• One Day I Shall Astonish the World

  • By: Nina Stibbe
  • Narrated by: Joanna Scanlan
  • Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (35 ratings)

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One Day I Shall Astonish the World  By  cover art

One Day I Shall Astonish the World

By: Nina Stibbe
Narrated by: Joanna Scanlan
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Publisher's summary

From the beloved author of Love, Nina, a frank, tender, and poignantly funny story about the ebb and flow of female friendship over half a lifetime.

Susan and Norma have been best friends for years, at first thrust together by force of circumstance (a job at The Pin Cushion, a haberdashery shop in 1990s Leicestershire) and then by force of character (neither being particularly inclined to make friends with anyone else). But now, 30 years later, faced with a husband seeking immortality and Norma out of reach on a wave of professional glory, Susan begins to wonder whether she has made the right choices about life, love, work, and, most importantly, friendship.

Nina Stibbe's new novel is the story of the wonderful and sometimes surprising path of friendship: from its conspiratorial beginnings, along its irritating wrong turns, to its final gratifying destination.

©2022 Nina Stibbe (P)2022 Little, Brown & Company

Critic reviews

“Another wonderful, funny slice of fiction from the author of best-seller, Love Nina. Her latest novel explores a decades-long friendship between two women and what happens when your paths diverge.” (Good Housekeeping)

"For beautifully funny and well-observed comic writing, Nina Stibbe is your go-to author. In her latest release, a tale of lifelong friendship between Susan and Norma, she explores the mistakes, rivalries and love we all experience in life." (Stylist)

What listeners say about One Day I Shall Astonish the World

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Just the best!

Nina Stibbe is such a gifted novelist! Her comic gift combined with her well honed writing skills are second to none. Can't be beat and I look forward to her next book coming out soon!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The Conundrum of the Friend Who Hurts You

I want to draw a weird Venn diagram of this book in which it overlaps with other piercing stories about friendships that have spikes in them. The two other examples that come to mind are My Brilliant Friend and The Banshees of Inisherin. I might also add A Separate Peace. The Banshees is more violent and much sadder, but I kept thinking about it when Norma did yet another frighteningly mean thing to Susan and Susan went on being friends with her, unable, it seemed, to help herself. The friendship is something inescapable, and as many times as I thought that I myself would never tolerate being treated the way Norma treats Susan, I admitted to myself that as an artistic choice and plot element it had a strange psychological resonance. Friendships with people you meet in your teens are deeply entwined with your own coming of age and your identity. A friend can hurt you more than almost anyone. To say that, and to also say that this is a truly comic book, seems paradoxical, and yet it’s true.

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Wow. Boring.

Apparently rated high due to the last hour being about a universe handling Coronavirus. No story, boring characters.

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