• Nightwoods

  • A Novel
  • By: Charles Frazier
  • Narrated by: Will Patton
  • Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (1,115 ratings)

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Nightwoods  By  cover art

Nightwoods

By: Charles Frazier
Narrated by: Will Patton
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Publisher's summary

The extraordinary author of Cold Mountain and Thirteen Moons returns with a dazzling new novel of suspense and love set in small-town North Carolina in the early 1960s.

Charles Frazier puts his remarkable gifts in the service of a lean, taut narrative while losing none of the transcendent prose, virtuosic storytelling, and insight into human nature that have made him one of the most beloved and celebrated authors in the world. Now, with his brilliant portrait of Luce, a young woman who inherits her murdered sister’s troubled twins, Frazier has created his most memorable heroine.

Before the children, Luce was content with the reimbursements of the rich Appalachian landscape, choosing to live apart from the small community around her. But the coming of the children changes everything, cracking open her solitary life in difficult, hopeful, dangerous ways.

Charles Frazier is known for his historical literary odysseys, and for making figures in the past come vividly to life. Set in the 20th century, Nightwoods resonates with the timelessness of a great work of art.

©2011 Charles Frazier (P)2011 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

PRAISE FOR CHARLES FRAZIER: “Natural-born storytellers come along only rarely. Charles Frazier joins the ranks of that elite cadre on the first page of his astonishing debut.” ( Newsweek on Cold Mountain)
“Prose filled with grace notes and trenchant asides ... a Whitmanesque foray into America: into its hugeness, its freshness, its scope and its soul ... such a memorable book.” ( The New York Times Book Review on Cold Mountain)
“Frazier works on an epic scale, but his genius is in the details - he has a scholar’s command of the physical realities of early America and a novelist’s gift for bringing them to life.” ( Time on Thirteen Moon)

What listeners say about Nightwoods

Average customer ratings
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Beautiful

Terrible, upsetting subject matter delivered in transcendent prose. The narrator did an amazing job as well, somehow at times layering his voice with malice when appropriate and with innocent wonder at other times without being overly dramatic.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Appalachia at its best

Fun listen set in the mountains of North Carolina. Small town with lots of history is the setting of a tale with good and bad people. The author comes up with a tale where the bad guy comes to the small town looking for money stolen from him, money he had stolen, and he thinks his ex-step kids have it or know where it is. And, he is willing to do anything to get the money back.

No better narrator exists than Will Patton.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Too flowery

Too much background description and no getting to the plot or storyline . Didn’t hold my interest over time

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Poetry

Empathetic characters overcoming traumatic family histories. Beautiful descriptive writing. Engaging yet not showy narration. I loved it.

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Great Read!

I always enjoy a tale by Charles Frazier and this one did not disappoint. The descriptive language as he weaves the story is what I like most.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Charles Frazier does not disappoint.

He weaves a story with intricate details. I highly recommend this one. Interesting

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What brilliance!

Charles Frazier is absolutely one of the best writers ever! Will Patton could read the phone book and make it sound exciting.

The only part of Northwoods I didn’t appreciate was taking the LORD’S name in vain. There are other phrases that could be used.

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Will Patton is amazing

I choose books that are read by Will Patton and have come across books that may have never interested me and because of Will I have been introduced to some really good books, though I am also convinced he could read a car manual and make it sound amazing!!

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Enjoyable but kind of dark

This was and enjoyable listen. The story was little dark but very interesting and kept my attention.
The narrator is excellent!👍

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Charles Frazier/Will Patron perfection

Charles Frazier’s story/beautiful words, Will Patron’s voice= Magic! I’ve listened twice and I will listen again. Landscape, characters, story…… so good. Completely memorable.

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