to Poland while he still could. It wasn’t love that took him but curiosity: he wanted to know what the Poles in the UK had left behind. He flew to a place he’d never heard of and then accepted a job in a chip shop on the minimum wage. When he wasn’t peeling potatoes he was on the road scratching the country’s surface.
-
-
Great narration, okay story
- By Anonymous User on 02-26-24
By: Ben Aitken
-
Travels with Charley in Search of America
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Gary Sinise
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In September 1960, John Steinbeck and his poodle, Charley, embarked on a journey across America, from small towns to growing cities to glorious wilderness oases. Travels with Charley is animated by Steinbeck’s attention to the specific details of the natural world and his sense of how the lives of people are intimately connected to the rhythms of nature—to weather, geography, the cycles of the seasons. His keen ear for the transactions among people is evident, too, as he records the interests and obsessions that preoccupy the Americans he encounters along the way.
-
-
Gary Sinise is fantastic!
- By C. Wilson on 01-11-17
By: John Steinbeck
-
Agatha's First Case
- An Agatha Raisin Short Story
- By: M. C. Beaton
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
- Length: 1 hr and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At age 26 Agatha Raisin has already come a long way. She has clawed her way up since leaving the Birmingham slum where she was born. She's lost her Birmingham accent, run away from her drunken husband, and found a job at a public relations office as a secretary. Then her boss asks Agatha to go to the home of Sir Bryce Teller to tell him that he is soon to be arrested for the murder of his wife and that the agency no longer wants to represent him.
-
-
Lightening Fast Short Origin Story
- By Wynne on 03-19-19
By: M. C. Beaton
-
The Slow Road to Deadhorse
- An Englishman's Discoveries and Reflections on the Backroads of North America
- By: James Anthony
- Narrated by: James Anthony
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Burnt out after running his own business, James Anthony arrives in the pastel skies of Florida's Key West to start a journey of catharsis. His destination? Deadhorse, Alaska, on the edge of the Arctic Ocean, via the backroads of the continent. Dodging burly wildlife keen to take a bite out of him, Anthony meets the quirky, good-hearted folk of North America’s backwaters, learning how Britain influenced the continent’s history, much of it painfully unsavoury.
-
-
An amazing un-retouched view of modern USA
- By SueB-utiful on 07-20-23
By: James Anthony
-
Don't Make Me Pull Over!
- By: Richard Ratay
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the days before cheap air travel, families didn’t so much take vacations as survive them. Between home and destination lay thousands of miles and dozens of annoyances, and with his family Richard Ratay experienced all of them - from being crowded into the backseat with noogie-happy older brothers, to picking out a souvenir only to find that a better one might have been had at the next attraction, to dealing with a dad who didn’t believe in bathroom breaks.
-
-
Loved it! Super for Oldsters!
- By Sharlotte on 07-08-18
By: Richard Ratay
-
The Marmalade Diaries
- The True Story of an Odd Couple
- By: Ben Aitken
- Narrated by: Ben Aitken
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Recently widowed, Winnie, 84, was in need of some companionship. Someone to help with the weekly food shop and offer tips on the crossword. Ben, 34, was looking for a new housemate. As the UK was locked down in 2020, Ben and Winnie's lives interwove, forming an unlikely friendship, where lessons were learnt (heat the red wine in the oven with the plates, preserve or pickle whatever you can, never throw anything away) and grief, both personal and that of a nation, was explored.
-
-
Emotional
- By Joyce H. on 01-31-23
By: Ben Aitken
-
A Chip Shop in Poznań
- My Unlikely Year in Poland
- By: Ben Aitken
- Narrated by: Will M. Watt
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Not many Brits move to Poland to work in a fish and chip shop. Fewer still come back wanting to be a Member of the European Parliament. In 2016, Ben Aitken moved to Poland while he still could. It wasn’t love that took him but curiosity: he wanted to know what the Poles in the UK had left behind. He flew to a place he’d never heard of and then accepted a job in a chip shop on the minimum wage. When he wasn’t peeling potatoes he was on the road scratching the country’s surface.
