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  • If I Were You

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Lynn Austin
  • Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
  • Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (116 ratings)

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If I Were You

Written by: Lynn Austin
Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
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Publisher's Summary

From best-selling and eight-time Christy Award-winning author Lynn Austin comes a remarkable novel of sisterhood and self-discovery set against the backdrop of WWII.

1950. In the wake of the war, Audrey Clarkson leaves her manor house in England for a fresh start in America with her young son. As a widowed war bride, Audrey needs the support of her American in-laws, whom she has never met. But she arrives to find that her longtime friend Eve Dawson has been impersonating her for the past four years. Unraveling this deception will force Audrey and Eve’s secrets - and the complicated history of their friendship - to the surface.

1940. Eve and Audrey have been as different as two friends can be since the day they met at Wellingford Hall, where Eve’s mother served as a lady’s maid for Audrey’s mother. As young women, those differences become a polarizing force...until a greater threat - Nazi invasion - reunites them. With London facing relentless bombardment, Audrey and Eve join the fight as ambulance drivers, battling constant danger together. An American stationed in England brings dreams of a brighter future for Audrey, and the collapse of the class system gives Eve hope for a future with Audrey’s brother. But in the wake of devastating loss, both women must make life-altering decisions that will set in motion a web of lies and push them both to the breaking point long after the last bomb has fallen.

This sweeping story transports listeners to one of the most challenging eras of history to explore the deep, abiding power of faith and friendship to overcome more than we ever thought possible.

©2020 Lynn Austin (P)2020 Tyndale House Publishers

What listeners say about If I Were You

Average Customer Ratings
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    5 out of 5 stars
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Breathtaking!

Lynn Austin outdid herself with this novel! It moved me to tears! The narrator, Sarah Zimmerman, was a pleasure to listen to. Thank you both!

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Deceptive

There are many good things in this novel and a good novel deserves a good ending for fear of giving a spoiler as to that ending I will only say disappointing.
It seemed almost like two people writing this book strong characters , good descriptions of wartime Britain , good pace and a complex puzzle.
The second person dropped the ball with the ending totally different style and frankly disappointing cliché

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5 people found this helpful

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If I were you

A beautiful story. Loved it from beginning to the end. The narrator was excellent with great expression. Highly recommend this book.

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3 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Enjoyable until the last page

Interesting plot and great characters. Excellent narrator..... but..., the most disappointing, pointless ending I’ve ever heard. Almost as if the author didn’t know how to end the book after all the repentant weeping and consoling that occurs at the end. So, she borrowed an ending from another storyteller that is completely incongruent with the entire book. After all, Eve and Audrey are not Thelma and Louise. But for the final few paragraphs, I enjoyed this story even though there are portions that are not quite believable. Would like to see the author rework the novel, especially the ending. I am sure she is capable of better.

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3 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Lost steam

This story started out well. Captured the imagination and interest. Towards the end it became moralistic and didactic. Disappointing.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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in-depth Depiction of Civilian Life in WW2

Very fulsome narrative on life in England, both
before, during and after, WW2 including as compared to America. Lots of religious overtone which was relevant to story but hard to relate to for modern reader. Overall good story of like genre.

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2 people found this helpful

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great read

Good story and I actually loved the narrator. Just a very pleasant voice to listen too

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Be forewarned it’s a religious novel

Oh my gosh. Had I known the whole book was a sermon I never would have got it. It was painful. Felt like I was sitting on a hard church pew waiting endlessly for an increasingly religious end. The conversations were all painfully stilted. I’m only grateful that I blissfully dozed off through sections.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

To churchy

It was great until the last couple chapters when all of a sudden it was god this, Jesus that.......little to much religion for me at the end.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Good summer read

Easy to visualize the girls with their victory rolls and uniforms. A wartime romance novel really.. Good for listening when relaxing.

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  • Colby
  • 2020-07-16

performed beautifully

always a fan of austin but the performance was truly above and beyond. never really felt ww2 from British before. knew it but didn't feel it

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14 people found this helpful

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  • Allgr8dogs
  • 2020-09-23

This is the best book that I've 'read' for a long

The narrator was great and I loved the story! This is story is something I'd let my young teens read.

