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    Our Own Country: A Novel
    Our Own Country: A Novel
    Our Own Country: A Novel
    Audiobook12 hours

    Our Own Country: A Novel

    Written by Jodi Daynard

    Narrated by Cristina Panfilio

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A love affair tests a new nation’s revolutionary ideals.

    In 1770s Boston, a prosperous merchant’s daughter, Eliza Boylston, lives a charmed life—until war breaches the walls of the family estate and forces her to live in a world in which wealth can no longer protect her.

    As the chaos of the Revolutionary War tears her family apart, Eliza finds herself drawn to her uncle’s slave, John Watkins. Their love leads to her exile in Braintree, Massachusetts, home to radicals John and Abigail Adams and Eliza’s midwife sister-in-law, Lizzie Boylston. But even as the uprising takes hold, Eliza can’t help but wonder whether a rebel victory will grant her and John the most basic of American rights.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateFeb 23, 2016
    ISBN9781511362672
    Our Own Country: A Novel
    Author

    Jodi Daynard

    Jodi Daynard is the author of the bestselling novels The Midwife’s Revolt and Our Own Country. Her stories and essays have appeared in numerous periodicals, including the New York Times Book Review, the Village Voice, the Paris Review, AGNI, FICTION, and the New England Review. She has taught writing at Harvard University, at MIT, and in the MFA program at Emerson College. These days she divides her time between the Yorkshire Dales in Northern England and her home outside Boston.

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    Reviews for Our Own Country

    4/5

    92 ratings11 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Jodi Daynard has a gift with setting and dialogue. She transported me right back to New England in the 1770s. I experienced life through Eliza's eyes. I especially loved that Eliza was progressive for her time, without fitting into our modern expectations of what a progressive woman should be. Liza understood, on an emotional level, that slavery was wrong, yet at the same time felt indignant when servants overstepped their boundaries. And she certainly made no effort to live her life without the aid of servants. It's a kind of dichotomy we now see as clearly absurd, but it made an odd sort of sense in Eliza's time period.This story is told largely from the perspective of upper class England sympathizers, just as the Revolution was building. We see how the growing Rebellion complicates their lives and threatens their safety. Liza finds herself straddling the divide, and the author excels at showing us the emotional turmoil as the threat of war turns the characters' world upside down.My one complaint comes with pacing, which is quite slow throughout most of the book. At times, I found myself wanting something more to happen, or for things to speed up. This is more to do with my own preference than any critique of the author's style. The content is indeed compelling, but I would have liked a little more movement.I did not realize that this is the second book in 'The Midwife Series' until after I'd read this one. I had absolutely no issues in understanding the characters or their relationships. This works perfectly well as a stand-alone read.*I was provided with an ebook copy by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.*

      1 person found this helpful

    • 1/5
      I was looking forward to listening to this book, but I lost interest when a dark-skinned baby was called a creature.
    • 1/5
      This follows Elizas story, Jebs brother & Elizabeth's sister in law. I can't get into this book bc this narrator (not the same as before), is just so off from what we came to know of Eliza from "The Midwifes Revolt". She has a Caribbean accent now (formerly she was prim and proper) Jeb now has a lisp? Idk why but the narrator gives him a dumb tone when before we knew him as a good & honest man. Some sentences make it seem like they're Americans the next breath you'd assume they immigrated from the Caribbean. So odd!! Not good, won't finish.
    • 5/5
      Thanks for keeping it true to the period. Wonderful
    • 4/5
      I read the first book in the series last year. Thinking this might be in the same vein, midwifing and all it's tragedies and travails, I read this one. I was surprised that this book had nothing to do with Midwives! This was a story of the Revolutionary War, primarily in Massachusetts. It included personages such as John and Abigail Adams and other important dignitaries . The story was good, for the most part, so I was not really disappointed, even though no midwifery! I did find that a romance between a slave and an upper crust society female being accepted in large circles probably wasn't plausible at the time.
    • 5/5
      Intriguing story, well narrated, this was a great book.
    • 4/5
      I read the first book in the series last year. Thinking this might be in the same vein, midwifing and all it's tragedies and travails, I read this one. I was surprised that this book had nothing to do with Midwives! This was a story of the Revolutionary War, primarily in Massachusetts. It included personages such as John and Abigail Adams and other important dignitaries . The story was good, for the most part, so I was not really disappointed, even though no midwifery! I did find that a romance between a slave and an upper crust society female being accepted in large circles probably wasn't plausible at the time.
    • 4/5
      I just had to read this after reading The Midwife's Revolt, both books are awesome!! The story is engrossing and warm. I love period books and the characters are marvelously described to the point you feel like you know them. I would highly recommend this!
    • 4/5
      Having read The Midwife's Revolt not too long ago, I was delighted to find that this novel focused on Eliza Boylston and John Watkins, who I thought were the more interesting characters in the previous novel. Considering that Eliza, a relatively wealthy woman, embarks on relationship with John, a mixed race man enslaved by her uncle, I do wish the author had explored more of their internal thoughts and emotions. While the attraction and affection between the two is clear, I wanted more from a couple who would have been unlikely during this era.
    • 3/5
      Good book.

      This was a longer book than I had anticipated. You will see mentions of Jeb, John Watkins, Cassie, Abigail Adam, etc. While this novel is good, I don't think it is something I would go out of my way to read again.
    • 5/5
      Just as exciting to read as The Midwife's Revolt!