-
-
Great narration, okay story
- By Anonymous User on 02-26-24
By: Ben Aitken
-
Travels with Charley in Search of America
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Gary Sinise
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In September 1960, John Steinbeck and his poodle, Charley, embarked on a journey across America, from small towns to growing cities to glorious wilderness oases. Travels with Charley is animated by Steinbeck’s attention to the specific details of the natural world and his sense of how the lives of people are intimately connected to the rhythms of nature—to weather, geography, the cycles of the seasons. His keen ear for the transactions among people is evident, too, as he records the interests and obsessions that preoccupy the Americans he encounters along the way.
-
-
Gary Sinise is fantastic!
- By C. Wilson on 01-11-17
By: John Steinbeck
-
Agatha's First Case
- An Agatha Raisin Short Story
- By: M. C. Beaton
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
- Length: 1 hr and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At age 26 Agatha Raisin has already come a long way. She has clawed her way up since leaving the Birmingham slum where she was born. She's lost her Birmingham accent, run away from her drunken husband, and found a job at a public relations office as a secretary. Then her boss asks Agatha to go to the home of Sir Bryce Teller to tell him that he is soon to be arrested for the murder of his wife and that the agency no longer wants to represent him.
-
-
Lightening Fast Short Origin Story
- By Wynne on 03-19-19
By: M. C. Beaton
-
The Slow Road to Deadhorse
- An Englishman's Discoveries and Reflections on the Backroads of North America
- By: James Anthony
- Narrated by: James Anthony
- Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Burnt out after running his own business, James Anthony arrives in the pastel skies of Florida's Key West to start a journey of catharsis. His destination? Deadhorse, Alaska, on the edge of the Arctic Ocean, via the backroads of the continent. Dodging burly wildlife keen to take a bite out of him, Anthony meets the quirky, good-hearted folk of North America’s backwaters, learning how Britain influenced the continent’s history, much of it painfully unsavoury.
-
-
An amazing un-retouched view of modern USA
- By SueB-utiful on 07-20-23
By: James Anthony
-
Don't Make Me Pull Over!
- By: Richard Ratay
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the days before cheap air travel, families didn’t so much take vacations as survive them. Between home and destination lay thousands of miles and dozens of annoyances, and with his family Richard Ratay experienced all of them - from being crowded into the backseat with noogie-happy older brothers, to picking out a souvenir only to find that a better one might have been had at the next attraction, to dealing with a dad who didn’t believe in bathroom breaks.
-
-
Loved it! Super for Oldsters!
- By Sharlotte on 07-08-18
By: Richard Ratay
-
Alan Partridge: Big Beacon
- By: Alan Partridge
- Narrated by: Alan Partridge
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Big Beacon, Norwich's favourite son and best broadcaster, Alan Partridge, triumphs against the odds. TWICE. Using an innovative 'dual narrative' structure you sometimes see in films, Big Beacon tells the story of how Partridge heroically rebuilt his TV career, rising like a phoenix from the desolate wasteland of local radio to climb to the summit of Mount Primetime and regain the nationwide prominence his talent merits.
-
-
Rhinocerene
- By Anonymous User on 10-12-23
By: Alan Partridge
-
Between the Stops
- The View of My Life from the Top of the Number 12 Bus
- By: Sandi Toksvig
- Narrated by: Sandi Toksvig
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
'Between the Stops is a sort of a memoir, my sort. It's about a bus trip really, because it's my view from the Number 12 bus (mostly top deck, the seat at the front on the right), a double-decker that plies its way from Dulwich, in South East London, where I was living, to where I sometimes work - at the BBC, in the heart of the capital. It's not a sensible way to write a memoir at all, probably, but it's the way things pop into your head as you travel, so it's my way'.
-
-
Funny, interesting and enlightening. A must listen.
- By Steve Killingback on 01-05-20
By: Sandi Toksvig
-
Girl, Woman, Other
- By: Bernardine Evaristo
- Narrated by: Anna-Maria Nabirye
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of Britain's most celebrated writers of color, Girl, Woman, Other is a magnificent portrayal of the intersections of identity and a moving and hopeful story of an interconnected group of black British women. Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize and short-listed for the Gordon Burn Prize, Girl, Woman, Other paints a vivid portrait of the state of post-Brexit Britain, as well as looking back to the legacy of Britain's colonial history in Africa and the Caribbean.
