The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness
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Narrated by:
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Amy McFadden
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By:
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Maddie Dawson
About this listen
Three women, three lives, and one chance to become a family...whether they want to or not.
Newly orphaned, recently divorced, and semiadrift, Nina Popkin is on a search for her birth mother. She's spent her life looking into strangers' faces, fantasizing they're related to her, and now, at thirty-five, she's ready for answers.
Meanwhile, the last thing Lindy McIntyre wants is someone like Nina bursting into her life, announcing that they're sisters and campaigning to track down their mother. She's too busy with her successful salon, three children, beautiful home, and...oh yes, some pesky little anxiety attacks.
But Nina is determined to reassemble her birth family. Her search turns up Phoebe Mullen, a guarded, hard-talking woman convinced she has nothing to offer. Gradually sharing stories and secrets, the three women make for a messy, unpredictable family that looks nothing like Nina pictured...but may be exactly what she needs. Nina's moving, ridiculous, tragic, and transcendent journey becomes a love story proving that real family has nothing to do with DNA.
©2016 Maddie Dawson. (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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One For The Money
- By DiaRose on 09-25-17
By: Carleen Brice
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The Rest of Her Life
- By: Laura Moriarty
- Narrated by: Julia Gibson
- Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Leigh is the mother of high-achieving, popular high school senior Kara. Their relationship is already strained for reasons Leigh does not fully understand when, in a moment of carelessness, Kara makes a mistake that ends in tragedy, the effects of which not only divide Leigh's family, but polarize the entire community.
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Obnoxious musical interludes ruin the story
- By Joan on 12-25-11
By: Laura Moriarty
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If It Ain’t One Thing
- By: Cheryl Robinson
- Narrated by: Karen Chilton
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Cheryl Robinson, a bright voice in African-American fiction, delivers a fresh tale of love in the modern world. Porter is a handsome Detroit firefighter who just got burned by his cheating girlfriend. Winona is a single mom who is getting by despite an old secret that haunts her. When Porter and Winona meet, they must face their pasts to allow their present romance to grow.
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Good listen
- By Brad on 06-29-10
By: Cheryl Robinson
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God-Shaped Hole
- A Novel
- By: Tiffanie DeBartolo
- Narrated by: Rachael Warren
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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When Beatrice Trixie Jordan replies to a personal ad, she meets Jacob Grace, a charming, effervescent 30-something free-spirit writer passionately seeking life. He possesses his own turns of phrase and ways of thinking and feeling that dissonantly harmonize with Trixie's off-center vision. As they rollercoaster through the joys and furies of their wrenching romance, they try to come to terms with the hurt brought about by both of their distant fathers who, in different ways, forsook them.
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To see a fortune teller or not to see one...
- By Renee on 08-08-18
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Vegas Rich
- Vegas, Book 1
- By: Fern Michaels
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington
- Length: 21 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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With a heart full of dreams, Sallie Coleman leaves Texas and heads west determined to get as far from the squalor of her dirt poor beginnings. With its shifting sands, smoky saloons, and bingo palaces, Las Vegas seems like a paradise. A paradise where an extraordinary twist of fate makes Sallie the most powerful businesswoman in Nevada.
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Get this booK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- By Amazon Customer on 09-26-10
By: Fern Michaels
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Snap Out of It
- A Novel
- By: Maddie Dawson
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
After three marriages and a lot of living, resilient Billie Slate knows exactly what trouble love can bring. Now she’s reinvented herself as the Heartbreak Bunny, an on-call performance artist who can heal anyone who’s been burned by that four-letter word, LOVE, by hopping about and whisking away sad mementos from their past relationships. Call it magic. Call it peculiar. But her bunny costume is as perfect as her breakup mantra: SNAP OUT OF IT.
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REFRESHINGLY WONDERFUL
- By Iteachart on 03-07-23
By: Maddie Dawson
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Whiskey & Ribbons
- By: Leesa Cross-Smith
- Narrated by: Larry Heron, Joe Bearor, Tunisia Hardison
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in contemporary Louisville, Leesa Cross-Smith's mesmerizing first novel surrounding the death of a police officer is a requiem for marriage, friendship, and family, from an author Roxane Gay has called "a consummate storyteller". Evi - a classically-trained ballerina - was nine months pregnant when her husband Eamon was killed in the line of duty on a steamy morning in July. Now, it is winter, and Eamon's adopted brother Dalton has moved in to help her raise six-month-old Noah.
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Beautifully Tragic and Heart Healing
- By Jennifer Glover on 08-17-18
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Breakwater Bay
- By: Shelley Noble
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Preservationist Meri Hollis loves her latest project, restoring one of Newport's forgotten Gilded Age mansions. And with summer approaching, she'll be able to spend more time with her Gran on the Rhode Island shore. She has a great job, a loving family and she's pretty sure her boyfriend is going to propose on her thirtieth birthday. But everything Meri believes about family, happiness, truth, and love is shattered when her family's darkest secret is exposed.
