-
Lost Children Archive
- Narrated by: Kivlighan de Montebello
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

pick 2 free titles with trial.
Buy for $15.81
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Winner of the Dublin Literary Award and the Rathbones Folio Prize
Longlisted for the Booker Prize and the Women’s Prize
The moving, powerful and urgent English-language debut from one of the brightest young stars in world literature.
Suppose you and Pa were gone, and we were lost. What would happen then?
A family in New York packs the car and sets out on a road trip. A mother, a father, a boy and a girl, they head southwest, to the Apacheria, the regions of the US which used to be Mexico. They drive for hours through desert and mountains. They stop at diners when they’re hungry and sleep in motels when it gets dark. The little girl tells surreal knock knock jokes and makes them all laugh. The little boy educates them all and corrects them when they’re wrong. The mother and the father are barely speaking to each other.
Meanwhile, thousands of children are journeying north, travelling to the US border from Central America and Mexico. A grandmother or aunt has packed a backpack for them, putting in a Bible, one toy, some clean underwear. They have been met by a coyote: a man who speaks to them roughly and frightens them. They cross a river on rubber tubing and walk for days, saving whatever food and water they can. Then they climb to the top of a train and travel precariously in the open container on top. Not all of them will make it to the border.
In a breathtaking feat of literary virtuosity, Lost Children Archive intertwines these two journeys to create a masterful novel full of echoes and reflections - a moving, powerful, urgent story about what it is to be human in an inhuman world.
Critic reviews
"Thrilling...a rollicking tale that contains within it an extremely disciplined exercise in political empathy." (Harper’s)
"A novelist of a rare vitality." (Ali Smith)
"Powerful, eloquent. Juxtaposing rich poetic prose with direct storytelling and brutal reality and alternative narratives with photos, documents, poems, maps and music, Luiselli explores what holds a family and society together and what pulls them apart. Superb." (Publishers Weekly)
More from the same
What listeners say about Lost Children Archive
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- ClareM
- 06-15-21
Disappointing
The subject matter seems really interesting and topical but sadly I couldn’t get beyond the first couple of chapters. I was irritated by the narration, which was dull and deadpan and the way the author continuously referred to the children as ‘the boy’ and ‘the girl’ only served to put me off. A book needs to draw you in, to keep you interested until the end. This book fell very short for me in that regard.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Karen McCarthy / Brenda Dass
- 10-23-19
So engaging, but too long
I think this had the potential to be a masterpiece. Luiselli’s capacity to capture children’s voices is breathtaking. I think it needed to be cut by at least a third though. The length diminished its power.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Mr. J. M. Barnard
- 08-25-19
A tour de force
This may sound like hyperbole but it really isn’t. It is a genuine masterpiece, as a story in its own right and as a recording. It is both current and timeless, personal and epic, realistic and allegorical, sentimental and clinical. None of these are easy balances to strike but here it’s made to look so easy. I wholeheartedly recommend it, and it’s one of the best literary purchases I’ve made in a while. I don’t know if it’ll win The Booker Prize, or even if it’ll make the shortlist. But it absolutely deserves to. And I’m glad it made the long list because I probably wouldn’t have read it otherwise, and my life would have been just that little less rich.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- Becca
- 10-05-19
Such an important book for such a time as this.
This book is beautifully written, utterly disturbing and exceptionally important in this world of refugee phobia.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- John Blair
- 08-10-19
Good narration but I found this tough going
Good narration but a book and plot that endlessly folds in on itself, echoes of echoes of echoes. It works up to a point but ultimately lost me
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- DaveD
- 04-17-19
Lose Yourself In This Life Story
The story of a couple coming together, inheriting and having a child. Working with a passion for sound and language the family make their long way across America, so close in their car and yet generations apart. All the time, the parallels of people, adult and children, past and present making their own journeys to the border.
Ever seeking, ever enduring the torturous paths leading to their dreams.
Always compelling: always unveiling the trials of life.
Powerful writing that has left me inquisitive, wondering and wrestling with my thoughts.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Terence Hayden
- 08-14-19
great read
absorbing, lyrical, important, engaging, challenging, prescient, not flawless but then is any book really flawless.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Dean Kavanagh
- 10-24-22
Promising idea. Uneven execution
A promising start tracking the slow disintegration of a couple mirroring America's decline as a fading empire. Overtime, this descends into a paint by numbers post-modern checklist with little reward. Politically it becomes defanged. Creatively it becomes plodding.
