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Transcript
Hi, this is Ann Richardson. I am tickled to share this audiobook review with AudiobookRush. My favorite audiobook of all time is called The Whip by Karen Kondazian, and divinely performed by Robin Weigert. You may recognize that name. She was an actress that played Calamity Jane in Deadwood on, I don’t know, HBO or something like that. Anyway, she brought her exceptional skills to narrate this audiobook. It’s about a woman named Charley Parkhurst. Back when Charley was a young lady she fell in love with an escaped slave, had his child, but he was lynched and the baby was killed. So she dressed as a man to find the killers and get revenge. She ended up being a famous stagecoach driver. That’s why the book is called The Whip, because that’s what they called stagecoach drivers. She became notorious. She was focused on meeting deadlines, being safe, delivering her passengers safely and standing up for the underdog. She is also reported to have been the first woman to have voted in the United States, albeit as a man. And the book, I just loved all of it. So much so that when it was done, I researched Charley Parkhurst and found out that she is buried not far from where I live. So I grabbed a friend of mine who also had listened to the audiobook and loved it, and we took a road trip and we ended up in Watsonville, California. And we each, my friend and I, each had those little travel bottles of whiskey. We drank a toast to Charley Parkhurst and had a picnic on her grave. I love stories where the women are strong, and I love stories that have some sense of justice in them. In any case, it’s my favorite audiobook. I hope you enjoy it.