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Wasted Potential
- By Rusty on 03-15-15
By: Shelley Noble
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Lies and Other Acts of Love
- By: Kristy Woodson Harvey
- Narrated by: Janet Metzger
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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After 60 years of marriage and five daughters, Lynn "Lovey" White knows that all of us, from time to time, need to use our little white lies. Her granddaughter Annabelle, on the other hand, is as truthful as they come. She always does the right thing - that is until she dumps her hedge fund manager fiance and marries a musician she has known for three days. After all, her grandparents fell in love at first sight....
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One big giant cheese ball
- By Book.Lover 1350 on 06-16-19
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Boy, Snow, Bird
- By: Helen Oyeyemi
- Narrated by: Susan Bennett, Carra Patterson
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
In the winter of 1953, Boy Novak arrives by chance in a small town in Massachusetts, looking, she believes, for beauty - the opposite of the life she' s left behind in New York. She marries a local widower and becomes stepmother to his winsome daughter, Snow Whitman. A wicked stepmother is a creature Boy never imagined she' d become, but elements of the familiar tale of aesthetic obsession begin to play themselves out when the birth of Boy' s daughter, Bird, who is dark-skinned, exposes the Whitmans as light-skinned African Americans passing for white.
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For Literary Lovers
- By M. Shipe on 04-25-14
By: Helen Oyeyemi
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Mirrored
- By: Alex Flinn
- Narrated by: Amanda Dolan, Caitlin Davies, James Fouhey, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Celine's life is the stuff fairy tales are made of. She's beautiful, talented, and brave. Unfortunately, her tale comes complete with a wicked stepmother! When Violet steps into Celine's life, everything changes, and weird things begin to happen to her - bizarre accidents, strange illnesses, and rabid animal attacks. Celine doesn't feel safe anywhere. It's almost as if some hateful witch is out to get her.
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It was pretty good, just not a book that I would listen to over and over again
- By Pablo Valdez on 04-27-17
By: Alex Flinn
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What listeners say about The Survivor's Guide to Family Happiness
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Robin
- 10-17-18
How Do You Define Family?
Interesting story of how a family can be formed, and I enjoyed it. The characters each seem defined by just one or two characteristics, but it was a satisfying read.
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- dove
- 08-18-20
Not Predictable
Really good story without the predictable outcomes i expected. definitely kept me engaged to the end.
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Overall
- Debra Fein
- 07-22-18
Fully Human
A satisfying read about expanding ones definition of family. What it means to begin a family both by birth and circumstance.
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- CFT
- 02-20-17
Wonderful story! Original plot!
I absolutely loved this story. The characters, the story and the relationships were so well filled out that you felt you knew them. I also liked the ending. All of your questions were answered and you were not left hanging.
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Overall
- cathy a rogers
- 01-15-19
In love with maddie
My second book by Maddie,could not stop reading either one..From laughing to crying her characters just stay with you,and I can't wait to read the next!! Keep them coming Maddie!!
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- Julianna Dawson
- 12-25-16
I Felt Like I was There. Inside This Book!
Such an amazing storyteller! This author brings to life an entire world and draws you in. I am going to miss this family in this book now that I've finished reading it.
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- Angelee
- 04-21-18
So good. Not your typical coming of age
First off, I typically enjoy anything narrated by Amy McFadden. Honestly, it’s why I chose this book. So glad I did.
It really isn’t your typical coming of age story. The main character is in her 30s, a grown woman a bit of a mess after losing her adopted mother. Feeling alone in the world sets on a mission to find her birth mother. She goes on her own journey and well... just read it or listen. It’s so good. I loled and teared up at times.
Amy McFadden does such a great job with each of the characters and getting into their characters. I want to listen again.
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- Morgan
- 09-14-21
Insight Regarding Anxious Attachment
I relate to this story all too well.
The author's ability to portray anxious attachment was refreshing. I often see myself and my attachment style through a fun house mirror, with little fun involved. Through Nina's POV, I was reminded of the hardships, strength, and a desire to belong that are all at the root of anxious attachment. The desire to be loved and belong brings with it a nasty list of habits that we feel we must overcome.... but Nina reminded me of the beauty that also resides within those of us who are looking to find our place.
For anyone who has ever wondered what it takes to make someone "stay...." This story is for you. It's a benevolent reminder that love is a reckoning force, as is loss, and I hope it brings you the same sense of compassion towards yourself that we all deserve to experience.
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- Jess
- 02-24-22
Entertaining and interesting
It's a family love story. Its educational and interesting on the different point of views family members may have.
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- Mike WIse
- 06-21-18
I loved it
one of the best books I've listened to lately. as an adoptee who found my biological family, so much of this story resonated with me in so many true ways. Highly recommended.
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