-
Astonish Me
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Release date: 05-08-14
- Language: English
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited
- Whispersync for Voice-ready
Regular price: $16.77
People who bought this also bought...
-
The Tuscan Child
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble, Katy Sobey
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,044
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 969
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 964
In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal. Nearly 30 years later, Hugo's estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father's funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Knocked this one out of the park
- By Anne on 02-22-18
-
Tangerine
- By: Christine Mangan
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik, Erin Mallon
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 284
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 262
-
Story3 out of 5 stars 264
The last person Alice Shipley expected to see since arriving in Tangier with her new husband was Lucy Mason. After the accident at Bennington, the two friends - once inseparable roommates - haven't spoken in over a year. Lucy - always fearless and independent - helps Alice emerge from her flat and explore the country. But soon a familiar feeling starts to overtake Alice - she feels controlled and stifled by Lucy at every turn. Then Alice's husband, John, goes missing, and Alice starts to question everything around her.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Ohhh so dreadful
- By Yevgeniya N. Stradling on 04-03-18
-
Golden Hill
- A Novel of Old New York
- By: Francis Spufford
- Narrated by: Sarah Borges
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 226
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 205
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 208
The spectacular first novel from acclaimed nonfiction author Francis Spufford follows the adventures of a mysterious young man in mid-18th century Manhattan, 30 years before the American Revolution.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
SIMON & SCHUSTER SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED
- By Jay Day on 08-05-17
-
The Chalk Man
- A Novel
- By: C. J. Tudor
- Narrated by: Euan Morton
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,186
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,126
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,122
In 1986, Eddie and his friend are just kids on the verge of adolescence. They spend their days biking around their sleepy little English village and looking for any taste of excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code; little chalk stick figures they leave for each other as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body, and nothing will ever be the same.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Sufficiently interesting and fast paced
- By Aquakittie on 01-16-18
-
Sourdough
- A Novel
- By: Robin Sloan
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 991
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 936
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 934
Lois Clary is a software engineer at General Dexterity, a San Francisco robotics company with world-changing ambitions. She codes all day and collapses at night, her human contact limited to the two brothers who run the neighborhood hole-in-the-wall from which she orders dinner every evening. Then, disaster! Visa issues. The brothers close up shop, and fast. But they have one last delivery for Lois: their culture, the sourdough starter used to bake their bread. She must keep it alive, they tell her - feed it daily, play it music, and learn to bake with it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Delicious!
- By Lylo on 11-13-17
-
The Nest
- By: Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
- Narrated by: Mia Barron
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4,986
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 4,413
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 4,405
Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a 19-year-old waitress as his passenger.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Couldn't get through it.
- By E. Bullock on 05-19-16
-
The Tuscan Child
- By: Rhys Bowen
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble, Katy Sobey
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,044
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 969
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 964
In 1944, British bomber pilot Hugo Langley parachuted from his stricken plane into the verdant fields of German-occupied Tuscany. Badly wounded, he found refuge in a ruined monastery and in the arms of Sofia Bartoli. But the love that kindled between them was shaken by an irreversible betrayal. Nearly 30 years later, Hugo's estranged daughter, Joanna, has returned home to the English countryside to arrange her father's funeral. Among his personal effects is an unopened letter addressed to Sofia. In it is a startling revelation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Knocked this one out of the park
- By Anne on 02-22-18
-
Tangerine
- By: Christine Mangan
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik, Erin Mallon
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 284
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 262
-
Story3 out of 5 stars 264
The last person Alice Shipley expected to see since arriving in Tangier with her new husband was Lucy Mason. After the accident at Bennington, the two friends - once inseparable roommates - haven't spoken in over a year. Lucy - always fearless and independent - helps Alice emerge from her flat and explore the country. But soon a familiar feeling starts to overtake Alice - she feels controlled and stifled by Lucy at every turn. Then Alice's husband, John, goes missing, and Alice starts to question everything around her.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Ohhh so dreadful
- By Yevgeniya N. Stradling on 04-03-18
-
Golden Hill
- A Novel of Old New York
- By: Francis Spufford
- Narrated by: Sarah Borges
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 226
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 205
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 208
The spectacular first novel from acclaimed nonfiction author Francis Spufford follows the adventures of a mysterious young man in mid-18th century Manhattan, 30 years before the American Revolution.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
SIMON & SCHUSTER SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED
- By Jay Day on 08-05-17
-
The Chalk Man
- A Novel
- By: C. J. Tudor
- Narrated by: Euan Morton
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,186
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,126
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,122
In 1986, Eddie and his friend are just kids on the verge of adolescence. They spend their days biking around their sleepy little English village and looking for any taste of excitement they can get. The chalk men are their secret code; little chalk stick figures they leave for each other as messages only they can understand. But then a mysterious chalk man leads them right to a dismembered body, and nothing will ever be the same.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Sufficiently interesting and fast paced
- By Aquakittie on 01-16-18
-
Sourdough
- A Novel
- By: Robin Sloan
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 991
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 936
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 934
Lois Clary is a software engineer at General Dexterity, a San Francisco robotics company with world-changing ambitions. She codes all day and collapses at night, her human contact limited to the two brothers who run the neighborhood hole-in-the-wall from which she orders dinner every evening. Then, disaster! Visa issues. The brothers close up shop, and fast. But they have one last delivery for Lois: their culture, the sourdough starter used to bake their bread. She must keep it alive, they tell her - feed it daily, play it music, and learn to bake with it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Delicious!
