-
Celestial Bodies
- Narrated by: Laurence Bouvard
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $18.54
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Girl, Woman, Other
- By: Bernardine Evaristo
- Narrated by: Anna-Maria Nabirye
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of Britain's most celebrated writers of color, Girl, Woman, Other is a magnificent portrayal of the intersections of identity and a moving and hopeful story of an interconnected group of black British women. Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize and short-listed for the Gordon Burn Prize, Girl, Woman, Other paints a vivid portrait of the state of post-Brexit Britain, as well as looking back to the legacy of Britain's colonial history in Africa and the Caribbean.
-
-
smart, compassionate, confronting and enjoyable
- By Kelly on 12-20-19
-
Flights
- By: Olga Tokarczuk, Jennifer Croft - translator
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chopin's heart is carried back to Warsaw in secret by his adoring sister. A woman must return to her native Poland in order to poison her terminally ill high school sweetheart, and a young man slowly descends into madness when his wife and child mysteriously vanish during a vacation and just as suddenly reappear. Through these brilliantly imagined characters and stories, interwoven with haunting, playful, and revelatory meditations, Flights explores what it means to be a traveler, a wanderer, a body in motion not only through space but through time.
-
-
hard to follow
- By john on 10-24-18
By: Olga Tokarczuk, and others
-
The Shadow King
- A Novel
- By: Maaza Mengiste
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1935, orphaned servant Hirut struggles to adapt to her new household as Ethiopia faces Mussolini's looming invasion. As the battles begin in earnest, Hirut and other women must care for the wounded. But when Emperor Haile Selassie goes into exile and Ethiopia is about to lose hope, Hirut helps to disguise a gentle peasant as the emperor to keep the fight alive. She becomes his guard, inspiring women to join the war against fascism.
-
-
Not quite what I expected
- By sh1234 on 12-22-19
By: Maaza Mengiste
-
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
- A Novel
- By: Olga Tokarczuk, Antonia Lloyd-Jones
- Narrated by: Beata Pozniak
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, and taking care of the summer homes of wealthy Warsaw residents. Her reputation as a crank and a recluse is amplified by her not-so-secret preference for the company of animals over humans. Then, a neighbor, Big Foot, turns up dead. Soon, other bodies are discovered, in increasingly strange circumstances. As suspicions mount, Janina inserts herself into the investigation, certain that she knows whodunit. If only anyone would pay her mind....
-
-
A Haunting Performance
- By M&M on 09-11-19
By: Olga Tokarczuk, and others
-
Hamnet
- By: Maggie O'Farrell
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Agnes is a wild creature who walks her family’s land with a falcon on her glove and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer, understanding plants and potions better than she does people. Once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose career on the London stage is taking off when his beloved young son succumbs to sudden fever.
-
-
A masterpiece
- By Molly-o on 08-03-20
By: Maggie O'Farrell
-
Out of Darkness, Shining Light
- A Novel
- By: Petina Gappah
- Narrated by: Nyasha Hatendi, Sibongile Mlambo
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Out of Darkness, Shining Light is the captivating story of the loyal men and women who carried explorer and missionary Dr. Livingstone's body, his papers, and maps, 1,500 miles across the continent of Africa, so his remains could be returned home to England and his work preserved there. Narrated by Halima, the doctor's sharp-tongued cook, and Jacob Wainwright, a rigidly pious freed slave, this is a story that encompasses all of the hypocrisy of slavery and colonization - the hypocrisy at the core of the human heart - while celebrating resilience, loyalty, and love.
-
-
Real and Beautiful
- By Amazon Customer on 10-18-19
By: Petina Gappah
-
Girl, Woman, Other
- By: Bernardine Evaristo
- Narrated by: Anna-Maria Nabirye
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From one of Britain's most celebrated writers of color, Girl, Woman, Other is a magnificent portrayal of the intersections of identity and a moving and hopeful story of an interconnected group of black British women. Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize and short-listed for the Gordon Burn Prize, Girl, Woman, Other paints a vivid portrait of the state of post-Brexit Britain, as well as looking back to the legacy of Britain's colonial history in Africa and the Caribbean.