-
-
smart, compassionate, confronting and enjoyable
- By Kelly on 12-20-19
-
Everything I Know About Love
- A Memoir
- By: Dolly Alderton
- Narrated by: Dolly Alderton
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The wildly funny, occasionally heart-breaking internationally best-selling memoir about growing up, growing older, and learning to navigate friendships, jobs, loss, and love along the ride. When it comes to the trials and triumphs of becoming an adult, journalist and former Sunday Times columnist Dolly Alderton has seen and tried it all.
-
-
Loved it
- By Jessica on 04-02-20
By: Dolly Alderton
-
All the Lonely People
- By: Mike Gayle
- Narrated by: Ben Onwukwe
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In weekly phone calls to his daughter in Australia, widower Hubert Birdpaints a picture of the perfect retirement, packed with fun, friendship, and fulfillment. But it's a lie. In reality, Hubert's days are all the same, dragging on without him seeing a single soul. Until he receives some good news - good news that in one way turns out to be the worst news ever, news that will force him out again, into a world he has long since turned his back on.
-
-
For all the lonely and not-so-lonely people
- By R. Sharma on 08-22-21
By: Mike Gayle
-
Windswept & Interesting
- My Autobiography
- By: Billy Connolly
- Narrated by: Billy Connolly
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his first full-length autobiography, comedy legend and national treasure Billy Connolly reveals the truth behind his windswept and interesting life. Born in a tenement flat in Glasgow in 1942, orphaned by the age of fourth and a survivor of appalling abuse at the hands of his own family, Billy's life is a remarkable story of success against all the odds.
-
-
brilliant read, loved every second
- By Amazon Customer on 10-21-21
By: Billy Connolly
-
The Getaway Girls
- By: Dee MacDonald
- Narrated by: Jilly Bond
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Connie McColl is finally free to make her own decisions for the first time in decades. And when she meets glamorous Gill and downtrodden Maggie, at a rather dull flower arranging class, it seems that she’s not the only one dreaming of adventure. The three very different women all agree it’s about time they had a holiday to remember. So they make a pact for this summer to be their best yet - and drive off into the sunset together....
-
-
a funny read
- By Barbara on 06-21-22
By: Dee MacDonald
-
The Old Ducks' Club
- By: Maddie Please
- Narrated by: Penelope Freeman
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sophia Gregory has lost her sparkle.... Recently single and about to turn 60, Sophia doesn’t recognise the old woman staring back at her in the mirror. How has life passed her by? A quiet holiday in beautiful Rhodes is the perfect chance for her to find herself. Until she meets the Old Ducks! Juliette, Kim and Anita are three friends who are determined not to grow old gracefully! Bold and brash, they are Sophia’s worse nightmare, until they make her an honorary member of The Old Ducks’ Club!
-
-
Laugh out loud
- By MELODY J. LEMESURIER on 09-10-22
By: Maddie Please
-
Leonard and Hungry Paul
- By: Ronan Hession
- Narrated by: John Hopkins
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leonard and Hungry Paul is the story of two friends who ordinarily would remain uncelebrated. It finds a value and specialness in them that is not immediately apparent and prompts the idea that maybe we could learn from the people that we overlook in life.
-
-
Monty Python and Forest Gump created 2 sons.
- By Amazon Customer on 04-12-22
By: Ronan Hession
-
Maeve's Times
- In Her Own Words
- By: Maeve Binchy
- Narrated by: Kate Binchy
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the royal wedding to boring airplane companions, Samuel Beckett to Margaret Thatcher, "senior moments" to life as a waitress, Maeve's Times gives us wonderful insight into a changing Ireland as it celebrates the work of one of our best-loved writers in all its diversity - revealing her characteristic directness, laugh-out-loud humor, and unswerving gaze into the true heart of a matter.
-
-
A GLIMPSE THROUGH MAEVE'S LOOKING GLASS
- By jstrfic on 08-08-17
By: Maeve Binchy
-
Born to Be Mild
- Adventures for the Anxious
- By: Rob Temple
- Narrated by: Mathew Baynton
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this hilarious and life-affirming memoir, Rob explores what it will take for him to become a little less Bear (Pooh) and a little bit more Bear (Grylls) and how mild-mannered, anxious rule-followers can get their own share of (gentle) adventure from time to time.
