
The Light of Luna Park
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Narrated by:
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Rachel L. Jacobs
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Karissa Vacker
About this listen
In the spirit of The Orphan Train and Before We Were Yours, a historical debut about a nurse who chooses to save a baby's life and risks her own in the process, exploring the ties of motherhood and the little-known history of Coney Island and America's first incubators.
A nurse's choice. A daughter's search for answers.
New York City, 1926. Nurse Althea Anderson's heart is near breaking when she witnesses another premature baby die at Bellevue Hospital. So when she reads an article detailing the amazing survival rates of babies treated in incubators in an exhibit at Luna Park, Coney Island, it feels like the miracle she has been searching for. But the doctors at Bellevue dismiss Althea and this unconventional medicine, forcing her to make a choice between a baby's life and the doctors' wishes that will change everything.
Twenty-five years later, Stella Wright is falling apart. Her mother has just passed, she quit a job she loves, and her marriage is struggling. Then she discovers a letter that brings into question everything she knew about her mother, and everything she knows about herself.
The Light of Luna Park is a tale of courage and an ode to the sacrificial love of mothers.
©2021 Addison Armstrong (P)2021 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Is there anything better than falling into a novel that asks an ethical question and then answers it with a big story that arrows straight into the question's heart? No, I would say: Nothing better. What would you do to save a child? Addison Armstrong asks in this assured debut that ushers us deep into a fascinating moment in history where obstetrics and women's choices and the shadow line between circus and science combine. The Light of Luna Park got me, took me, taught me, and in the end, shook me.” (Sarah Blake, New York Times best-selling author of The Guest Book)
“Armstrong has a strong subject here and wonderful characters whom every reader will admire and care for.... Bravo to Addison Armstrong for such a beautiful and heartfelt paean to those in the medical world who used their talents and abilities to change the lives of people for good.” (Bookreporter)
“At once a fascinating slice of history and a compelling story filled with relatable characters. Addison Armstrong has woven a beautiful tale around the sacrifices and hard choices made for love, and highlights the work of the extraordinary individuals who stood up against the widespread, harsh beliefs of the time. This is a wonderful debut. Congratulations to Ms. Armstrong!” (Louise Fein, author of Daughter of the Reich)
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Performance
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Story
In October 1947, after a summer-long drought, fires break out all along the Maine coast, from Bar Harbor to Kittery, and are soon racing out of control from town to village. Five months pregnant, Grace Holland is left alone to protect her two toddlers when her husband, Gene, joins the volunteer firefighters. Along with her best friend, Rosie, and Rosie's two young children, Grace watches helplessly as their houses burn to the ground, the flames finally forcing them all into the ocean as a last resort.
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Disaster Strikes In 1947
- By Sara on 06-02-17
By: Anita Shreve
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Songbirds
- A Novel
- By: Christy Lefteri
- Narrated by: George Georgiou, Indira Varma, Art Malik, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Living on the island of Cyprus, Nisha is far from her native Sri Lanka. Though she longs to return home, she knows that working as a nanny and maid for a wealthy widow is the only way to earn enough to support her daughter, left behind to be raised by relatives. Yiannis is a poacher, trapping the tiny protected songbirds that stop in Cyprus as they migrate each year from Africa to Europe and selling them on the illegal market. He dreams of finding a new way of life, and of marrying Nisha.
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Lovely prose, heartbreaking story
- By RueRue on 12-10-23
By: Christy Lefteri
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Shiner
- A Novel
- By: Amy Jo Burns
- Narrated by: Catherine Taber
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
An hour from the closest West Virginia mining town, 15-year-old Wren Bird lives in a cloistered mountain cabin with her parents. Every Sunday, Wren's father delivers winding sermons in an abandoned gas station. But over the course of one summer, a miracle performed by Wren's father quickly turns to tragedy. As the order of her world begins to shatter, Wren must uncover the truth of her father's mysterious legend and her mother's harrowing history and complex bond with her best friend.
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Victim complexes extraordinaire
- By Dora on 08-21-20
By: Amy Jo Burns
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The Book of Fire
- A Novel
- By: Christy Lefteri
- Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In present-day Greece, deep in an ancient forest, lives a family: Irini, a musician, who teaches children to read and play music; her husband, Tasso, who paints pictures of the forest, his greatest muse; and Chara, their young daughter, whose name means joy. On the fateful day that will forever alter the trajectory of their lives, flames chase fleeing birds across the sky. The wildfire that will consume their home, and their lives as they know it, races toward them.
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Disappointment
- By Anonymous User on 01-27-24
By: Christy Lefteri
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The Tie That Binds
- By: Kent Haruf
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Colorado, January 1977. Eighty-year-old Edith Goodnough lies in a hospital bed, IV taped to the back of her hand, police officer at her door. She is charged with murder. The clues: a sack of chicken feed slit with a knife, a milky-eyed dog tied outdoors one cold afternoon. The motives: the brutal business of farming and a family code of ethics as unforgiving as the winter prairie itself.
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Sad, No Real Conclusion and Pointless
- By Debbie on 03-28-24
By: Kent Haruf
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The Friday Night Club
- A Novel of Artist Hilma af Klint and Her Creative Circle
- By: Sofia Lundberg, Alyson Richman, M.J. Rose
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert, Pete Cross, Alyson Richman
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Early 1900s: The world belongs to men, and the art world in Stockholm, Sweden, is no different, until Hilma af Klint brings together a mysterious group of female painters and writers—Anna, Cornelia, Sigrid, and Mathilda—to form their own emotional and artistic support system. The members of the Friday Night Club find themselves thrust into uncharted territory when Hilma and her best friend, Anna, begin dabbling in the occult, believing that through séances they can channel unseen spirits to help them achieve their potential as artists.
