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Kristin Hannah
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Magic Hour Audio CD – Unabridged, February 28, 2006

by Kristin Hannah (Author), Suzanne Toren (Reader)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 33,820 ratings
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From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes an incandescent story about the resilience of the human spirit, the triumph of hope, and the meaning of home.

In the rugged Pacific Northwest lies the Olympic National Forest—nearly a million acres of impenetrable darkness and impossible beauty. From deep within this old growth forest, a six-year-old girl appears. Speechless and alone, she offers no clue as to her identity, no hint of her past.

Having retreated to her western Washington hometown after a scandal left her career in ruins, child psychiatrist Dr. Julia Cates is determined to free the extraordinary little girl she calls Alice from a prison of unimaginable fear and isolation. To reach her, Julia must discover the truth about Alice’s past—although doing so requires help from Julia’s estranged sister, a local police officer. The shocking facts of Alice’s life test the limits of Julia’s faith and strength, even as she struggles to make a home for Alice—and for herself.

“One of [Kristin Hannah’s] most compelling and riveting novels.”—Booklist

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  1. Language
    English
  2. Publisher
    Brilliance Audio
  3. Publication date
    February 28, 2006
  4. Dimensions
    5 x 1.13 x 5.5 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    159355513X
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1593555139
  7. See all details
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From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover comes a novel that explores life after tragedy and the enduring spirit of love. | Learn more

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  1. What's it about?

    A child psychiatrist tries to help a mysterious six-year-old girl who appears in the Olympic National Forest.

  2. Popular highlight

    The modern world no longer believed in senseless tragedy. Bad things couldn’t just happen to people; someone had to pay.
    1,187 Kindle readers highlighted this

  3. Popular highlight

    Don’t take peace for granted, he’d said to her often. It can shatter like glass.
    894 Kindle readers highlighted this

  4. Popular highlight

    “A story is only sad if there’s no happy ending. I guess I always believe in that ending.”
    424 Kindle readers highlighted this
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Brilliance Audio; Unabridged edition (February 28, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 159355513X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1593555139
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1.13 x 5.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 33,820 ratings

About the author

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Kristin Hannah

Kristin Hannah

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Kristin Hannah is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels. Her newest novel, The Women, about the nurses who served in the Vietnam war, will be released on February 6, 2024.

The Four Winds was published in February of 2021 and immediately hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Indie bookstore's bestseller lists. Additionally, it was selected as a book club pick by the both Today Show and The Book Of the Month club, which named it the best book of 2021.

In 2018, The Great Alone became an instant New York Times #1 bestseller and was named the Best Historical Novel of the Year by Goodreads.

In 2015, The Nightingale became an international blockbuster and was Goodreads Best Historical fiction novel for 2015 and won the coveted People's Choice award for best fiction in the same year. It was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, iTunes, Buzzfeed, the Wall Street Journal, Paste, and The Week.

The Nightingale is currently in pre-production at Tri Star. Firefly Lane, her beloved novel about two best friends, was the #1 Netflix series around the world, in the week it came out. The popular tv show stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke.

A former attorney, Kristin lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
33,820 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the emotional tone heartwarming, heart wrenching, and funny. They praise the writing quality as superb and vivid. They also describe the characters as well developed and realistic. Readers enjoy the storyline, saying it captures the precious, immeasurable love of a mother. Opinions are mixed on the plot, with some finding it heartfelt and suspenseful, while others say it's predictable. Reader opinions are mixed also on readability, with those finding it difficult to put down and others finding it fast paced.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more
StorylineWriting qualityCharacterizationEmotional toneCharacterPlotReadabilityReading pace
1,089 customers mention "Storyline"1,061 positive28 negative

Customers find the storyline enjoyable, exciting, and intriguing. They also say the subject matter is beautiful, interesting, and difficult to put down. Readers describe the book as engrossing, capturing the precious, immeasurable love of a mother.

"...Great story, I couldn’t put it down." Read more

"Great story of love, patience, and letting go of the past. Unique and original. Unpredictable. You will love this book!" Read more

"...Good command of the English language and almost a good story. It was too pat, too predictable...." Read more

"...Awesome book! 5-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️" Read more

253 customers mention "Writing quality"225 positive28 negative

Customers find the writing quality of the book amazing, poetic, and enjoyable. They also say the author is imaginative and the topics are enjoyable.