-
-
This is all around amazing
- By Erin Johnson on 01-11-22
By: Rob Temple
-
The Authenticity Project
- A Novel
- By: Clare Pooley
- Narrated by: Anna Cordell
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julian Jessop, an eccentric, lonely artist and septuagenarian believes that most people aren’t really honest with each other. But what if they were? And so he writes—in a plain, green journal—the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It’s run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves - and soon find each other In Real Life at Monica’s Café.
-
-
Sweet, easy listen
- By Benhandel on 04-23-20
By: Clare Pooley
Related to this topic
-
Maeve's Times
- In Her Own Words
- By: Maeve Binchy
- Narrated by: Kate Binchy
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the royal wedding to boring airplane companions, Samuel Beckett to Margaret Thatcher, "senior moments" to life as a waitress, Maeve's Times gives us wonderful insight into a changing Ireland as it celebrates the work of one of our best-loved writers in all its diversity - revealing her characteristic directness, laugh-out-loud humor, and unswerving gaze into the true heart of a matter.
-
-
A GLIMPSE THROUGH MAEVE'S LOOKING GLASS
- By jstrfic on 08-08-17
By: Maeve Binchy
-
Queen of the Mersey
- By: Maureen Lee
- Narrated by: Maggie Ollerenshaw
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Queenie is only 14 and has been deserted by her mother. Set in Liverpool and Wales at the outbreak of World War II, this story explores themes of female friendship and betrayal from the perspective of a group of women of widely different ages.
-
-
Entertaining
- By W on 05-27-08
By: Maureen Lee
-
Clovenhoof
- By: Heide Goody, Iain Grant
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charged with gross incompetence, Satan is fired from his job as prince of Hell and exiled to that most terrible of places: English suburbia. Forced to live as a human under the name of Jeremy Clovenhoof, the dark lord not only has to contend with the fact that no one recognizes him or gives him the credit he deserves but also has to put up with the bookish war-gamer next door and the voracious man-eater upstairs.
-
-
This Series Is Phenomenal
- By Marcus on 10-27-19
By: Heide Goody, and others
-
The Woman Who Kept Everything
- By: Jane Gilley
- Narrated by: Juanita McMahon
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
79-year-old Gloria Frensham is a hoarder. She lives amongst piles of magazines, cardboard boxes and endless knickknacks that are stacked into every room of her home and teeter in piles along the landing and up the stairs. She hasn’t left the house in years, but when a sudden smell of burning signifies real danger, she is forced to make a sudden departure and leave behind her beloved possessions. Determined she’s not ready for a care home, Gloria sets out to discover what life still has to offer her.
-
-
Unique story
- By Amazon Customer on 10-19-20
By: Jane Gilley
-
The Hourglass
- By: Tracy Rees
- Narrated by: Charlotte Strevens, Imogen Church
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 2014. Sensible Nora has always taken success for granted until suddenly her life begins to fall apart. Troubled by anxiety and nightmares, she finds herself drawn to the sweeping beaches of Tenby, a place she's been only once before. Together with a local girl, she rents a beautiful townhouse and slowly begins to settle in to her new life. But Tenby hides a secret, and Nora will soon discover that this little town by the sea has the power to heal even the most painful memories.
-
-
Buy it!!!!
- By LoveAmazon on 11-12-17
By: Tracy Rees
-
The Other Son
- By: Nick Alexander
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alice has been lying to herself for years, holding fast to the belief that the needs of her family far outweigh her own. But her outwardly successful marriage hides dark secrets, and for much of her life the children were the only reason she stuck around. These days, though her successful banker son lives nearby, his young wife seems to do everything she can to keep Alice at bay. As for Alice's other son, he has always been something of a stranger and has been traveling for so long that Alice isn't even sure what continent he is on anymore.
-
-
Wonderfully Done!
- By Ann on 11-06-16
By: Nick Alexander
-
Maeve's Times
- In Her Own Words
- By: Maeve Binchy
- Narrated by: Kate Binchy
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the royal wedding to boring airplane companions, Samuel Beckett to Margaret Thatcher, "senior moments" to life as a waitress, Maeve's Times gives us wonderful insight into a changing Ireland as it celebrates the work of one of our best-loved writers in all its diversity - revealing her characteristic directness, laugh-out-loud humor, and unswerving gaze into the true heart of a matter.
