2019 Book 2: The Ruby in the Smoke (Sally Lockhart #1) by Philip Pullman

Format:  Audiobook

Date Started:  January 7, 2019

Date Ended:  January 14, 2019

The current state of world affairs being what it is, I can’t listen to NPR on the radio during my commute anymore.  I’ve happily switched to podcasts or Sirius XM for most of my driving time, but there are just times when I need a break from current events or music.  Sometimes it’s just nice to be read to. 

As soon as the first words of a book are spoken through my car’s speakers, it feels like I’m little again and settling in with my brother to have my dad read us stories before bed.  My mom read to us, too, but my strongest memories are leaning back against my dad’s chest as we listened to stories of improbable feats, silliness, and adventures.  Dad did (and still does) a horrible British accent – he sounds like a fishwife crossed with a cat who enrolled at Eton with Prince William.  It is bananas.  He once performed the song “Just Around the Riverbend” from Pocahontas in this voice, and I cried and then nearly hyperventilated from laughter.  

So for times when nothing but a good story (preferably with accents) will do, I turn to the audiobook.  I have no idea why I never thought of audiobooks before 2014 when I lucked into a reverse commute – but one that was still 30-ish minutes.  Since then, I’ve spent a lot of time exploring a lot of great performances, but I just finished The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman and read by Anton Lesser whom Masterpiece Mystery junkies will recognize from Endeavor.  

Hands down, no lie, this book was right up there with my all-time favorite, Davina Porter who reads Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series.  Not only does Lesser give a distinct personality and voice to the characters, he gets the various classes of English accents correct without going over the top.  It’s much trickier than dropping a G from the end of a word or not pronouncing an H, and he does a beautiful job.  I especially enjoyed his performance of Mrs. Holland, the story’s villain.  She is so wicked and his performance so nuanced that I actually had to stop listening because I was becoming anxious about what would happen to our heroine, Sally Lockhart.  

If you can find the audiobook in your local library, I highly suggest checking it out.  You’ll be transported to Victorian London and perhaps, like me, back to the feelings of your childhood.