Mary Poppins, She Wrote
The Life of P. L. Travers
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Mary Poppins, She Wrote
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Narrated by:
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Terry Donnelly
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By:
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Valerie Lawson
About this listen
The story of Mary Poppins, the quintessentially English and utterly magical children's nanny, is remarkable enough. She flew into the lives of the unsuspecting Banks family in a children's book that was instantly hailed as a classic, then became a household name when Julie Andrews stepped into the starring role in Walt Disney's hugely successful and equally classic film. Now she is a Broadway sensation all over again.
But the story of Mary Poppins's creator, as this first biography reveals, is just as unexpected and remarkable. The fabulous English nanny was conceived by an Australian, Pamela Lyndon Travers, who in 1924 came to London from Sydney as a journalist. She became involved with theosophy and traveled in the literary circles of W. B. Yeats and T. S. Eliot. Most famously, she clashed with "the great convincer" Walt Disney over the adaptation of the Mary Poppins books into film.
Travers, whom Disney accused of vanity for "thinking you [Travers] know more about Mary Poppins than I do," was as tart and opinionated as Julie Andrews's big-screen Mary Poppins was cheery and porcelain beautiful. "You've got the nose for it," Travers candidly assessed the star. Yet it was a love of mysticism and magic that shaped P. L. Travers's life as well as the character of Mary Poppins. The clipped, strict, and ultimately mysterious nanny was the conception of someone who remained thoroughly inscrutable and enigmatic to the end of her 96 years.
"Who is P. L. Travers?" the American press inquired of "this unknown Englishwoman" whose creation resulting in Hollywood gold had won her international fame. Valerie Lawson's illuminating biography, Mary Poppins, She Wrote, provides the first and only glimpse into the mind of a writer who fervently believed that "Everyday life is the miracle."
©2013 Valerie Lawson (P)2013 Simon & SchusterListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Mary Poppins, She Wrote
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- V Stone
- 24-04-14
Long-winded and rather pedantic
If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?
Someone who likes to know minute detail about someone's life together with a fascination with rather strange views on life. I persevered to the end but would never listen to it again. I found many of the characters were of little interest to me.
I also found the narrator's voice to be either grating or very dull.
What will your next listen be?
?
Would you be willing to try another one of Terry Donnelly’s performances?
no
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Mary Poppins, She Wrote?
The mass of detail about everyone P L Travers ever seems to have met. I understand that Pamela left a mass of papers and the biographer was not nearly sufficiently selective.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sue D
- 01-03-19
I tried so hard to Enjoy this book.
Although some of the information about P L Travers is interesting it came across as very dry and boring. The second half of the book is just describing the various characters and stories in Mary Poppins . The presenters voice eventually ground me down and I had to give up.
Sadly I would not recommend this book and certainly not the audible version.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- rebecca
- 14-05-14
Gave up
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
I found it painfully slow
Has Mary Poppins, She Wrote put you off other books in this genre?
I usually enjoy biographical works but this was just hard work
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1 person found this helpful