"Well written sentence by sentence. Good command of the English language and almost a good story. It was too pat, too predictable...." Read more

"...I know her, mostly,from her more recent books and her superb writing, compelling characters, and creative plots that have drawn me in to eternal..." Read more

"...The story, although an unlikely scenario, was told in such a believable, personal way that you could not help but be sucked in and carried away,..." Read more

"...Kristen Hannah’s description of these places is so mesmerizing it makes me want to travel there." Read more

242 customers mention "Characterization"223 positive19 negative

Customers find the characters compelling and vivid.

"Intriguing plot and character dynamics, super heart breaking human cruelty, and many happy tears. Great story, I couldn’t put it down." Read more

"...to make sure her fiction could be accurate and her characters are always well developed...." Read more

"...The subplots are well sketched and the characters are all three dimensional. I enjoyed it." Read more

"...her, mostly,from her more recent books and her superb writing, compelling characters, and creative plots that have drawn me in to eternal fandom...." Read more

136 customers mention "Emotional tone"136 positive0 negative

Customers find the book heart-wrenching, touching, and heartwarming. They also say the story draws them in and makes them cry and laugh throughout the book. Readers describe the book as believable, personal, and feel-good. They mention that the story is told in a great story of love, kindness, and human ways.

"Intriguing plot and character dynamics, super heart breaking human cruelty, and many happy tears. Great story, I couldn’t put it down." Read more

"...But grows into a great story of love, kindness and human ways (good and bad). It made me laugh and cry. Could ‘feel’ the story many times...." Read more

"...although an unlikely scenario, was told in such a believable, personal way that you could not help but be sucked in and carried away, feeling all..." Read more

"...Made me cry! Beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time!" Read more

27 customers mention "Character"27 positive0 negative

Customers find the characters in the book amazing, complex, and endearing. They also appreciate the small town heroines and all the surprises in the writing style. Readers say the story is heartbreaking, beautiful, tragic, and lovely.

"...Alice captured my heart..such a sweet, brave, innocent little girl who won everyones heart." Read more

"...Regardless, Hannah is a great storyteller and I enjoyed the book." Read more

"...The book was fascinating! Julia was a strong source for Alice." Read more

"...say I fell i love with Alice, she was so strong, so real and an amazing little girl. The whole story felt so real and came alive for me...." Read more

169 customers mention "Plot"92 positive77 negative

Customers are mixed about the plot. Some find the story heartfelt, with lots of plot turns. They also say it's easy to create the story in their mind and not so predictable that they instantly got bored. However, others say the ending is totally predictable and the book fell short.

"Great story of love, patience, and letting go of the past. Unique and original. Unpredictable. You will love this book!" Read more

"...It was too pat, too predictable. Some of the behaviors of the characters did not ring true. Spoiler alert...." Read more

"...recent books and her superb writing, compelling characters, and creative plots that have drawn me in to eternal fandom...." Read more

"...She might be my favorite author, but this book fell short. I honestly kept reading it hoping that some semblance of real life came through...." Read more

77 customers mention "Readability"51 positive26 negative

Customers are mixed about the readability of the book. Some find the matter intriguing and difficult to put down, while others say they are unable to put it down.

"...The subject matter is intriguing and difficult to put down and the reader is compelled from beginning to end with the little girl who captures your..." Read more

"...In fact, it was difficult for me to put down. I’m glad I purchased it." Read more

"...Hard to put down and sad when it ended. I fell in love with the wolf girl and did not want my time with her to end...." Read more

"Excellent story. Very hard to put down. Story was very touching. It made me cry and laugh throughout the book." Read more

64 customers mention "Reading pace"40 positive24 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the reading pace of the book. Some find it fast, light, and effortless to read, while others say it's a little slow at first.

