The Blue and Distant Hills [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Judith Saxton (Author), Rowena Cooper (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1998

Questa Adamson is stranded in Italy for the duration of World War II. When she returns home to England, she finds that the childhood world she remembers has disappeared. Upon inheriting a run-down manor house, Questa decides to restore the estate to its former glory. And when she meets Marcus, her mysterious neighbor, things begin to turn around...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In post-WW II England a frightened young girl comes to maturity and love in this sensitive historical/fantasy by the author of First Love, Last Love. Having been stranded in Italy at the beginning of the war, Questa Adamson spent years narrowly evading the Fascists and enduring near-starvation and brutalization by German soldiers. At age 17 she returns to her native land and learns that she has inherited the nearly ruined Shropshire estate of Eagle Court. Her short-lived tranquility is disturbed by the arrival of her father's old friend, Grace Syrett, seeking refuge from London's housing shortage for herself and her young son, Dickie. While the women reach an uneasy truce, Questa falls into swoons in which she finds love with a mysterious neighbor, a young Roman named Marcus who lived in the area 20 centuries previously. She also befriends a modern neighbor, elderly, crippled Randolph Atherton, who teaches her how to farm her land. When disaster strikes, Questa manages to find the strength to surmount her troubles and embrace a new love who seems to be Marcus's legacy. Saxon paints a vivid picture of life in postwar England, its inhabitants bitterly struggling with shortages and other deprivations. Her attempt to integrate Questa's dreamworld of Roman Britain is never fully convincing, however.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In 1947, 17-year-old Questa Adamson returns to England from Italy, where she has spent the war years living in hiding with relatives of her long-dead mother. Questa's father has died in combat, but she remembers his fond tales of youthful summers spent on his uncle's Shropshire estate, which Questa has inherited. Despite her halting English, malnutrition, and fear of strangers, Questa insists on living in the rundown manor and attempts to restore the farm to productivity. She is aided by neighbors and former servants who knew her father. But equally important are her mysterious dreams and visions of life in the region during the Roman occupation of Britain. Through her dreams, Questa slowly regains confidence and even develops enough trust to fall in love. The connections with the Roman era, central to certain plot developments, require a major suspension of disbelief. For romance readers comfortable with dollops of time-slip fantasy.
- Kathy Piehl, Mankato State Univ., Minn.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Chivers Audio Books; Unabridged edition (July 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0754001598
• ISBN-13: 978-0754001591
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 2.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Blue and Distant Hills, May 6, 2011

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This review is from: The Blue and Distant Hills (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book. It's one of my favorites. I've even bought extra copies to give away. It's different from other books I've read. The main character 'dreams' she goes back in time. Great book. Our book club is reading it now.