- By Lylo on 11-13-17
-
The Nest
- By: Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
- Narrated by: Mia Barron
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4,986
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 4,413
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 4,405
Every family has its problems. But even among the most troubled, the Plumb family stands out as spectacularly dysfunctional. Years of simmering tensions finally reach a breaking point on an unseasonably cold afternoon in New York City as Melody, Beatrice, and Jack Plumb gather to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly released from rehab. Months earlier, an inebriated Leo got behind the wheel of a car with a 19-year-old waitress as his passenger.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Couldn't get through it.
- By E. Bullock on 05-19-16
-
The Paris Architect
- By: Charles Belfoure
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,592
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,465
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,468
Like most gentiles in Nazi-occupied Paris, architect Lucien Bernard has little empathy for the Jews. So when a wealthy industrialist offers him a large sum of money to devise secret hiding places for Jews, Lucien struggles with the choice of risking his life for a cause he doesn't really believe in. Ultimately he can't resist the challenge and begins designing expertly concealed hiding spaces - behind a painting, within a column, or inside a drainpipe - detecting possibilities invisible to the average eye. But when one of his clever hiding spaces fails and the immense suffering of Jews becomes incredibly personal, he can no longer deny reality.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Absolutely Wonderful!!
- By Wandering Hoosier on 05-09-15
-
A Paris Apartment
- By: Michelle Gable
- Narrated by: Erin Moon, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 16 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 298
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 267
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 272
When her boss tells her about the discoveries in a cramped, decrepit apartment in the ninth arrondissement, Sotheby' s continental furniture specialist April Vaught does not hear "dust" or "rats" or "shuttered for 70 years". She hears Paris. She hears escape. She cannot board the plane fast enough. When she arrives, April quickly learns the apartment is more than just some rich hoarder' s repository. Beneath the dust and cobwebs and stale perfumed air is a literal goldmine - and not just in terms of actual dollars.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Total Fail
- By Simone on 11-12-14
-
Love and Other Consolation Prizes
- A Novel
- By: Jamie Ford
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller, Jamie Ford
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 162
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 162
For 12-year-old Ernest Young, a charity student at a boarding school, the chance to go to the World's Fair feels like a gift. But only once he's there, amid the exotic exhibits, fireworks, and Ferris wheels, does he discover that he is the one who is actually the prize. The half-Chinese orphan is astounded to learn he will be raffled off - a healthy boy "to a good home". The winning ticket belongs to the flamboyant madam of a high-class brothel, famous for educating her girls.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible listen
- By Hugh Lewis on 10-04-17
-
Seating Arrangements
- By: Maggie Shipstead
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars 190
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Story3 out of 5 stars 162
Winn Van Meter is heading for his family's retreat on the pristine New England island of Waskeke. Normally a haven of calm, for the next three days this sanctuary will be overrun by tipsy revelers as Winn prepares for the marriage of his daughter Daphne to the affable young scion Greyson Duff. Winn's wife, Biddy, has planned the wedding with military precision, but arrangements are sideswept by a storm of salacious misbehavior and intractable lust: Daphne's sister, Livia, who has recently had her heart broken by Teddy Fenn.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Deadly dull
- By Laurie A. Johnson on 08-15-13
-
The Designer
- By: Marius Gabriel
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 184
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 152
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 151
In 1944, newly married Copper Reilly arrives in Paris soon after the liberation. While the city celebrates its freedom, she's stuck in the prison of an unhappy marriage. When her husband commits one betrayal too many, Copper demands a separation. Alone in Paris, she finds an unlikely new friend: an obscure, middle-aged designer from the back rooms of a decaying fashion house whose timid nature and reluctance for fame clash with the bold brilliance of his designs. His name is Christian Dior.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Copper Is A Feminist Before It Was Cool—1944!