-
-
smart, compassionate, confronting and enjoyable
- By Kelly on 12-20-19
-
Flights
- By: Olga Tokarczuk, Jennifer Croft - translator
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chopin's heart is carried back to Warsaw in secret by his adoring sister. A woman must return to her native Poland in order to poison her terminally ill high school sweetheart, and a young man slowly descends into madness when his wife and child mysteriously vanish during a vacation and just as suddenly reappear. Through these brilliantly imagined characters and stories, interwoven with haunting, playful, and revelatory meditations, Flights explores what it means to be a traveler, a wanderer, a body in motion not only through space but through time.
-
-
hard to follow
- By john on 10-24-18
By: Olga Tokarczuk, and others
-
The Shadow King
- A Novel
- By: Maaza Mengiste
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1935, orphaned servant Hirut struggles to adapt to her new household as Ethiopia faces Mussolini's looming invasion. As the battles begin in earnest, Hirut and other women must care for the wounded. But when Emperor Haile Selassie goes into exile and Ethiopia is about to lose hope, Hirut helps to disguise a gentle peasant as the emperor to keep the fight alive. She becomes his guard, inspiring women to join the war against fascism.
-
-
Not quite what I expected
- By sh1234 on 12-22-19
By: Maaza Mengiste
-
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
- A Novel
- By: Olga Tokarczuk, Antonia Lloyd-Jones
- Narrated by: Beata Pozniak
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, and taking care of the summer homes of wealthy Warsaw residents. Her reputation as a crank and a recluse is amplified by her not-so-secret preference for the company of animals over humans. Then, a neighbor, Big Foot, turns up dead. Soon, other bodies are discovered, in increasingly strange circumstances. As suspicions mount, Janina inserts herself into the investigation, certain that she knows whodunit. If only anyone would pay her mind....
-
-
A Haunting Performance
- By M&M on 09-11-19
By: Olga Tokarczuk, and others
-
Hamnet
- By: Maggie O'Farrell
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Agnes is a wild creature who walks her family’s land with a falcon on her glove and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer, understanding plants and potions better than she does people. Once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose career on the London stage is taking off when his beloved young son succumbs to sudden fever.
-
-
A masterpiece
- By Molly-o on 08-03-20
By: Maggie O'Farrell
-
Out of Darkness, Shining Light
- A Novel
- By: Petina Gappah
- Narrated by: Nyasha Hatendi, Sibongile Mlambo
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Out of Darkness, Shining Light is the captivating story of the loyal men and women who carried explorer and missionary Dr. Livingstone's body, his papers, and maps, 1,500 miles across the continent of Africa, so his remains could be returned home to England and his work preserved there. Narrated by Halima, the doctor's sharp-tongued cook, and Jacob Wainwright, a rigidly pious freed slave, this is a story that encompasses all of the hypocrisy of slavery and colonization - the hypocrisy at the core of the human heart - while celebrating resilience, loyalty, and love.
-
-
Real and Beautiful
- By Amazon Customer on 10-18-19
By: Petina Gappah
-
Shuggie Bain
- By: Douglas Stuart
- Narrated by: Angus King
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shuggie’s mother Agnes walks a wayward path: She is Shuggie’s guiding light but a burden for him and his siblings. She dreams of a house with its own front door while she flicks through the pages of the Freemans catalogue, ordering a little happiness on credit, anything to brighten up her grey life. Married to a philandering taxi-driver husband, Agnes keeps her pride by looking good - her beehive, make-up, and pearly-white false teeth offer a glamourous image of a Glaswegian Elizabeth Taylor.
-
-
There’s far too much real pain and sadness in the world to spend any time listening to this tale of woe
- By SuperShopper on 02-18-21
By: Douglas Stuart
-
Night Boat to Tangier
- A Novel
- By: Kevin Barry
- Narrated by: Kevin Barry
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the dark waiting room of the ferry terminal in the sketchy Spanish port of Algeciras, two aging Irishmen - Maurice Hearne and Charlie Redmond, longtime partners in the lucrative and dangerous enterprise of smuggling drugs - sit at night, none too patiently. It is October 23, 2018, and they are expecting Maurice's estranged daughter, Dilly, to either arrive on a boat coming from Tangier or depart on one heading there. This nocturnal vigil will initiate an extraordinary journey back in time to excavate their shared history of violence, romance, mutual betrayals, and serial exiles.
