The Secret of Clouds

By: Alyson Richman

Narrated by: Jennifer Lim, Alyson Richman

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Named one of the Best 2019 Winter Books by PopSugar and chosen as one of 9 Books to Read (or Gift!) This February by Instyle!

From the number one international best-selling author of The Lost Wife and The Velvet Hours comes an emotionally charged story about a mother’s love, a teacher’s promise, and a child’s heart....

Katya, a rising ballerina, and Sasha, a graduate student, are young and in love when an unexpected tragedy befalls their native Kiev. Years later, after the couple has safely emigrated to America the consequences of this incident cause their son, Yuri, to be born with a rare health condition that isolates him from other children. Maggie, a passionate and dedicated teacher agrees to tutor Yuri at his home, even though she is haunted by her own painful childhood memories. As the two forge a deep and soulful connection, Yuri's boundless curiosity and unique wisdom inspires Maggie to make difficult changes in her own life. And she'll never realize just how strong Yuri has made her - until she needs that strength the most....

A novel that will make listeners examine what it means to live life with a full heart.

©2019 Alyson Richman (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Alyson Richman is known for her stunning historical fiction (The Lost Wife is being made into a movie as we speak!), but her first foray into a contemporary story will make you forget about the past.... The Secret of Clouds is a moving story about the power of one person to change our lives.” (PopSugar)

"Historical fiction doyenne Alyson Richman makes her foray into the contemporary with a riveting tale that explores the bond between an isolated student and his connection to the outside world: his tutor." (Instyle)

“[A] devastating novel…bolstered by Richman’s perspective on how teachers and students can learn from each other, resulting in a heartening tale.” (Publishers Weekly)

“An exquisite story...Richman’s great strength in designing the emotional ebb and flow of her engaging narrative should win accolades and a heap of new readers.” (Washington Independent Review of Books)

poignant

this book was palpable, I felt the love of Yuri's parents and his home teacher Ms.Topper. there was so much detail about Chernobyl. I remember when it happened, I had to be in maybe the 3rd grade. I finished this book while on our family vacation and my family couldn't understand why I was crying. the book literally brought me to tears

Such a marvelous story!

This author researches her material carefully and writes with exuberance and love for her characters and material. It is emotionally and spiritually rich. I immediately downloaded another of her books and hope to read them all!

Wonderful story

Another incredible book by Alyson Richman.Her stories are wonderful. Loved the lost wife and the velvet hours. I recommend this book to everyone.

Predictable; aan ok read

Interesting story of family originally from Kiev, living on Long Island with their son who has heart defect and the young teacher who tutors and befriends him and his family. Somewhat predictable and not deeply explored issues, but a good read.

A beautiful story

A beautiful story with wonderfully described characters. Some of the story is a bit predictable, but overall a good book I have no problem recommending.

Couldn't finish it....

I could not finish this book. First of all, the performance /narration is very good. That isn't the problem. The story is dull and the writing is sophomoric and amateur. I was stunned. I read the author's previous book, "The Lost Wife" and thought the story was beautifully written. My only complaint about that novel was that the title was kind of lacking. I assumed that this novel would be the same--silly title but great story. Instead, this one has a silly title and the story is so dull and poorly written that I could not finish it.