"...The timeline so short, all the parts coming together perfectly… had so much potential!!" Read more

"...to make me up my rating from two stars to three, but it was very slow in getting there...." Read more

"Wonderful story! I really enjoyed this book and was pulled in very quickly...." Read more

"...I never give up on a story so I pushed through. Light, fast read" Read more

I couldn’t put it down!
5 out of 5 stars
I couldn’t put it down!
Ok - I’ve read so so many books in my lifetime. This ranks in the top 5. Maybe 2. I’ve read probably 30 books in the last 3 months alone.I couldn’t put it down. So many emotions. Sadness, fear, love, family, anger, forgiveness, twists, turns …. I didn’t want it to end.
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Top reviews from the United States

Unknown
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2024
Verified Purchase
Intriguing plot and character dynamics, super heart breaking human cruelty, and many happy tears. Great story, I couldn’t put it down.
One person found this helpful
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diane ferguson
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2024
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Great story of love, patience, and letting go of the past. Unique and original. Unpredictable. You will love this book!
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Stephanie
4.0 out of 5 stars Good, too tied up in ribbons at the end
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2024
Verified Purchase
Well written sentence by sentence. Good command of the English language and almost a good story. It was too pat, too predictable. Some of the behaviors of the characters did not ring true. Spoiler alert. Alice's father would not have taken her home after watching the tapes. Nor we he have stayed out of her life after that. Given what we were led to believe about his feelings for the child, he would have arranged visitation. That would not have hurt Alice at all if he never took her home. Next, Ellie was way to dense about Cal. Lastly, I did not like the epilogue, the quick perfect moments for EVERYONE. Too sugary. We could have left the story with them still working it out. I loved all of the scenes with Alice. I liked that they learned her story. I loved her teaching/ therapy.
One person found this helpful
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JGrey
5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn’t put this book down!
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2024
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This is my 3rd Kristen Hannah book in the last few weeks and so far I have loved all of them. She does a lot of research to make sure her fiction could be accurate and her characters are always well developed. This book was my favorite as it discusses a difficult child custody case and as a parent that has been through one of those, it was very accurate to real court proceeding. It also nailed the emotions that you feel as a parent with the possibility of losing a child. Awesome book! 5-⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One person found this helpful
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Carolyn
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Book
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2024
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I totally enjoyed reading this book. I couldn't put it down and the storyline is amazing. Kristen Hannah writes in a way that the reader feels like the characters are right there next to you. I have enjoyed every book that she has written but this one has has got to be my favorite one. I highly recommend this book.
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Cindy Garza
5.0 out of 5 stars good read
Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2024
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I really liked this book. It’s starts off kinda small town ish. But grows into a great story of love, kindness and human ways (good and bad). It made me laugh and cry. Could ‘feel’ the story many times. And I really just want to go live in a forest town in Washington. lol…. Thanks for the good read.
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read
Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2024
Verified Purchase
This is a story about love. But it not anything that immediately comes to mind because it’s course is begins with patience empathy and professionalism. A doctor of psychology is called on to treat a very traumatized child. Their journey is fascinating. The subplots are well sketched and the characters are all three dimensional. I enjoyed it.
One person found this helpful
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Patti P.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2024
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I totally loved this book, I couldn't put it down. Alice captured my heart..such a sweet, brave, innocent little girl who won everyones heart.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Renata Borrows
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read
Reviewed in Canada on April 30, 2024
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The characters were well developed and relatable. However i think the second half of the book slows down a bit and some stories stopped developing. I am not a big fan of the ending. It felt a bit rushed but overall it was entertaining.
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Marie
4.0 out of 5 stars Touching
Reviewed in Italy on May 10, 2023
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This is a wonderful book. Hannah is a fantastic storyteller and creates rich characters. This was a real page-turner, although, my personal favorite is still "The Four Winds".
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jan
5.0 out of 5 stars Magic
Reviewed in Spain on August 30, 2020
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This is the first book I've read by Kristin Hannah and it will not be last. After reading some of the reviews I must admit that I was in two minds whether to purchase this book. I'm glad I did. The book drew me in immediately and emerged me into the lives of Julia, Ellie & Alice. The story holds you to its conclusion & never wavers as some books do. Highly recommended.
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nannyshez
5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic !!!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 5, 2013
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As ever Kristin Hanna delivers a heart warming story beautifully written - working my way through her list of books - so far not disappointed with any of them :-)
One person found this helpful
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Auswanderin
5.0 out of 5 stars Wunderschönes Buch...
Reviewed in Germany on November 15, 2010
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Es ist mein drittes Buch von Kristin Hannah und ich war wieder begeistert... Die Geschichte reißt einen mit, man möchte das Buch nicht mehr aus der Hand legen. Spannend und tiefsinnig und ein bisschen Liebe auch :-) Die Charaktere sind sympathisch, die Story fesselnd... Bei diesem Buch kann man nichts falsch machen!
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