The description of the couple's relationship under strain as they go about their journey is fantastically well drawn with plenty of flickers of light and dark.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- ClareR
- 09-02-21
Interesting story of immigration & it’s dangers
This was a NetGalley book that I forgot I had, and ended up listening to with my Audible credit 🤷🏼♀️ Anyway, I thought it lent itself really well to audio, particularly as the main adult characters, the mother and father, work in sound. The father creates soundscapes, and the mother interviews people.
The parents are clearly at odds with one another, both wanting to progress their careers in different ways. The father wants to make a soundscape of Apacheria where the last tribes had lived, and the mother wants to help a friend to find her lost children. They had been sent to the US with a coyote (a guide), had been found and sent to a detention centre - but they had subsequently gone missing. The mother discovers that these lone children have been disappearing on this journey for a long time.
The lost children hits close to home when the parents own children go missing.
I really enjoyed this. I loved how the two stories - the journey of the children, and that of the children in the mothers book who are being smuggled from Mexico - were intertwined. I enjoyed the way that the narratives swapped between the mother, the boy and the immigrant children, although the lines often became blurred between reality and the mothers novel.
It is in parts both devastating and informative, particularly in the times that we live in. This isn’t an easy book, but its well worth the read/ listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- NR
- 04-19-20
interesting and emotional.
great narration of an original and interesting storyline. loved the 4 main characters. they had real personalities
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Tara Shaw
- 02-01-20
Stunningly brave
A totally immersive experience. The writer manages to pull off combining a family road trip with echoes of past present and future lost peoples.
Heart wrenchingly brutal in its approach to Mexican migrant children lost on the journey to the U.S border.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- S Q.
- 01-16-20
Sublime: moving, beautiful & important
I was blown away by this - the writing is beautiful, the story is moving & important & the performance- with the author reading for the point of view if the narrator, for most of the book, is intimate.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- vernitta easton
- 11-06-22
lost children
powerful story told in a compelling way. couldn't stop listening. what would you do if you were lost?
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 05-23-19
heart breaker
amazing heart shattering and true to reality narrative and particularly poetic discriptive prose. highly recommended.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
Related to this topic
-
Zero Tolerance
- By: James Patterson, Duane Swierczynski
- Narrated by: Hilary Swank, Christine Ko, Melonie Diaz, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sergeant Jo Barnes (Hilary Swank) and her elite, all-female US Army investigative team are renowned for cracking complex sex-crime cases within the military. Their latest mission takes them to the Mojave Desert at Fort Irwin Army Base in California, to unravel the mysterious disappearance of Private Nichelle Simmons—a soldier who accused a comrade of assault. But when the accused is inexplicably set free, their case takes a sinister turn.
-
-
if you have been in the army it is not good
- By sean on 08-25-23
By: James Patterson, and others
-
Lucy
- By: Erica Schmidt
- Narrated by: Brooke Bloom, Lynn Collins, Charlotte Surak
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ashling is every busy parent’s dream: a professional nanny with experience and a warm, sunny attitude. But from the moment Mary hires her to look after her young children, things start to feel just a little...off. Are Mary’s stressful work schedule and lack of sleep playing games with her own sanity, or has she welcomed an unstable troublemaker into her home?
-
-
Kept My Attention
- By escoocoo on 09-21-23
By: Erica Schmidt
-
The Deceit
- An Audible Original
- By: Sara Foster
- Narrated by: Tim Potter, Tamala Shelton
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lenny has always known that his wife, Claire, is the love of his life. But somehow his marriage is in shambles, he’s struggling with the kids, and a string of anonymous text messages are tormenting him, insisting that Claire is a liar. Claire knows Lenny is a good man, but there’s a lot she hasn’t told him about her past. Now she’s terrified that the horrors that haunt her are about to put her entire family in danger. Strange new neighbours, insidious clients and schoolyard scandal begin to fracture Claire and Lenny’s happy families façade.
-
-
Another selfish, weak, idiot woman.
- By Sarah on 07-11-22
By: Sara Foster
-
The Art of War
- By: Sun Tzu
- Narrated by: Aidan Gillen
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 13 chapters of The Art of War, each devoted to one aspect of warfare, were compiled by the high-ranking Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher Sun-Tzu. In spite of its battlefield specificity, The Art of War has found new life in the modern age, with leaders in fields as wide and far-reaching as world politics, human psychology, and corporate strategy finding valuable insight in its timeworn words.