-
-
Two Spooky Guys Waiting…
- By David on 12-06-19
By: Kevin Barry
-
The Committed
- A Novel
- By: Viet Thanh Nguyen
- Narrated by: Francois Chau
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Traumatized by his reeducation at the hands of his former best friend, and struggling to assimilate into French culture, the Sympathizer finds Paris both seductive and disturbing. As he falls in with a group of left-wing intellectuals he meets at dinner parties given by his French Vietnamese “aunt”, he finds stimulation for his mind but also customers for his narcotic merchandise. But the new life he is making has perils, whether the self-torture of addiction, the authoritarianism of a state locked in a colonial mindset, or the paradox of how to reunite his two closest friends.
-
-
Clever, Ironic, Repetitive
- By AuntGert on 03-05-21
-
Homeland Elegies
- A Novel
- By: Ayad Akhtar
- Narrated by: Ayad Akhtar
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A deeply personal work about identity and belonging in a nation coming apart at the seams, Homeland Elegies blends fact and fiction to tell an epic story of longing and dispossession in the world that 9/11 made. Part family drama, part social essay, part picaresque novel, at its heart it is the story of a father, a son, and the country they both call home.
-
-
a mishmash of political theory and porn
- By LC on 02-06-21
By: Ayad Akhtar
-
The Dutch House
- A Novel
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Tom Hanks
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother.
-
-
Not my favorite Patchett
- By Regina on 12-07-19
By: Ann Patchett
-
A Long Petal of the Sea
- A Novel
- By: Isabel Allende, Nick Caistor, Amanda Hopkinson
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the late 1930s, civil war grips Spain. When General Franco and his Fascists succeed in overthrowing the government, hundreds of thousands are forced to flee in a treacherous journey over the mountains to the French border. Among them is Roser, a pregnant young widow, who finds her life intertwined with that of Victor Dalmau, an army doctor and the brother of her deceased love. In order to survive, the two must unite in a marriage neither of them desires. Together with 2,000 other refugees, Roser and Victor embark for Chile on the SS Winnipeg.
-
-
An Classic
- By Amazon Customer on 01-28-20
By: Isabel Allende, and others
-
Trust Exercise
- A Novel
- By: Susan Choi
- Narrated by: Adina Verson, Jennifer Lim, Suehyla El-Attar
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pulitzer finalist Susan Choi's narrative-upending audiobook about what happens when a first love between high school students is interrupted by the attentions of a charismatic teacher.
-
-
fabulous performance, incisive writing
- By working mom on 05-22-19
By: Susan Choi
-
The Mountains Sing
- By: Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
- Narrated by: Quyen Ngo
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With the epic sweep of Min Jin Lee's Pachinko and Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing and the lyrical beauty of Vaddey Ratner's In the Shadow of the Banyan, The Mountains Sing tells an enveloping, multigenerational tale of the Trần family, set against the backdrop of the Việt Nam War. Trần Diệu Lan, who was born in 1920, was forced to flee her family farm with her six children during the Land Reform as the Communist government rose in the North.
-
-
Incredible first English language novel
- By Gregory Barbee on 03-23-20
-
The Topeka School
- A Novel
- By: Ben Lerner
- Narrated by: Nancy Linari, Peter Berkrot, Tristan Wright
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adam Gordon is a senior at Topeka High School, class of ’97. His mother, Jane, is a famous feminist author; his father, Jonathan, is an expert at getting "lost boys" to open up. They both work at a psychiatric clinic that has attracted staff and patients from around the world. Adam is a renowned debater, expected to win a national championship before he heads to college. He is one of the cool kids, ready to fight or, better, freestyle about fighting if it keeps his peers from thinking of him as weak.
-
-
Strong novel about 1990s
- By citizen, jazzmania on 01-11-20
By: Ben Lerner
-
Girl
- A Novel
- By: Edna O'Brien
- Narrated by: Sheila Atim
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"I was a girl once, but not anymore." So begins Girl, Edna O’Brien’s harrowing portrayal of the young women abducted by Boko Haram. Set in the deep countryside of northeast Nigeria, this is a brutal story of incarceration, horror, and hunger; a hair-raising escape into the manifold terrors of the forest; and a descent into the labyrinthine bureaucracy and hostility awaiting a victim who returns home with a child blighted by enemy blood.