-
-
A GLIMPSE THROUGH MAEVE'S LOOKING GLASS
- By jstrfic on 08-08-17
By: Maeve Binchy
-
Queen of the Mersey
- By: Maureen Lee
- Narrated by: Maggie Ollerenshaw
- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Queenie is only 14 and has been deserted by her mother. Set in Liverpool and Wales at the outbreak of World War II, this story explores themes of female friendship and betrayal from the perspective of a group of women of widely different ages.
-
-
Entertaining
- By W on 05-27-08
By: Maureen Lee
-
Clovenhoof
- By: Heide Goody, Iain Grant
- Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies
- Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Charged with gross incompetence, Satan is fired from his job as prince of Hell and exiled to that most terrible of places: English suburbia. Forced to live as a human under the name of Jeremy Clovenhoof, the dark lord not only has to contend with the fact that no one recognizes him or gives him the credit he deserves but also has to put up with the bookish war-gamer next door and the voracious man-eater upstairs.
-
-
This Series Is Phenomenal
- By Marcus on 10-27-19
By: Heide Goody, and others
-
The Woman Who Kept Everything
- By: Jane Gilley
- Narrated by: Juanita McMahon
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
79-year-old Gloria Frensham is a hoarder. She lives amongst piles of magazines, cardboard boxes and endless knickknacks that are stacked into every room of her home and teeter in piles along the landing and up the stairs. She hasn’t left the house in years, but when a sudden smell of burning signifies real danger, she is forced to make a sudden departure and leave behind her beloved possessions. Determined she’s not ready for a care home, Gloria sets out to discover what life still has to offer her.
-
-
Unique story
- By Amazon Customer on 10-19-20
By: Jane Gilley
-
The Hourglass
- By: Tracy Rees
- Narrated by: Charlotte Strevens, Imogen Church
- Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 2014. Sensible Nora has always taken success for granted until suddenly her life begins to fall apart. Troubled by anxiety and nightmares, she finds herself drawn to the sweeping beaches of Tenby, a place she's been only once before. Together with a local girl, she rents a beautiful townhouse and slowly begins to settle in to her new life. But Tenby hides a secret, and Nora will soon discover that this little town by the sea has the power to heal even the most painful memories.
-
-
Buy it!!!!
- By LoveAmazon on 11-12-17
By: Tracy Rees
-
The Other Son
- By: Nick Alexander
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alice has been lying to herself for years, holding fast to the belief that the needs of her family far outweigh her own. But her outwardly successful marriage hides dark secrets, and for much of her life the children were the only reason she stuck around. These days, though her successful banker son lives nearby, his young wife seems to do everything she can to keep Alice at bay. As for Alice's other son, he has always been something of a stranger and has been traveling for so long that Alice isn't even sure what continent he is on anymore.
-
-
Wonderfully Done!
- By Ann on 11-06-16
By: Nick Alexander
-
Made in Scotland
- My Grand Adventures in a Wee Country
- By: Billy Connolly
- Narrated by: Gordon Kennedy
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billy Connolly may be a citizen of the world, but in his heart he's never been far from his homeland. Made in Scotland is Billy's unique and intimate portrait of his native Scotland, a love letter to the places and people that made him. It's an adventure inspired by a single incident: the moment Billy received his Knighthood and was asked, 'How does it feel to have achieved all this when you came from nothing?' His response was, 'But I did come from something!'
-
-
I can't believe I wasted a credit on this blather.
- By J. M. Popa on 01-23-20
By: Billy Connolly
-
The Moon, the Stars, and Madame Burova
- A Novel
- By: Ruth Hogan
- Narrated by: Nina Wadia
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After inheriting her mother’s fortune-telling business as a young woman, Imelda Burova has spent her life on the Brighton pier practicing her trade. She and her trusty pack of Tarot cards have seen the lovers and the liars, the angels and the devils, the dreamers and the fools. Now, after a lifetime of keeping other people’s secrets, Madam Burova is ready to have a little piece of life for herself. But she still has one last thing to do—to fulfill a promise made in the 1970s, when she and her girlfriends were carefree, with their whole lives still before them.
-
-
Trigger warning
- By Kristyn Rose on 01-30-23
By: Ruth Hogan
-
A Perfect Cornish Summer
- By: Phillipa Ashley
- Narrated by: Laura Kirman
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For Sam Lovell, organising the summer festival in her hometown is one of the highlights of her year. It’s not always smooth sailing, but she loves to see Porthmellow’s harbour packed with happy visitors and being on the committee has provided a much-needed distraction from the drama in her family life (and the distinct lack of it in her love life). When their star guest pulls out with only a few weeks to go, everyone’s delighted when a London chef who grew up locally steps in at the last minute.
