The Candy House

By: Jennifer Egan

Narrated by: Alex Allwine, Chris Henry Coffey, Christian Barillas, Colin Donnell, Dan Bittner, Emily Tremaine, Griffin Newman, Jackie Sanders, Kyle Beltran, Lucy Liu, Michael Boatman, Nicole Lewis, Rebecca Lowman, Tara Lynne Barr, Thomas Sadoski

Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Visit from the Good Squad.

From one of the most dazzling and iconic writers of our time comes an electrifying, deeply moving novel about the quest for authenticity, privacy and meaning in a world where our memories are no longer our own—featuring characters from A Visit from the Goon Squad.

It's 2010. Staggeringly successful and brilliant tech entrepreneur Bix Bouton is desperate for a new idea. He's 40, with four kids, and restless when he stumbles into a conversation with mostly Columbia professors, one of whom is experimenting with downloading or 'externalising' memory. Within a decade, Bix's new technology, Own Your Unconscious—that allows you access to every memory you've ever had, and to share every memory in exchange for access to the memories of others—has seduced multitudes. But not everyone.

In spellbinding linked narratives, Egan spins out the consequences of Own Your Unconscious through the lives of multiple characters whose paths intersect over several decades. Intellectually dazzling and extraordinarily moving, The Candy House is a bold, brilliant imagining of a world that is moments away. With a focus on social media, gaming and alternate worlds, you can almost experience moving among dimensions in a role-playing game. Egan takes her 'deeply intuitive forays into the darker aspects of our technology-driven, image-saturated culture' (Vogue) to stunning new heights and delivers a fierce and exhilarating testament to the tenacity and transcendence of human longing for real connection, love, family, privacy and redemption.

©2022 Jennifer Egan (P)2022 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"Deeply intuitive forays into the darker aspects of our technology-driven, image-saturated culture." (Vogue)

A novel that's novel

This book IS the candy house, "merely the portal", but "the thing that changes everything". On one level it's a bunch of good stories with linked characters, told in innovative ways: a good read. But there are so many more levels, making this that rare thing: a worthwhile read. I will never forget this book.

The excellent voice cast is worth the listen. For maximum value, read or listen to A Visit from the Goon Squad first. Be sure to view the slide show chapter (available on Jennifer Egan's website).

Amazing narration

I was struggling to understand the story given the breadth and amount of characters at times, but the narration was absolutely stellar, especially Lincoln's narration (chapter 3), he nails the tones making me sputter out in laughter half the time.

A quest for human connection around technology

"The Candy House" (8/10) is a science fiction novel by Jennifer Egan. It is a set of interconnected stories of different characters, who are related to the main protagonists of a companion novel, "A Visit From a Goon Squad" (9/10). The stories are moving, especially of those who desperately need love and wreck their lives as a result of not having enough of it.
This book is about family, how to be it's part no matter who you are. Also it's about new technology that brings back memories and allows to relive them at a price of sharing your memories online. The past cannot be changed, however. Everyone pays for their own choices in life, but there is always hope for the future.
The audiobook narration is fantastic. Chapters are voiced by different actors, who match the characters well.