Why it's essential
Kirby Heyborne and Julia Whelan slay to perfection as the ultimate unreliable narrators, Nick and Amy, in Gillian Flynn’s oft-imitated, never-bested masterpiece of domestic disturbance.
Featured in The Audible Essentials Top 100.
What is Gone Girl about?
Set in North Carthage, Missouri, during the Great Recession of the late 2000s, Gone Girl is a psychological thriller about marriage, betrayal, and revenge. Consisting of alternating chapters told by husband Nick and wife Amy, the novel centers on a mysterious disappearance and creates an atmosphere of confusion about which spouse is telling the truth.
Editor's review
Mysia ("Misha") is a book person who loves escaping into twisty mysteries and contemporary fiction driven by complicated characters.
Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl is among the all-time best crafted stories told by unreliable narrators—two of them, the perfect couple—and a gripping thriller filled with jaw-dropping twists. This dark mystery novel also shines a critical light on the media-fueled public rush to judge people suspected of crimes who, regardless of the evidence, simply look guilty—an unsettling trend that has only escalated in the decade since the book’s release. Along with its critique of media exploitation, the novel has been widely embraced—and hotly debated—as a manifesto of modern feminism.
Ten years ago, I was approaching that dreaded life stage—middle age. After years of doing my best to be a good wife, mother, aunt, sister, daughter, and friend; a good worker, mentor, and role model; and a good listener, problem solver, and crisis manager, I was feeling taken for granted and restless. What if I did something unexpected, something out of character—something bad?
Happily, I satisfied my yearnings by becoming immersed in the brilliant mind and devious machinations of Amy Elliott Dunne, the hero (or, depending on your perspective, villain) of Gone Girl. When it was published in 2012, Gillian Flynn’s ingenious novel about a missing wife and the husband increasingly implicated in her ominous disappearance stirred up a lot of buzz. As an avid fan of psychological thrillers, unreliable narrators, and contemporary fiction driven by strong, complicated women, I couldn’t wait to read it. And I was blown away! In spite of her questionable (to put it extremely mildly) actions, I found Amy, an amazing woman who was taken for granted—first by her parents and then by her husband—relatable and, yes, sympathetic. I kept rooting for her to get the life she wanted, even when I was appalled by what she did and who she hurt to make that happen.
Has Gone Girl changed my life? Well, it didn’t motivate me to change for the badder—old good habits die hard. Yet, thanks in part to Amy and other remarkable women characters like her, I’ve gradually become better at speaking up for myself and getting heard.
Years after first reading Gone Girl, I haven't forgotten Amy. I love the way Rosamund Pike brought her to life in the 2014 film adaptation, which I've watched in its entirety three times with three different women—my sister, my niece, and my daughter. So when I discovered that one of my favorite narrators, the remarkable Julia Whelan, voices Amy in the audiobook, I just had to go back and listen. Her performance is brilliant—so believable, it's chilling—and even though I know every twist in her twisted story, Amy continues to amaze me!
Did you know?
Gone Girl, as Gillian Flynn has stressed in interviews, is a work of pure fiction. Since its publication, however, the novel has become a reference point in real-life criminal cases, cited as a theory by defense lawyers. Take, for example, the case of Jennifer Dulos, a Connecticut mom who vanished in 2019. When her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos, became the prime suspect, his lawyer publicly suggested that Jennifer staged her own disappearance in a Gone Girl-like scenario to exact revenge on his client. Fotis Dulos died by suicide in 2020, and Jennifer's body has never been found.
What listeners said
"Gone Girl is a great, demented, jigsaw puzzle—each little piece an important detail in an intricately shaped plot. You think you can see what the picture will be … but each newly placed piece changes everything in this sharp psychological/suspense/thriller (emphasis on the psycho). You think you are starting to put it all together ... You know nothing. You are on a turbulent twisting ride, observing a fractured poisonous marriage that makes War of the Roses look like a day with June and Ward Cleaver." -Mel, Audible listener
"This book is twisted … also indulgent, decadent, intricate, masterful, engaging, enthralling and simply amazing … I love multi-person narrated titles and when it is done well, I am prone to raving about it. The narrators here, though, were completely rave worthy. They are able to portray Amy and Nick through the various stages of the book with such precision … you can feel the angst, anger, apathy, vengeance, brokenness, tension and the myriad of other emotions through their voices. Add the excellent writing to this and you honestly can do nothing but marvel." -Theodore, Audible listener
Quotes from Gone Girl
"There’s something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold."
"Men always say that as the defining compliment, don’t they? She’s a cool girl. Being the Cool Girl means I am a hot, brilliant, funny woman who adores football, poker, dirty jokes, and burping, who plays video games, drinks cheap beer, loves threesomes and anal sex, and jams hot dogs and hamburgers into her mouth like she’s hosting the world’s biggest culinary gang bang while somehow maintaining a size 2, because Cool Girls are above all hot. Hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry; they only smile in a chagrined, loving manner and let their men do whatever they want. Go ahead, shit on me, I don’t mind, I’m the Cool Girl … Men actually think this girl exists. Maybe they’re fooled because so many women are willing to pretend to be this girl."
"Love makes you want to be a better man—right, right. But maybe love, real love, also gives you permission to just be the man you are."
"I was told love should be unconditional. That’s the rule, everyone says so. But if love has no boundaries, no limits, no conditions, why should anyone try to do the right thing ever? If I know I am loved no matter what, where is the challenge?"
Adaptations
Gone Girl was adapted for the big screen in 2014. The film, directed by David Fincher and written by Gillian Flynn, stars Rosamund Pike as Amy and Ben Affleck as Nick, with Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, and Carrie Coone in supporting roles. Winner of the Hollywood Film Award, it’s well worth the watch and, as of this writing, is available for streaming on HBO Max.
About the author
Gillian Flynn is the bestselling author of three novels—Gone Girl, Sharp Objects, and Dark Places—and several short stories, including "The Grownup." She served as screenwriter for the film adaptation of Gone Girl, winning the 2014 Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and wrote and produced the HBO limited series adaptation of Sharp Objects. She also co-wrote, with director Steve McQueen, the film Widows and worked as a showrunner, writer, and executive producer on Amazon Prime Video’s sci-fi thriller series, Utopia. Born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, she holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. A former feature writer and television critic for Entertainment Weekly, she also worked briefly as a police reporter.
About the performers
Julia Whelan is the acclaimed narrator of more than 500 audiobooks, including Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl; Tara Westover's Educated, for which she won the 2019 Audie Award for Best Female Narrator; and her own novels, My Oxford Year, recognized with a Society of Voice Arts Award, and Thank You for Listening. She got her start performing as a child actress and was featured in the TV series Once and Again. She is also a Grammy-nominated audiobook director, a former writing tutor, a half-decent amateur baker, and a certified tea sommelier.
Kirby Heyborne is an actor, musician, singer, songwriter, and comedian, as well as the prolific narrator of close to 1,000 audiobooks. Named a Voice of Choice narrator by Booklist, he has won two Odyssey Awards from the American Library Association for young adult narration and an Audie Award for Middle Grade performance.