-
-
really enjoyed this book
- By Anonymous User on 10-20-19
By: Phillipa Ashley
-
Miss Cecily's Recipes for Exceptional Ladies
- A Novel
- By: Vicky Zimmerman
- Narrated by: Beth Chalmers
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When her life falls apart on the eve of her 40th birthday, Kate Parker finds herself volunteering at the Lauderdale House for Exceptional Ladies. There she meets 97-year-old Cecily Finn. Cecily's tongue is as sharp as her mind, but she's fed up with pretty much everything. Having no patience with Kate's choices, Cecily prescribes her a self-help book with a difference.
-
-
Book for foodies
- By RueRue on 02-20-23
By: Vicky Zimmerman
-
The Dark Flood Rises
- A Novel
- By: Dame Margaret Drabble
- Narrated by: Anna Bentinck
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Francesca Stubbs has a very full life. A highly regarded expert on housing for the elderly who is herself getting on in age, she drives restlessly round England. Amid the professional conferences she attends, she fits in visits to old friends, brings home-cooked dinners to her ex-husband, texts her son, who is grieving over the sudden death of his girlfriend, and drops in on her daughter, a quirky young woman who lives in a floodplain in the West Country.
-
-
Life Observed By An Exceptional Writer
- By Sara on 03-22-17
-
Who's That Girl?
- By: Mhairi McFarlane
- Narrated by: Cassie Bradley
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An achingly funny story from the author of the best-selling You Had Me at Hello. When Edie is caught in a compromising position at her colleagues' wedding, all the blame falls on her - turns out that personal popularity in the office is not that different from your school days. Shamed online and ostracised by everyone she knows, Edie's forced to take an extended sabbatical - ghostwriting an autobiography for hot new acting talent, Elliot Owen. Easy, right? Wrong.
-
-
Very frustrating heroine, disappointing ending
- By Jennie L. Stumm on 09-23-20
By: Mhairi McFarlane
What listeners say about The Gran Tour
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jane
- 10-06-21
Finally!
A book that shows the elderly for what they are: the same as younger people, but with way more experiences both to have learned from and to share. One minute I'm listening to an incredibly touching and insightful summation of what young Ben has gained from his new friends and the next I'm laughing out loud at their antics.
Aitkin's book reminds us that the lack of contact between young and old in our culture is a loss for both. I shall be off my phone more and looking for some bus tours should this pandemic ever end.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- DFK
- 11-21-23
Sweet story
I enjoyed this listen, certainly worth the price (an Audible freebie). As a person in my 70s, it was refreshing to hear someone who saw what to appreciate in older people. I visited some of the same places, though never on a coach tour, and as long as I am able, I prefer to travel independently. But it was fun to hear him tell of LLandudno, the Great Orme (I did ride the tramway up and hike down), ferry from Holyhead to Dublin (I did all those this past summer), and other places he traveled to where I’ve been, and many that I haven’t, but sound like great ideas. I enjoy traveling, so it was fun for that reason, too. I saw that some reviewers were quite pleased with the narration and others quite displeased. I fall somewhere in between. For the dry wit, which I loved, the rather dry deadpan tone worked well, but it was too monotonous in its entirety. Also, at least one reviewer mentioned specifically the th-fronting (substituting the th with f’s or v’s), and I know these days it is considered a “dialect” and not incorrect speech, but, frankly, I found it distracting, and here and there even confusing. Maybe it makes me old and stodgy, but I grew up in a home where my father was an immigrant at the age of 9 (to New York) and was glad, in retrospect, that he had a tough teacher who made sure he got rid of any accent. So, I know, it is considered a native UK dialect, but why make more homonyms in English than there already are? I could see using that “dialect” when playing the part of a particular character, but not the whole way through. He was not consistent, either. There were words that sometimes he did get the th and sometimes didn’t, so I know he can do it, so why not? I’m with ‘Enry ‘Iggins on this matter.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jacob Nance
- 05-27-22
Lovely
Very sweet and enjoyable. Also, very much liked Aitken narrating which added an extra level of sincerity.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!