Listen to a sample
Family Likeness
- Author
- Caitlin Davies
- Publisher
- Random House
- Publish Date
- 27 February 2014
- Run Time
- 9 hours 24 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
Not available in your country
We don't have the rights to sell this audiobook where you are. If it's already in your library you can still listen to it in My Books.
What to expect
In a small Kent town in the 1950s, a bewildered little girl is growing up. Ostracised because of her colour, she tries her best to fit in, but nobody wants anything to do with her.
A nanny climbs the steps of a smart London address. She’s convinced that her connection to the family behind the door is more than professional.
And on the walls of an English stately home, amongst the family portraits, hangs an eighteenth-century oil painting of a mysterious black woman in a silk gown.
In ways both poignant and unexpected, the three lives are intertwined in a heartbreaking story of prejudice and motherless children, of chances missed, of war time secrets and the search for belonging...
Critics Review
-
A beautiful story of family and loss. Haunting and compelling.
Lisa Jewell
-
A quickly engaging domestic mystery … gently ingenious
Sunday Herald
-
Davies is an unfussy and intelligent storyteller with a gift for translating the complexities of ordinary lives into novelistic form
Independent
-
This moving tale of life-long searches and accountability will pull at the heart strings
The Lady
See more reviews See fewer reviews
-
An absorbing, beautifully-written and very topical novel … Part mystery-novel, part historical, it is both readable and entertaining.
Amanda Craig, author of Hearts and Minds
-
Family Likeness is a story of prejudice, war, secrets and the search to belong, which follows parallel stories of a child growing up in 18th century Kenwood House, and another in a 1950s children’s home.
Ham & High
-
A thoughtful and involving look at the social consequences of race and illegitimacy and how one’s need for a place to belong never really goes away.
Historical Novels Review
-
A suspenseful novel. Muriel’s story, infused with the sadness of growing up not knowing why her parents abandoned her, has a ripple effect throughout the lives of the other characters ... culminating is some remarkable and moving scenes.
Camden New Journal
-
Family Likeness is a fascinating story, and a moving exploration of issues of race, family and belonging.
Writers’ Hub
-
A mix of compelling family story, exquisite historical detail and layers of mystery, this is a very satisfying novel indeed. One of this summer’s must reads!
Helen Hunt, Fiction is Stranger than Fact
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Caitlin Davies
- Narrator
- Penelope Rawlins, Vivien Rochester
- Duration
- 9 hours 24 minutes
- Release Date
- 27 February 2014
- ISBN
- 9781473505285
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Random House
- Genre
- Historical fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general, Family saga / generational saga fiction, Family life fiction / Stories about family, Narrative theme: identity / belonging
Synopsis
In a small Kent town in the 1950s, a bewildered little girl is growing up. Ostracised because of her colour, she tries her best to fit in, but nobody wants anything to do with her.A nanny climbs the steps of a smart London address. She’s convinced that her connection to the family behind the door is more than professional. And on the walls of an English stately home, amongst the family portraits, hangs an eighteenth-century oil painting of a mysterious black woman in a silk gown.In ways both poignant and unexpected, the three lives are intertwined in a heartbreaking story of prejudice and motherless children, of chances missed, of war time secrets and the search for belonging...
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.