Poor People with Money
by Dominic Hoey
Poor People With Money was gripping from the start. Monday Wooldridge is a young woman with real problems, but no self pity. She has jobs, but they don’t define her in the least. She is a big sister, and she is a fighter: in the both the literal and the figurative sense.
Monday wants to make things happen in her life, but she gets in over her head. I didn’t want to put this book down, I was so eager to find out what would be the next consequence of her ill thought-out plan.
The other thing I enjoyed about this book is that it is by a local author and set in places that are very familiar to me. It made me realise how much more often I read British or American literature than kiwi authors. I should definitely put some more on my ‘to read’ list - any recommendations?
I listened to the audio version of this book, which was narrated by the (male) author. At times it was a little jarring, and I forgot the protagonist was a woman, but mostly it worked well - I think the author is the only person who can truly know exactly how a phrase is meant to be said. Although I suppose that’s the beauty of a paperback - you put your own voice in there too.
Audiobooks used to always be read by voice actors but that seems to have changed. I can remember Gretchen Rubin re-recording her book The Happiness Project after her podcast became successful because her voice was so familiar to her audience that they were shocked not to hear it in the audiobook. What do you think? Do you prefer to hear the author read it themselves, or listen to a more polished performance from a voice actor?