Preview
  • Charms for the Easy Life

  • By: Kaye Gibbons
  • Narrated by: Kaye Gibbons
  • Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (30 ratings)

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Charms for the Easy Life

By: Kaye Gibbons
Narrated by: Kaye Gibbons
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Publisher's summary

Meet three extraordinary women: Charlie Kate, a renowned folk healer; Sophia, her spirited daughter; and Margaret, her inquisitive granddaughter. For them, home is the best house in the worst part of town - a sanctuary where life is both celebrated and mourned...and a place where a strong, uncompromising love can hold off the misery that lines up outside the door. This is a tale of three generations of North Carolina women whose men come and go, whose hopes, hurts, large losses and small victories are the stuff that bind family together...the treasured charms for the easy life.
©1994 Kaye Gibbons, All Rights Reserved (P)1994 Simon & Schuster Inc.
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Critic reviews

"Delightful...terrific...charming." (Chicago Tribune)
"A narrative of quiet exhilaration." (Philadelphia Enquirer)

What listeners say about Charms for the Easy Life

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The author's reading makes up for the abridgment

Charms for the Easy Life, like most of Gibbons' books, centers on the lives of unique and interesting women. In this case, three generations: matriarch Charlie Kate, a feisty, independent folk healer, her daughter, Sophia, and her daughter, Margaret, who tells the tale of their struggles and triumphs in the North Carolina in the first half of the 20th century. There are plenty of positive reviews on line by writers far more skilled than I at telling what makes this book great, so I encourage you to utilize the google.

Although I don't usually like or recommend abridgments, Kaye Gibbons' own voice adds so much to my enjoyment of this book, that I will recommend this one. Kaye Gibbons has the kind of Southern accent that is at once soothing, sultry, and sincere, and which conveys a sense of wisdom. And although her books stand on their own, I believe her voice helped a Yankee like me further appreciate the Southern setting which is so much a part of the story.

Listening to this book "on tape" from my library years ago introduced me to Kaye Gibbons' wonderful literal and figurative voice. After finishing it, I immediately got the unabridged print version from the library. I subsequently listened to every one of Gibbons's books that were available and followed each with the unabridged print versions. You can get the unabridged version right here on Audible, but I highly encourage you to start with Gibbons' own reading.

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