We Were the Mulvaneys Audiobook By Joyce Carol Oates cover art

We Were the Mulvaneys

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We Were the Mulvaneys

By: Joyce Carol Oates
Narrated by: J. Todd Adams
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The Mulvaneys are blessed by all that makes life sweet: a hardworking father, a loving mother, three fine sons, and a bright, pretty daughter. They are confident in their love for each other and their position in the rural community of Mt. Ephraim, New York. But something happens on Valentine's Day, 1976 - an incident that is hushed up in the town and never spoken of in the Mulvaney home - that rends the fabric of their family life.

As the years pass the secrets they keep from each other threaten to destroy them, but ultimately they bridge the chasms between them and reunite in the spirit of love and healing. Rarely has such an acclaimed writer made such a startling and inspiring statement about the value of hope and compassion.

Check out more selections from Oprah's Book Club.©1996 The Ontario Review, Inc., (P)2001 HighBridge Company; 16 9 Classics Family Life Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Sagas

Critic reviews

"[It gets] under our skin and demand that we pay attention." (New York Newsday)
"[she has a gift] of making the page a window, with something on the other side that we'd swear was life itself." (The New York Times Book Review)
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I loved the story. Wanted to listen to it in one day all day
could not stop listening.

family values

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A really worthwhile listen of a family saga nearly ruined by the addition of music in various parts.

Annoying music

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An uneventful book featuring a selfish father & spineless mother ripping their family apart for no good reason.

Too much music between chapters...boring

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Perhaps because its abridged, the characters don't ring true and the tradgedy becomes trivial -- something that these folks should just get over with and move on.

Also the narrator, while pleasent to listen to, doesn't always emphasize sentences correctly and mispronounces some words.

Doesn't ring true

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I enjoyed this story. Well written and speaks to how families come together and break apart. Relatable in so many ways. Easy listen

Family Story

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I couldn't at all relate to any of the characters or understand their emotional and physical abandonment of Mary Ann. It seemed outrageous that a tight-knit, happy family and individuals could completely fall apart instead of coming together over a horrendous act that was done to one of them. I'm more than sure it's because this version is abridged.

Not good

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Very slow paced and not interesting at all, thought it would get better, but didn't.

WE WERE THE MULVANEYS

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This book challenged my logical mind. How could an entire family's implosion for decades to follow be blamed on a date rape? The whole family banishing the victim was too much to believe.

Not the best I've heard

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stop the freaking music. I can't hear the story line!!! could have been a good story.

don't waste your credit!!!!!

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The story was interesting, but just not good - it was like listening to a mediocre made-for-TV movie. Also, the narration was frustrating - men doing the voice of multiple female characters is hard (as is the reverse), but something about J. Todd Adams as Marianne and her mother Corinne was really difficult to listen to.

Possibly my least favorite download.

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