- By Linda on 10-18-17
-
Be Frank with Me
- A Novel
- By: Julia Claiborne Johnson
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,747
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,607
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,608
Reclusive literary legend M. M. "Mimi" Banning has been holed up in her Bel Air mansion for years. But after falling prey to a Bernie Madoff-style Ponzi scheme, she's flat broke. Now Mimi must write a new book for the first time in decades, and to ensure the timely delivery of her manuscript, her New York publisher sends an assistant to monitor her progress. The prickly Mimi reluctantly complies - with a few stipulations: no Ivy Leaguers or English majors. Must drive, cook, tidy. Computer whiz. Good with kids.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Whirlwind
- By Sara on 09-02-16
-
The Wedding Date
- By: Jasmine Guillory
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 206
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 189
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 189
On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend... After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she's the mayor's chief of staff. Too bad they can't stop thinking about the other...
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Cute, but was hoping for more
- By Audiobookhoe on 02-07-18
-
Ginny Moon
- By: Benjamin Ludwig
- Narrated by: Em Eldridge
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 185
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 167
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 166
Meet Ginny Moon. She's mostly your average teenager - she plays flute in the high school band, has weekly basketball practice, and reads Robert Frost poems in English class. But Ginny is autistic. And so what's important to her might seem a bit...different: starting every day with exactly nine grapes for breakfast, Michael Jackson, her baby doll, and crafting a secret plan of escape.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful
- By Andrea Holst on 05-25-17
-
The Knockoff
- A Novel
- By: Lucy Sykes, Jo Piazza
- Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,637
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,500
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,494
When Imogen returns to work at Glossy after six months away, she can barely recognize her own magazine. Eve, fresh out of Harvard Business School, has fired "the gray hairs", put the managing editor in a supply closet, stopped using the landlines, and hired a bevy of manicured and questionably attired underlings who text and tweet their way through meetings.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Buy it Now!
- By Syddd on 05-24-15
-
Commonwealth
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Hope Davis
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 5,688
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,174
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 5,179
One Sunday afternoon in Southern California, Bert Cousins shows up at Franny Keating's christening party uninvited. Before evening falls, he has kissed Franny's mother, Beverly - thus setting in motion the dissolution of their marriages and the joining of two families.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Must Listen for Patchett fans
- By J on 09-19-16
-
Pretty Girls Dancing
- By: Kylie Brant
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels, Emily Sutton-Smith, Lauren Ezzo, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 762
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 668
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 668
Years ago, in the town of Saxon Falls, young Kelsey Willard disappeared and was presumed dead. The tragedy left her family with a fractured life - a mother out to numb the pain, a father losing a battle with his own private demons, and a sister desperate for closure. But now another teenage girl has gone missing. It's ripping open old wounds for the Willards, dragging them back into a painful past, and leaving them unprepared for where it will take them next.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent
- By kimberly U on 01-17-18
-
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
- By: Lisa See
- Narrated by: Ruthie Ann Miles, Kimiko Glenn, Alexandra Allwine, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,606
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,194
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,182
The thrilling new novel from number-one New York Times best-selling author Lisa See explores the lives of a Chinese mother and her daughter who has been abandoned and adopted by an American couple.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A beautiful story
- By Ann M Welker on 04-04-17
Publisher's Summary
From the prize-winning author of Seating Arrangements comes an exquisitely written, fiercely compelling glimpse into the demanding world of professional ballet and its magnetic hold over two generations.
Astonish Me is the irresistible story of Joan, a young American dancer who helps a Soviet ballet star, the great Arslan Rusakov, defect in 1975. A flash of fame and a passionate love affair follow, but Joan knows that, onstage and off, she is destined to remain in the shadows.
After her relationship with Arslan sours, Joan decides to make a new life for herself. She quits ballet, marries a good man, and settles into the rhythm of Californian life with their son, Harry. But as the years pass, Joan comes to understand that ballet isn't finished with her yet: for there is no mistaking that Harry is a prodigy. Inevitably Joan is soon pulled back into a world she thought she'd left behind and back to Arslan.
Gripping and dramatic, Astonish Me is a story about the nature of talent, the choices we must make in search of fulfilment, and how we can never truly escape from the secrets of the past.
Critic Reviews
“Shipstead is a gifted writer who examines families and relationships in a poignant, insightful way” (Stylist)
“A novel you must read … Shipstead has captured the mercurial flow of artistic genius” (Washington Post)
“Etonnez-moi, Diaghilev famously challenged Jean Cocteau: Astonish me. That's a fair description of what Maggie Shipstead did to me on nearly every page of this impressive novel. Like its subject, the ballet, this book is intricately choreographed, technically demanding, yet seemingly relaxed, written in a prose of great emotional range and acuity. I will be paying close attention to Shipstead's career from here on in.” (Jeffrey Eugenides)
More from the same
What members say
Average Customer Ratings
Overall
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars1
-
4 Stars1
-
3 Stars0
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0
Performance
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars1
-
4 Stars1
-
3 Stars0
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0
Story
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars1
-
4 Stars1
-
3 Stars0
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0