Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed
Edna Ferber
Read by Lee Ann Howlett
Dawn O’Hara, the Girl Who Laughed was Edna Ferber’s first novel. Dawn, a newspaperwoman working in New York, finds herself back home in Michigan on doctor’s orders. Years of living in boarding-houses and working to pay for the care of her brilliant but mentally ill husband, Peter Orme, have taken their toll. At twenty-eight, Dawn feels like an old woman with no future. But, the loving care of her sister Norah and her family along with the attentions of the handsome German doctor, Ernst Von Gerhard, slowly bring Dawn back to life. With Dr. Von Gerhard’s help, she obtains a newspaper job in Milwaukee and begins a year of new adventures among new people. However, the specter of her husband living in a mental hospital is always present and Dawn fears she may never be free to love again. (Summary by Lee Ann Howlett) (5 hr 45 min)
Chapters
| The Smash-Up | 14:35 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| Mostly Eggs | 16:23 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| Good As New | 15:15 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| Dawn Develops A Heimweh | 18:28 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| The Absurd Becomes Serious | 20:00 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| Steeped In German | 16:08 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| Blackie's Philosophy | 19:23 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| Kaffee And Kaffeekuchen | 23:57 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| The Lady From Vienna | 14:54 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| A Tragedy Of Gowns | 16:42 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| Von Gerhard Speaks | 13:25 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| Bennie The Consoler | 20:33 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| The Test | 17:09 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| Bennie And The Charming Old Maid | 19:35 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| Farewell To Knapfs' | 19:11 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| June Moonlight, And A New Boarding House | 16:00 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| The Shadow Of Terror | 18:55 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| Peter Orme | 16:44 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| A Turn Of The Wheel | 10:53 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| Blackie's Vacation Comes | 9:03 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
| Happiness | 8:13 | Read by Lee Ann Howlett |
Reviews
Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed
eli g
Only recently did I discover Edna Ferber's writing. I had known the name, but not the author, and she has quickly become one of my favorites; this story, so far, the best liked of the ones I know. Her characters are well built, Blackie, the young/old charitable street bred scoundrel, lovable. The reading by Lee Ann Howlett was great. Her voice, with its warmth, picked up each personality's nuances, and brought up the intensity, as well as the humor of each situation. Thank you all for bringing this book to us.
Great story & excellant reader
Boringlibrarian
Like another reviewer, I've heard of Edna Ferber but never read any of her work. As an retired librarian, during my work life I've read many book written in the early 21st century but set in the early20th. None of them had the modern feel of this novel. Dawn O'Hara is modern women and her thoughts and emotions are readily understood. All in all, a great introduction to Ferber. I will be reading more. And I will be looking for other books by this reader, who is very good.
Lovely romance
ListeninginChicago
This was a lovely romance and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Lee Ann did an excellent job on this solo recording and was a pleasure to listen to. Quite a bit of the book takes place among Milwaukee's German residents, so there are a number of German phrases sprinkled in. The only downside was that Lee Ann's American accent was quite heavy and this sometimes made the German difficult to understand. If you don't know German, this takes nothing away from the story, as these phrases are not necessary to the plot.
Great Reading and interesting story
benefitsingers
For the quality of the reader I would give 5 stars. Lee Ann Howlett lends such a practical tone to the character that I truly believed she was Dawn. Excellent job Lee Ann! As for the story it had one of those endings that sort of left me thinking huh? There were times I wanted to just kick Dawn for being so stubborn. It is a good story and I think anyone would enjoy it.
Nebie
good book for me. I just dont like the space between chapters. and by that I mean the extra time at the ends of the chapter.
Enjoyable
jbrown
Love story with a twist. The narration is exceptional!
Beautiful, bittersweet, and oh...!
Deborah Doolin
I didn't want it to end! I feel like I'd made a number of dear friends, walked through their worlds and woes, laughed and cried and hoped with them... How difficult to say farewell! Beautifully read, at first I didn't think I liked it much - but somewhere along the way, I couldn't put it down, and was just dying to know what happened to each of the dear (and not so dear) characters. Just a lovely book. I'm still wondering now, and imagine I may ponder it many times in the days and months ahead... That said, I am oh, so glad to know the girl who laughed, has good reason to, at last! This is contentment!
lovely
Cas64
I enjoyed the story very much and the narrator was clear and pleasant to listen to. There are a couple of things I would criticise such as some geographical errors regarding Germany and Austria and the pronouciation of the German words,such as not pronouncing the e at the end of the words i. e. saying mein instead of meine,which changes the feminine to male and is a fundamental of the language. Overall very good.