-
-
The actual book The Art of War, not a commentary
- By Fred271 on 12-31-19
By: Sun Tzu
-
The House on the Water
- A Novella
- By: Margot Hunt
- Narrated by: Taylor Schilling
- Length: 2 hrs and 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every year, Caroline Reed takes a trip with her best friend, Esme Lamont. They’re usually accompanied by their spouses - but this year, everything’s changed. Esme has just gone through a bitter divorce, and Caroline's wondering if her own marriage is reaching its breaking point as she and her husband, John, cope with the discovery that their son has been abusing drugs. Still, the inseparable duo books a weeklong stay at a beach-front home in Shoreham, Florida, inviting Esme’s brother, Nick, and his new husband. After a blissful first night in the vacation home, tragedy strikes.
-
-
Wonderful Story
- By David M. Wilcox on 12-04-20
By: Margot Hunt
-
Dracula [Audible Edition]
- By: Bram Stoker
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, Simon Vance, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The modern audience hasn't had a chance to truly appreciate the unknowing dread that readers would have felt when reading Bram Stoker's original 1897 manuscript. Most modern productions employ campiness or sound effects to try to bring back that gothic tension, but we've tried something different. By returning to Stoker's original storytelling structure - a series of letters and journal entries voiced by Jonathan Harker, Dr. Van Helsing, and other characters - with an all-star cast of narrators, we've sought to recapture its originally intended horror and power.
-
-
IS THAT NOT SO?
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-05-15
By: Bram Stoker
-
Zero Tolerance
- By: James Patterson, Duane Swierczynski
- Narrated by: Hilary Swank, Christine Ko, Melonie Diaz, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sergeant Jo Barnes (Hilary Swank) and her elite, all-female US Army investigative team are renowned for cracking complex sex-crime cases within the military. Their latest mission takes them to the Mojave Desert at Fort Irwin Army Base in California, to unravel the mysterious disappearance of Private Nichelle Simmons—a soldier who accused a comrade of assault. But when the accused is inexplicably set free, their case takes a sinister turn.
-
-
if you have been in the army it is not good
- By sean on 08-25-23
By: James Patterson, and others
-
Lucy
- By: Erica Schmidt
- Narrated by: Brooke Bloom, Lynn Collins, Charlotte Surak
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ashling is every busy parent’s dream: a professional nanny with experience and a warm, sunny attitude. But from the moment Mary hires her to look after her young children, things start to feel just a little...off. Are Mary’s stressful work schedule and lack of sleep playing games with her own sanity, or has she welcomed an unstable troublemaker into her home?
-
-
Kept My Attention
- By escoocoo on 09-21-23
By: Erica Schmidt
-
The Deceit
- An Audible Original
- By: Sara Foster
- Narrated by: Tim Potter, Tamala Shelton
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lenny has always known that his wife, Claire, is the love of his life. But somehow his marriage is in shambles, he’s struggling with the kids, and a string of anonymous text messages are tormenting him, insisting that Claire is a liar. Claire knows Lenny is a good man, but there’s a lot she hasn’t told him about her past. Now she’s terrified that the horrors that haunt her are about to put her entire family in danger. Strange new neighbours, insidious clients and schoolyard scandal begin to fracture Claire and Lenny’s happy families façade.
-
-
Another selfish, weak, idiot woman.
- By Sarah on 07-11-22
By: Sara Foster
-
The Art of War
- By: Sun Tzu
- Narrated by: Aidan Gillen
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The 13 chapters of The Art of War, each devoted to one aspect of warfare, were compiled by the high-ranking Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher Sun-Tzu. In spite of its battlefield specificity, The Art of War has found new life in the modern age, with leaders in fields as wide and far-reaching as world politics, human psychology, and corporate strategy finding valuable insight in its timeworn words.
-
-
The actual book The Art of War, not a commentary
- By Fred271 on 12-31-19
By: Sun Tzu
-
The House on the Water
- A Novella
- By: Margot Hunt
- Narrated by: Taylor Schilling
- Length: 2 hrs and 47 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every year, Caroline Reed takes a trip with her best friend, Esme Lamont. They’re usually accompanied by their spouses - but this year, everything’s changed. Esme has just gone through a bitter divorce, and Caroline's wondering if her own marriage is reaching its breaking point as she and her husband, John, cope with the discovery that their son has been abusing drugs. Still, the inseparable duo books a weeklong stay at a beach-front home in Shoreham, Florida, inviting Esme’s brother, Nick, and his new husband. After a blissful first night in the vacation home, tragedy strikes.
