• The Ocean at the End of the Lane

  • A Novel
  • By: Neil Gaiman
  • Narrated by: Neil Gaiman
  • Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (24,583 ratings)

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The Ocean at the End of the Lane  By  cover art

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

By: Neil Gaiman
Narrated by: Neil Gaiman
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Publisher's summary

Audie Award Finalist, Narration by the Author or Authors, 2014

Audie Award Finalist, Fiction, 2014

Sussex, England: A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. He is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet sitting by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean), the unremembered past comes flooding back. Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie - magical, comforting, wise beyond her years - promised to protect him, no matter what.

A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. A stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.

©2013 Neil Gaiman (P)2013 HarperCollinsPublishers

Featured Article: 55+ Quotes About Fear—of the Unknown, Change, Love, and More


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What listeners say about The Ocean at the End of the Lane

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stunning

I love this author, and reader, absolutely stunning to listen to. I could see the story in my mind in vivid detail as I listened.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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a childhood remembered (again)

a wonderful tale of childhood revisited, and the wonders that might be real. beautifully written and spoken by Neil Gaiman

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I'd almost listen to it again

The story is so lovely I couldn't stop listening to it! The characters are lovable and the magic described in the book is of a surprisingly original, "wise" kind. Every word seems to have been carefully chosen and different "truths" about life and being human are scattered throughout the book, but never sounding patronising. Neil Gaiman is a great storyteller and also a brilliant narrator. Five stars from me!

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fantastical, magical

I loved the all- encompassing magical feeling of this book. It somehow simultaneously feels like a children's fantasy, a dark fantasy, and an ancient myth. Gaiman, of course, was fantastic in his narration.

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  • 10-20-13

Mixed Bag...

I had mixed feelings about this book. I could listen to Neil Gaiman narrate a nutrition label. I love his inflection, and the way he interprets and portrays his characters. He draws me into everything he writes. No matter how unusual the plot, his stories rarely fail to draw me in and sweep me away. This one, though good, didn't get me to suspend belief in quite the same way, so I often found myself distracted. It didn't hold my attention the way most of his do.

That said, I can't get enough of this guy's work and look forward to his next project's release!

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A beautiful Miyazaki like dream of a story.

The ocean at the end of the lane is such a fun and endearing ride through a childhood remeberance blurred together with a dream like fantasy that is so rich and potent as to sweep you along with it at every page turn.

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Cute story

I could see myself watching this story as a movie and at the end.....that's it?! I want more!

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Beautifully written

This book is so much more than I expected from a fantasy story. Mr. Gaimane is clever and writes wonderfully. Some of the passages are so beautiful, I had to rewind and listen again just to take it all in; the words just rolled off his tongue like poetry. The main character and his friend, Lettie, as well as the other Hemstock ladies are a force to be reckoned with. I hope you enjoy it as I did. p.s. I love Mr. Gaiman's voice!

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Fabulous book

Absolutely loved the book and the reading by the author, who has a beautiful voice for storytelling.

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a fairy tale for adults

funny, tragic, beautiful and inspiring as always, Gaiman creates a world inside our world full of danger and magic and love

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