The Shuttle


Read by tabithat

(4.7 stars; 320 reviews)

Rosalie Vanderpoel, the daughter of an American multimillionaire marries an impoverished English baronet and goes to live in England. She all but loses contact with her family in America. Years later her younger sister Bettina, beautiful, intelligent and extremely rich, goes to England to find what has happened to her sister. She finds Rosalie shabby and dispirited, cowed by her husband's ill treatment. Bettina sets about to rectify matters. She meets Lord Mount Dunstan, an impoverished earl, who lives nearby and they fall in love, but he cannot speak because it would look as if he were after her money...

This is a romance but it is also about the rejuvenating effects of Americans and American money on a somewhat decadent English aristocracy. (Summary by Tabithat) (19 hr 47 min)

Chapters

Chapter 01 The Weaving of the Shuttle 27:21 Read by tabithat
Chapter 02 A Lack of Perception 16:43 Read by tabithat
Chapter 03 Young Lady Anstruthers 38:55 Read by tabithat
Chapter 04 A Mistake of the Postboy's 35:44 Read by tabithat
Chapter 05 On Both Sides of the Atlantic 39:09 Read by tabithat
Chapter 06 An Unfair Endowment 18:51 Read by tabithat
Chapter 07 On Board the Meridiana 18:02 Read by tabithat
Chapter 08 The Second Class Passenger 19:30 Read by tabithat
Chapter 09 Lady Jane Grey 16:19 Read by tabithat
Chapter 10 Is Lady Anstruthers at Home? 16:54 Read by tabithat
Chapter 11 I Thought You Had All Forgotten 11:56 Read by tabithat
Chapter 12 Ughtred 21:45 Read by tabithat
Chapter 13 One of the New York Dresses 16:07 Read by tabithat
Chapter 14 In the Gardens 9:20 Read by tabithat
Chapter 15 The First Man 32:47 Read by tabithat
Chapter 16 The Particular Incident 40:39 Read by tabithat
Chapter 17 Townlinson and Sheppard 28:47 Read by tabithat
Chapter 18 The Fifteenth Eart of Mount Dunstan 30:46 Read by tabithat
Chapter 19 Spring in Bond Street 25:04 Read by tabithat
Chapter 20 Things Occur in Stornham Village 16:50 Read by tabithat
Chapter 21 Kedgers 12:32 Read by tabithat
Chapter 22 One of Mr Vanderpoel's Letters 23:49 Read by tabithat
Chapter 23 Introducing G. Selden 43:27 Read by tabithat
Chapter 24 The Political Economy of Stornham 21:21 Read by tabithat
Chapter 25 We began to marry them my good fellow 25:02 Read by tabithat
Chapter 26 What it must be to you - just you 21:57 Read by tabithat
Chapter 27 Life 20:07 Read by tabithat
Chapter 28 Setting Them Thinking 12:48 Read by tabithat
Chapter 29 The Thread of G Selden 10:56 Read by tabithat
Chapter 30 A Return 27:49 Read by tabithat
Chapter 31 She Would Not 17:37 Read by tabithat
Chapter 32 A Great Ball 39:12 Read by tabithat
Chapter 33 For Lady Jane 35:25 Read by tabithat
Chapter 34 Red Godwyn 19:13 Read by tabithat
Chapter 35 The Tidal Wave 20:11 Read by tabithat
Chapter 36 By the Roadside Everywhere 21:57 Read by tabithat
Chapter 37 Closed Corridors 21:06 Read by tabithat
Chapter 38 At Shandy's 45:29 Read by tabithat
Chapter 39 On the Marshes 21:16 Read by tabithat
Chapter 40 Don't Go On with This 20:35 Read by tabithat
Chapter 41 She Would Do Something 20:03 Read by tabithat
Chapter 42 In the Ballroom 16:09 Read by tabithat
Chapter 43 His Chance 18:49 Read by tabithat
Chapter 44 A Footstep 18:08 Read by tabithat
Chapter 45 The Passing Bell 25:22 Read by tabithat
Chapter 46 Listening 23:21 Read by tabithat
Chapter 47 I have no word or look to remember 17:25 Read by tabithat
Chapter 48 The Moment 48:34 Read by tabithat
Chapter 49 At Stornham and at Broadmorlands 23:16 Read by tabithat
Chapter 50 The Primeval Thing 13:04 Read by tabithat

Reviews

WHAT?