-
-
Wonderful Story
- By David M. Wilcox on 12-04-20
By: Margot Hunt
-
Dracula [Audible Edition]
- By: Bram Stoker
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, Simon Vance, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The modern audience hasn't had a chance to truly appreciate the unknowing dread that readers would have felt when reading Bram Stoker's original 1897 manuscript. Most modern productions employ campiness or sound effects to try to bring back that gothic tension, but we've tried something different. By returning to Stoker's original storytelling structure - a series of letters and journal entries voiced by Jonathan Harker, Dr. Van Helsing, and other characters - with an all-star cast of narrators, we've sought to recapture its originally intended horror and power.
-
-
IS THAT NOT SO?
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-05-15
By: Bram Stoker
-
He Who Fights with Monsters 2
- A LitRPG Adventure (He Who Fights with Monsters, Book 2)
- By: Shirtaloon, Travis Deverell
- Narrated by: Heath Miller
- Length: 22 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
But Jason Asano is settling into his new life. Now, a contest draws young elites to the city of Greenstone to compete for a grand prize. Jason must gather a band of companions if he is to stand a chance against the best the world has to offer. While the young adventurers are caught up in competition, the city leaders deal with revelations of betrayal as a vast and terrible enemy is revealed. Although Jason seems uninvolved, he has unknowingly crossed the enemy’s path before.
-
-
Contrary to common reviews
- By Karen on 05-21-21
By: Shirtaloon, and others
-
Frankenstein
- By: Mary Shelley
- Narrated by: Dan Stevens
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Narrator Dan Stevens ( Downton Abbey) presents an uncanny performance of Mary Shelley's timeless gothic novel, an epic battle between man and monster at its greatest literary pitch. In trying to create life, the young student Victor Frankenstein unleashes forces beyond his control, setting into motion a long and tragic chain of events that brings Victor to the very brink of madness. How he tries to destroy his creation, as it destroys everything Victor loves, is a powerful story of love, friendship, scientific hubris, and horror.
-
-
ARE WE ALWAYS TO BE UNHAPPY?
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 01-28-16
By: Mary Shelley
-
When You Find Me
- By: P. J. Vernon
- Narrated by: Amy McFadden, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Visiting her family's South Carolina estate, socialite Gray Godfrey wakes from a night out to an empty bed. Her husband, Paul, is gone, and a thrashing hangover has wiped her memory clean. At first, she's relieved for the break from her tumultuous marriage; perhaps Paul just needed some space. But when his car is found abandoned on the highway, Gray must face the truth: Paul is gone. And Gray may not want him found. Her life is unraveling. When a stranger named Annie calls claiming to know Paul's whereabouts, Gray reluctantly accepts her help.
-
-
Contains graphic animal cruelty
- By Public Name on 09-19-20
By: P. J. Vernon
-
You Loved Me Once
- By: Corinne Michaels
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a doctor, I walk a dangerously delicate balance of being compassionate but not overly invested. The same is true in my personal life - love is a luxury I can’t afford. It isn’t until Dr. Westin Grant breaks down all my walls and offers me a future, I find myself wondering if I’m brave enough to risk my heart. When who I was and who I’ve tried to become collide during my clinical trial, the fate of one patient changes everything.
-
-
Breathtakingly Beautiful, Powerfully Poignant!
- By kgagnon on 06-17-21
By: Corinne Michaels
-
The Holy Bible: King James Version
- The Old and New Testaments
- By: King James Bible
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Prentice Onayemi, Ellen Archer, and others
- Length: 82 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This newer edition of the King James Bible published in 1769 is usually preferred by most that read it over the older 1611 version. This 1769 edition is highly sought after due to being more reader/listener friendly than the 1611 since many typos were fixed.... We hope your new audio bible will go everywhere with you and be a blessing for years to come.
-
-
Very Good
- By José de Ribera on 12-17-20
By: King James Bible
-
The Jane Austen Collection
- An Audible Original Drama
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Claire Foy, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Billie Piper, and others
- Length: 45 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Renowned as much for her wit and satirical social commentary as for her stories of love and romance, Jane Austen remains unfailingly relevant and one of Britain’s best loved authors. In this Audible Original collection, an all-star list of narrators (Billie Piper, Claire Foy, Emma Thompson, Florence Pugh and Gugu Mbatha-Raw) capture Austen’s pin-sharp humour and tone in these dramatisations of her six beloved novels accompanied by a full cast.
-
-
Not a faithful rendition
- By Anne McClain on 12-13-20
By: Jane Austen