Clara’s Verdict
Cornwall makes an almost irresistible backdrop for a dual-timeline romance, and Adeline Knight – the creator of Lonely Hearts Radio and Wild Hearts – uses it to full effect in Mending Hearts. The premise is satisfying in the way that the best Audible Originals are: a centuries-old feud between two Cornish families, a doomed historical romance at its root, and two modern-day descendants slowly falling for each other as they piece together the past. It’s warm, inventive, and takes the dual-timeline format seriously rather than using the historical strand merely as decoration. Remy Hii narrates, which is an interesting casting choice for a predominantly romantic narrative, and the production quality throughout is what you’d expect from an Audible Original. This is a properly made piece of work that knows exactly what it wants to be.
About the Audiobook
In the seaside town of St. Bodwell – fictional but entirely believable as a Cornish community, with one notable place-name exception noted by readers – the Daveys and the Chenoweths have been feuding for generations. The original cause has long since calcified into habit and mutual suspicion; nobody quite remembers why, only that it is so. Local historian Sam Chenoweth is curating an exhibition on the ill-fated nineteenth-century romance between his ancestor Ada Chenoweth and John Davey, a love story that ended badly and seems to have set both families against each other ever since. His unlikely collaborator is Abbie Davey, who agrees to help despite the obvious complications.
What follows weaves together two love stories across two centuries. Ada and John’s tragic romance is reconstructed through documents, letters, and artefacts in the exhibition research, given a melancholy that feels genuine rather than ornamental. Sam and Abbie’s cautious, complicated present-day attraction develops alongside this historical reconstruction, with the architecture of the past informing the emotional stakes of the present in ways that are quietly satisfying. Knight handles the dual timeline with confidence, ensuring neither strand feels like a detour from the other. The shifts between centuries are managed with enough care that each change of perspective feels purposeful rather than arbitrary.
There are dark family secrets and old lies, as the synopsis promises, and their revelation reshapes both storylines. Knight has a particular gift for making the resolution of long-standing enmity feel genuinely moving rather than merely convenient – the ending earns its warmth through the gradual, patient work of the preceding chapters. The novel’s larger claim, that even the most tattered bonds can be repaired given enough courage and honesty, is made without sentimentality.
The Narration
Remy Hii brings Sam’s perspective with warmth and careful tenderness that suits the character’s scholarly diffidence and gradually opening emotional life. His voice has a naturally expressive quality that works well in intimate romantic fiction, and he handles the shifts between historical reconstruction and present-day narrative with ease. The production quality is high throughout – this is a premium Audible Original experience in both content and craft. At just over six and a half hours, it sits at an ideal length: long enough to feel substantial, short enough to sustain momentum across the full run.
What Readers Say
Early reviews are limited at time of writing. The single verified review carries a 3-star rating and a specific note about a Cornish place name rendered incorrectly in the audio – “Newkway” for “Newquay” – which is a fair production observation and presumably an oversight rather than a creative decision. This is a minor blemish on an otherwise carefully crafted audiobook. Knight’s established following from Lonely Hearts Radio and Wild Hearts means this enters with genuine goodwill, and listener response on social platforms has been more enthusiastic than the single formal review suggests. The series connection will drive listeners who already know and trust the author’s work in this format.
Who Should Listen?
This is for listeners who love dual-timeline romance with a substantial historical layer – Cornwall settings, ancestral mysteries, and the particular pleasure of two families healing wounds that span generations. Fans of Adeline Knight’s previous Audible Originals will want this immediately; it extends the same qualities that made those titles successful. Equally recommended for listeners who’ve enjoyed Kate Riordan’s atmospheric dual-timeline fiction, Rachel Hore’s Cornwall-set novels, or Kate Morton’s intricate historical-contemporary crossovers.
The Audible Original format particularly suits this kind of story – the intimate narration, the careful production, and the single-voice character of Remy Hii’s performance make for an immersive experience that the dual-timeline structure benefits from. Listeners who are new to the Audible Original format will find Mending Hearts an excellent introduction to what the medium can offer at its best: intimate storytelling produced specifically for listening, without the slight sense of adaptation that can attend audio versions of print books. The Cornwall setting, rendered with enough specificity to feel real, adds a further layer of pleasure to the listening experience for anyone who knows the county or wants to.
Listen on Audible UK: Get Mending Hearts on Audible UK. Also available on Kobo, Scribd, and Storytel.
