Time's Mouth

By: Edan Lepucki

Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan

Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

From New York Times bestselling author Edan Lepucki comes an enthralling saga about family secrets that grow more powerful with time, set against the magical, dangerous landscape of California

Ursa possesses a very special gift. She can travel through memory and revisit her past. After she flees her hometown for the counterculture glory of 1950s California, the intoxicating potential of her unique ability eventually draws a group of women into her orbit and into a ramshackle Victorian mansion in the woods outside Santa Cruz. Yet Ursa’s powers come with a cost. Soon this cultish community of sisterhood takes an ominous turn, prompting her son, Ray, and his pregnant lover, Cherry, to flee their home for Los Angeles and reinvent themselves far from Ursa’s insidious influence. But escaping their past won’t be so easy. A series of mysterious events forces Cherry to abandon their baby, leaving Ray to raise Opal alone.

Now a teenager and still heartbroken over the abandonment of the mother she never knew, Opal must journey into her own past to reveal the generations of secrets that gave rise to the shimmering source of her family's painful legacy.

From the forests of Santa Cruz, to the 1980s glam of Melrose Avenue to a solitary mansion among the oil derricks off La Cienega Boulevard, and brimming with the double-edged capacity of memory to both heal and harm, Time’s Mouth is a poignant and evocative excavation of the bonds that bind families together.

©2023 Edan Lepucki (P)2023 Recorded Books

Dysfunctional Family + Time Travel

Not one of my favorites, but the narration was great! I was supposed to care about Ray and Opal, but I didn't. None of the characters really grabbed my interest. I don't know much history on cults in California so maybe I was missing something. There was a weird focus on the women's bodies and descriptions of them. The overall tone was depressing, but the narrator did a great job.

hippie history

Great story , interesting especially if you know the area Or ever lived in northern california

About so much more

than a cult… a beautiful story about motherhood, parenthood, time… and about why people do bad things sometimes.

So good!

The story, the suspense, the voice actor; everything about this audiobook is great! Loved listening to this and didn’t want it to end while always being excited for what would happen next.

Really interesting premise

I stayed with this even though it dragged in description but it’s worth it. Great dysfunctional family saga with a supernatural twist.

Interesting and rich storyline that keeps the reader curious

Enjoyed the depth and nuance of the characters as well as the mystical energy that was its own character.

Three hours in and going nowhere

I couldn’t finish this. The time travel aspect is vague and plot is skipped over whereas the intricate details of characters’ poor hygiene and neglect of their children is intense. I couldn’t give any more time or attention to this tale of collective child neglect. The narrator sounds like she’s building suspense. The whole time. It’s exhausting to listen to.