Sarah, Plain and Tall Collection - Patricia MacLachlan

Written by Patricia MacLachlan
Read by Glenn Close
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books Edition: Unabridged

Sarah, Plain and Tall
Release date: November 18, 2008
Duration: 01:01:16

Set in the late nineteenth century and told from young Anna’s point of view, Sarah, Plain and Tall tells the story of how Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton comes from Maine to the prairie to answer Papa’s advertisement for a wife and mother. Before Sarah arrives, Anna and her younger brother Caleb wait and wonder. Will Sarah be nice? Will she sing? Will she stay?

Sarah, Plain and Tall gently explores themes of abandonment, loss, and love.

‘Glenn Close performs this wonderful tale just as it should be. Her melodious voice, combined with the musical interludes that mark transitions, lends a magical quality to the story. Through this magnificent performance, the listener is easily transported from the prairie house where Anna and Caleb wish for a mother, to Maine, where Sarah writes letters to them by the sea. The regional accents are done well, and the characterizations are true to the author’s intent. This is a moving tale of the simple joys in life. It is hard to imagine there could be a better match between reader and story.”…. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award

Skylark
Release date: November 18, 2008
Duration: 01:15:36

My mother, Sarah, doesn’t love the prairie. She tries, but she can’t help remembering what she knew first.

Sarah came to the prairie from Maine to marry Papa. But that summer, a drought turned the land dry and brown. Fires swept across the fields and coyotes came to the well in search of water. So Sarah took Anna and Caleb back east, where they would be safe. Papa stayed behind. He would not leave his land.

Maine was beautiful, but Anna missed home, and Papa. And as the weeks went by, she began to wonder what would happen if the rains never came. Would she and Caleb and Sarah and Papa ever be a family again?

“The emotions, tension, and drama are all enhanced by this exquisite narration. Adults and children alike will easily fall in love with this audiobook,”– AudioFile

Caleb’s Story
Release date: November 18, 2008
Duration: 01:52:59

Anna has done something terrible. She has given me a journal to fill.
“It’s your job now,” Anna says as she hands Caleb her journals, asking him to continue writing the family story. But Sarah, Jacob, Anna, Caleb, and their new little sister, Cassie, have already formed a family, and Caleb fears there will be nothing left to write about. That is, before Cassie discovers a mysterious old man in the barn, and everything changes. Everyone is excited about the arrival of a new family member—except for Jacob, who holds a bitter grudge. Only the special love of Caleb, and the gift he offers, can help to mend the pain of the past.

More Perfect than the Moon
Release date: November 23, 2004
Duration: 01:14:43

I am a watcher. I am a listener, too. I am invisible. I can make myself so small and quiet and hidden that sometimes no one knows I am there to watch and listen.
Cassie spends her days watching Grandfather and Caleb in the barn, looking out at Papa working the fields, spying on her mother, Sarah, feeding the goslings. She’s an observer, a writer, a storyteller. Everything is as it should be.

But change is inevitable, even on the prairie. Something new is expected, and Sarah says it will be the perfect gift. Cassie isn’t so sure. But just as life changes, people change too. And Cassie learns that unexpected surprises can bring great joy.

“The author of SARAH, PLAIN AND TALL addresses new baby jealousy in her trademark forthright, yet sensitive, manner when Cassie refuses to acknowledge that her beloved mother, Sarah, is pregnant. Mingled with the story of Cassie learning to share are the sights and sounds of nineteenth-century farm life, making for a full-hearted rural tale. MacLachlan’s writing has a sincere sweetness that Glenn Close’s narration emphasizes. An adult may find the result slightly cloying, but it captivates young lis-teners. It’s gentle and exquisitely articulated, and the pacing is superb, pausing at the right emotional moments, speeding up when Cassie is flustered. Very nicely done.”—AudioFile

Grandfather’s Dance:
Cassie’s sister Anna’s wedding brings two lovebirds together, aunts from faraway Maine, a long white dress with a wedding veil, dancing under a clear blue sky, and a world that smells of roses. As the Witting family comes together for this most special day, Cassie sees that life brings the change of seasons, brother Jack on Grandfather’s lap, joy, sorrow, and a special dance only Grandfather does.

Sorry people–the fifth book, Grandfather’s Dance, has not been recorded. Ebook included