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The Long and the Short of It

The Chronicles of St. Mary's

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The Long and the Short of It

By: Jodi Taylor
Narrated by: Zara Ramm
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About this listen

Follow the disaster magnets of St Mary's as they hurtle around history! The ninth book in The Chronicles of St Mary's Series collects the best-selling short stories in audio for the first time.

'When a Child Is Born': a jump back to 1066 to witness the coronation of William the Conqueror goes slightly astray.

'Roman Holiday': Max and her team become spectacularly involved with Julius Caesar, Cleopatra and a basket of confused asps.

'Christmas Present': an attempt to rescue lost historians involving an enraged pig and Boudicca herself.

'The Very First Damned Thing': discover the truth about the very beginning of St Mary's.

'Ships and Stings and Wedding Rings': a gun left behind in ancient Egypt and a race against time to prevent a catastrophe.

'The Great St Mary's Day Out': hooray! It's a happy holiday. For everyone except Max, the only one with her mind on the job.

'My Name Is Markham': Alfred, the cakes and Mr Markham. The Great British Bake Off it's not!

And a bonus a new and previously unpublished short story - 'A Perfect Storm'.

©2017 Jodi Taylor (P)2017 Audible, Ltd Fantasy Fiction Historical Science Fiction Time Travel Funny Thought-Provoking Suspenseful Christmas Winter

Critic reviews

"Taylor has written a madcap and very funny hodgepodge of a novel whose pacing and humour is reminiscent of a Simon Pegg Edgar Wright film." ( Booklist)
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Where does The Long and the Short of It rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This version of the short stories rank highly for me due to the all new introductions to each story. I already have all the previous short stories from audible and this is the icing on the cake.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Long and the Short of It?

My name is Markham. I enjoyed the stand alone version which was ok-ish but this version narrated by Zara Ramm had me laughing outright.

What does Zara Ramm bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

She brings the whole thing to life and it seems (with a good imagination) that you can actually see events as they enfold, hence the hoots of laughter.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I always enjoyed the early stories. See notes above regarding My Name is Markham. The new book to the series, Perfect Storm also had me laughing out loud ~ the nutters were at it again with great gobs of detritus flying in all directions.

All new introductions to the re-issued books

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The new addition to the series is absolutely hilarious! Just what I needed to put a smile on my face after the succession of awful headlines we've been bombarded by lately. Thank you Jodie.

Excellent It is so nice to have all the short stories in one place, not to mention all read by our favourite narrator.

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I’m not generally a big fan of short story format but I’m so glad I gave this a go. The stories link to the events in the novels chronologically giving a feeling of life at the wonderful St. Mary’s happening around the big events. Funny and sometimes moving they also fill in details between novels. Very enjoyable.

As much fun as the novels

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If you could sum up The Long and the Short of It in three words, what would they be?

Fun, historical and intelligent

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dr Bairstow, his impeccable calm and class in the face of a great deal of chaos

What about Zara Ramm’s performance did you like?

Everything, a marvellous narrator who really brings the joy and characters alive

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A jolly romp through history with an irresistible crew of characters

Any additional comments?

Just a fantastic collection of short stories from the world of St Mary's

An irresistible heroine, history brought alive

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These Chronicles of St Mary's series are fantastic, very well narrated by Zoe Ramm.. If they ever made a film of these, then she is Max!

The premise of these stories is genius! Can't wait for the next one!
If you could visit any point in time, where would you go?

Recommend

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