(5 stars)

I am very much a guy & am shocked to find how a girly romance can both rivet my attention and jerk tears from my eyes. Superbly written and read. Found myself outraged at the villain, weeping for the victims, cheering Betty on and wishing the story didn't end so abruptly.

Gripping story with a dose of social commentary


(5 stars)

Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisa_May_Alcott, and Frances Hodgson Burnett was English and wrote The Secret Garden and Little Lord Fauntleroy(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Hodgson_Burnett), but otherwise I agree totally with TheBookworm's comments - this is real treat by an excellent reader. Betty Vanderpoel has everything that money can buy, plus she is beautiful, confident, perceptive and wise - all that we pour into our vision of the "woman who has it all." But what she wants most is out of reach simply because she is a "woman who has it all." Lord Mount Dunstan's estate was squandered by his ancestor's bad living. Yet somehow he has broken from the past and inherited the strong character and good morals which years earlier made his family great. He deserves something better than a lonely life on an impoverished estate, but his pride keeps him from what could be his for the asking. It's an effective framework to compare old England and new America. But don't let the prospect of a little social commentary scare you - at the bottom, it is a gripping story filled with surprises and engaging characters that had me sitting in the car many nights after my evening commute was over because I just "had to hear" the end of the chapter.

The Shuttle


(5 stars)

Thoroughly delightful. As enchanting as Pride and Prejudice with the same wise insight into human nature and the cultures which reflect it. The reader perfectly suited the text. Thank you for the great pressure of listening.


(4.5 stars)

This is an amazing story. I spent hours listening to this story. Francis Hodges Burnett has a keen insight of people, and provides a vivid picture of her characters.

Worth a Listen


(4 stars)

The reviews here, even the 1 star one, are right. If a family was close & one daughter married, moved to England, & stopped writing wouldn't they sail to England to check on her especially when they're super rich? They wouldn't let 12 years pass by only to let their youngest daughter, Betty, go to England alone to investigate! Why Rosalie even married Nigel isn't discussed. I can't stand wussies & Rosalie is a big one. She couldn't stand up for herself against her tyrannical husband & then couldn't do it for her son which made him a little man instead of a boy. They end up living alone in squalor while Nigel blows money in London. Betty changes things when she visits much to Nigel's displeasure. Despite all this ridiculousness I surprisingly liked listening. Maybe I was just hoping to hear of payback. Maybe it was the comparison of Americans & the English at the time which was interesting. I don't know. I just feel it was worth my listen despite the silly stuff.

So much joy.


(5 stars)

It is indeed a story where the good are very good and the bad , ugly and yet......the author shares SO much joy of life, beauty, love of humans for one another. She describes far better than I've ever heard, the relations between England and America in those days. Its quite fascinating including the pleasure each country derives from the other and the abuses of rank which took place. The 'Lords and Ladies' of fair England are like the 'rich of 5th Avenue' in New York. I loved her description of gardening and the village life. The endless pleasure birds and flowers bring. This is much more than a romance and I recommend it. Tabithat the reader actually "makes" the story with her clear lovely voice and beautiful English. Just listening to Tabithat alone was a pleasure. Thank you so much.

Whoops


(5 stars)

This is an fine reading of an outstanding novel. Once again the admirable team at LibriVox bring us a largely forgotten masterpiece. Thank you! TheBookworm (Manchester, UK)


(5 stars)

I heartily agree with all the other comments. A great love story, perfectly read (or perhaps, performed), and an interesting handling of the UK /USA relationship.