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10 people found this helpful

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  • Elissa Goodwin
  • 2020-07-06

Excellent read

I love historical fiction and this one did not disappoint. I felt like I was there in the bomb shelter along with the characters. Great story!

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10 people found this helpful

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  • KG
  • 2020-07-03

I didn't want to leave my car.

One of those stories that you didn't want to stop listening to go about your regular day.

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  • Kindle Customer
  • 2020-06-23

If I Were You is an exceptional story

I found this story enlightening, it helped me understand what the war was like for the English people.
it gave a wonderful demonstration of God's love, grace and mercy

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  • Pamela in Oregon
  • 2020-07-01

Fantastic, as always.

The lives of Eve and Audrey kept my interest the whole way through. It is so very important to never forget the Lord loves his children and is in control.
Sarah Zimmerman did a wonderful job.

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9 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Imamomof4
  • 2020-11-17

AN O.K. LISTEN - BUT DON'T COMPARE TO KATE MORTON

I honestly struggled to listen to this story the whole way through having already been given the dénouement within the first few paragraphs. The premise of the story, stolen or swapped identities is not original. So, since it had mostly 5-star reviews, I expected the author would provide some incredibly clever and unexpected twist that would make the blasé acceptance of a best friend's betrayal understandable. But the only reason ever given for Eve's deception was "I had no other choice." Really? Eve, who had the affection and kindness of her wealthy, well-bred best friend freely offered to her along with a job and lovely home to live in, had no other choice in life but to lie, cheat and defraud, not only that dear friend, but both the U.S. and U.K. governments as well? (Pretty sure falsifying government documents is a felony.)

Much is made of Eve's guilt at having committed adultery, but her greater sins of pride and jealousy are shrugged off as no big deal because she was poorer and less educated than Audrey. Yet, those are sins that led her to dismiss the opportunity of a good life with her friend and embark on a life of deceit and selfishness.

I am a Christian and I get that we are supposed to see the grace of God and His forgiveness played out in these characters' lives. But the Barretts were blatantly lied to and manipulated in the midst of the tragic loss of their only son. For FOUR YEARS this woman used them emotionally and financially. I don't care how kind or Christian they are, it would take more than a five minute conversation of revelation and apologies to come to terms with that kind of betrayal of trust.

As an "historical fiction" novel, If I Were You, did a nice job of describing with great detail and I suppose realism, what life was like in England during the war years. Austin's accounts of war-torn England and the personal loss and hardship endured by so many were quite powerful. I also gained a greater appreciation for the integral role that women played in Britain's success against Nazism and how women helped preserve their country while nearly all of Europe fell to the enemy.

Some people complained that they should have been warned it was a "Christian" novel. Be warned: Tyndale House is a Christian publisher. So I was not surprised by the religious content. And in fact, the author did a fairly good job of not being overtly preachy except at that end. I can understand her desire to share her faith and the Good News of Jesus Christ with her readers. I only wish, that she had put more finesse into the story itself and allowed the message of salvation to be gleaned from a polished, believable and masterfully told tale rather than an "alter call" ending. I gave it 3 - stars because of that.

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  • MRSDIMOND
  • 2020-08-23

Great wholesome historical novel

it's hard to find novels that are wholesome and this one is. The story is well written and the narration is very well done.

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  • Cyn ND
  • 2020-09-23

Well, done!

What a page-turner. I had a hard time putting this one down. Audrey and Eve were two sides of a coin. So different yet so alike. One completed the other throughout their years as sister/friends. WWII is such an important part of the history of this world. So much to be learned from it. Thank you for writing this story Ms. Austin. And a brilliant performance, Ms. Zimmerman. Well done!

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  • Micki
  • 2020-10-01

Great book - terrific narrator!

Another wonderful book by Lynn Austin! Historically interesting - intriguing characters - with a 'page turning' plot! And Sarah Zimmerman is excellent!

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4 people found this helpful