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The most important book I’ve read in many years
- By Dane R Rowley on 09-30-23
By: Sofia Lundberg, and others
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Between You and Us
- A Novel
- By: Kendra Broekhuis
- Narrated by: Anna Caputo
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When Leona Warlon heads across the city to meet her husband, David, for a rare dinner out, she hopes they can share a moment of relief after their year of loss. But Leona quickly realizes this is no ordinary date night. She hasn’t just stepped into an upscale ristorante; she’s stepped into a different version of her life. One in which her marriage is no longer tender, in which her days are pressured by her powerful in-laws, and in which her precious baby girl lived.
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Such a great book!!
- By Mykayla Johnson on 10-10-24
By: Kendra Broekhuis
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The Invisible Hour
- A Novel
- By: Alice Hoffman
- Narrated by: Jessie Mueller
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
One June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her. The Scarlet Letter was written almost two hundred years earlier, but it seems to tell the story of Mia’s mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community—an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden. But how could this be? How could Nathaniel Hawthorne have so perfectly captured the pain and loss that Mia carries inside her?
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An exquisite story about love and libraries.
- By Lori A Benson on 09-26-23
By: Alice Hoffman
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The Borrower
- A Novel
- By: Rebecca Makkai
- Narrated by: Kristen Sieh
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Lucy Hull, a young children's librarian in Hannibal, Missouri, finds herself both a kidnapper and kidnapped when her favorite patron, 10-year-old Ian Drake, runs away from home. The precocious Ian is addicted to reading but needs Lucy's help to smuggle books past his overbearing mother, who has enrolled Ian in weekly antigay classes with celebrity Pastor Bob. Lucy stumbles into a moral dilemma when she finds Ian camped out in the library after hours with a knapsack of provisions and an escape plan.
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Great story and great performance!
- By Anonymous User on 01-29-21
By: Rebecca Makkai
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The Empress of Cooke County
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Bass Parman
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Thirty-eight-year-old Posey Jarvis is the self-appointed “empress” of rural Spark in Cooke County, Tennessee. She spends her days following every word about her idol and look-alike Jackie Kennedy, avoiding her stalwart husband Vern, and struggling to control her newly defiant daughter Callie Jane—all while sneaking nips of gin. When Posey unexpectedly inherits a derelict mansion from her quirky old aunt Milbrey, she finagles her way into hosting her high school’s twentieth reunion there.
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Southern small town charm
- By Britain Singleton on 10-15-24
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The Sweet Taste of Muscadines
- A Novel
- By: Pamela Terry
- Narrated by: Xe Sands
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Lila Bruce Breedlove never quite felt at home in Wesleyan, Georgia, especially after her father’s untimely demise when she was a child. Both Lila and her brother, Henry, fled north after high school, establishing fulfilling lives of their own. In contrast, their younger sister, Abigail, opted to remain behind to dote on their domineering, larger-than-life mother, Geneva. When their elderly mother dies suddenly and suspiciously in the muscadine arbor behind the family estate, Lila and Henry return to the town that essentially raised them.
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Absolutely LOVED it!
- By Kenny Cook on 07-07-21
By: Pamela Terry
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Long Division
- A Novel
- By: Kiese Laymon
- Narrated by: Ruffin Prentiss III, Jaime Lincoln Smith
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
Written in a voice that’s alternately humorous, lacerating, and wise, Long Division features two interwoven stories. In the first, it’s 2013: after an on-stage meltdown during a nationally televised quiz contest, fourteen-year-old Citoyen “City” Coldson becomes an overnight YouTube celebrity. The next day, he’s sent to stay with his grandmother in the small coastal community of Melahatchie. Before leaving, City is given a strange book without an author called Long Division. He learns that one of the book’s main characters is also named City Coldson—but Long Division is set in 1985.
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Quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, but...
- By Sherrye LeRoy on 05-08-25
By: Kiese Laymon
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The Austen Escape
- By: Katherine Reay
- Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Mary Davies finds safety in her ordered and productive life. Working as an engineer, she genuinely enjoys her job and her colleagues—particularly a certain adorable and intelligent consultant. But something is missing. When Mary’s estranged childhood friend, Isabel Dwyer, offers her a two-week stay in a gorgeous manor house in England, she reluctantly agrees in hopes that the holiday will shake up her quiet life in just the right ways.
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I like this foray into Jane Austin
- By MVF on 04-08-18
By: Katherine Reay
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The Astonishing Life of August March
- A Novel
- By: Aaron Jackson
- Narrated by: Joel Froomkin
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Abandoned as an infant by his actress mother in her theater dressing room, August March was raised by an ancient laundress. Highly intelligent, a tad feral, August is a true child of the theater - able to recite Shakespeare before he knew the alphabet. But like all productions, August’s wondrous time inside the theater comes to a close, and he finds himself in the wilds of postwar New York City, where he quickly rises from pickpocket street urchin to star student at the stuffiest boarding school in the nation.
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Delightfully entertaining
- By RueRue on 04-21-20
By: Aaron Jackson
The story of the child is told from her perspective as an adult and realizing all the circumstances of her birth and the secrets she discovers.
It’s based on facts and the way women were treated and who controls their bodies is still relevant even more so today.
Heart wrenching decisions for a young nurse
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I never knew!
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Engaging and educational
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Love, Lies and Redemption
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Very interesting and highly recommend.
Interesting topic
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Interesting story of a little known Dr.
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Wonderful examples of human compassion, endurance, and love
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Fascinating historical fiction
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Great story
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The Light at Luna Park
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