-
-
Low quality. Hard to understand.
- By RS on 04-21-20
By: Edna O'Brien
-
Apeirogon
- A Novel
- By: Colum McCann
- Narrated by: Colum McCann
- Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bassam Aramin is Palestinian. Rami Elhanan is Israeli. They inhabit a world of conflict that colors every aspect of their daily lives, from the roads they are allowed to drive on, to the schools their daughters, Abir and Smadar, each attend, to the checkpoints, both physical and emotional, they must negotiate. Their worlds shift irreparably after 10-year-old Abir is killed by a rubber bullet and 13-year-old Smadar becomes the victim of suicide bombers. When Bassam and Rami learn of each other’s stories, they recognize the loss that connects them.
-
-
Too many chapters & interruptions
- By sara robbins on 03-02-20
By: Colum McCann
-
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Alix Dunmore
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A moving novel on the power of friendship in our darkest times, from internationally renowned writer and speaker Elif Shafak. In the pulsating moments after she has been murdered and left in a dumpster outside Istanbul, Tequila Leila enters a state of heightened awareness. Her heart has stopped beating, but her brain is still active - for 10 minutes 38 seconds. While the Turkish sun rises and her friends sleep soundly nearby, she remembers her life - and the lives of others, outcasts like her.
-
-
Unique and unforgettable adventure in Istanbul
- By Zu-Zu on 11-24-20
By: Elif Shafak
Publisher's Summary
Winner of the Man Booker International Prize 2019
Celestial Bodies is set in the village of al-Awafi in Oman, where we encounter three sisters: Mayya, who marries Abdallah after a heartbreak; Asma, who marries from a sense of duty; and Khawla, who rejects all offers while waiting for her beloved, who has emigrated to Canada.
These three women and their families witness Oman evolve from a traditional, slave-owning society slowly redefining itself after the colonial era to the crossroads of its complex present.
Elegantly structured and taut, Celestial Bodies is a coiled spring of a novel, telling of Oman's coming of age through the prism of one family's losses and loves.
More from the same
What listeners say about Celestial Bodies
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- bookylady
- 09-04-19
A family saga set in Oman
I had never read anything about Oman or its societal structures before embarking on this story so a lot of it was very surprising indeed.
This is essentially the story of three very different sisters who are brought up in a small, sheltered, superstitious rural community in post-colonial Oman. The narrative covers many different aspects of family life and much is made of the differences between the lives of men and women, the clashes between the older and younger generations and the aspirations for a better life outside of Oman's claustrophobic, patriarchal society.. The sections on Oman's colonial history and its previous guise as a slave-owning society were the most interesting parts for me, but I also enjoyed learning about the various superstitions and customs relating to marriage, childbirth and motherhood.
The narrative is very well written but it suffers a little from a huge cast of characters whose lives are described across several generations. It was, I felt, quite difficult at times to keep track of the various threads which jumped back and forth between time periods. But overall I enjoyed the story and I'm glad I read it. The narration was a little disappointing too; it was lacklustre and never really took off for me, which was a shame.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Peter
- 09-29-20
Boring
Mundane story and poor narration, but that's often the way with Man Booker prize winners.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 08-18-20
Really irritating book and aerator
The narrator attempted to impersonate each of the many characters was unsuccessful and irritating. Too many Nara refs and none of them developed enough to care about.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 11-03-19
Don’t bother
The narration was excellent but couldn’t make up for a story where I was just not interested in any of the characters at all. There are a lot of characters so that’s potentially one of the reasons it didn’t work and may work alright as a book but one of the worst audiobooks I’ve ever listened to
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Amazon Customer
- 10-19-19
Terrible narration
A real struggle to finish. The narrator speaks with an exaggerated plummy accent and over the top intonation, making the story sound more like it's set in a 1950s British boarding school than in Oman. Nothing much happens in the story and it's full of bland one-dimensional characters