My Absolute Darling

A Novel

By: Gabriel Tallent

Narrated by: Alex McKenna

A brilliant and immersive, all-consuming audiobook about one 14-year-old girl's heart-stopping fight for her own soul.

Turtle Alveston is a survivor. At 14, she roams the woods along the Northern California coast. The creeks, tide pools, and rocky islands are her haunts and her hiding grounds, and she is known to wander for miles. But while her physical world is expansive, her personal one is small and treacherous. Turtle has grown up isolated since the death of her mother, in the thrall of her tortured and charismatic father, Martin. Her social existence is confined to the middle school (where she fends off the interest of anyone, student or teacher, who might penetrate her shell) and to her life with her father.

Then Turtle meets Jacob, a high-school boy who tells jokes, lives in a big clean house, and looks at Turtle as if she is the sunrise. And for the first time, the larger world begins to come into focus: Her life with Martin is neither safe nor sustainable. Motivated by her first experience with real friendship and a teenage crush, Turtle starts to imagine escape, using the very survival skills her father devoted himself to teaching her. The listener tracks Turtle's escalating acts of physical and emotional courage and watches, heart in throat, as she struggles to become her own hero - and, in the process, becomes ours as well.

Shot through with striking language in a fierce natural setting, My Absolute Darling is an urgently told, profoundly moving book that marks the debut of an extraordinary new writer.

©2017 Gabriel Tallent (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Alex McKenna's performance of Tallent's disturbing debut novel is likely to incite goose bumps and nightmares." (AudioFile)

"The word 'masterpiece' has been cheapened by too many blurbs, but My Absolute Darling absolutely is one." (Stephen King)

"My Absolute Darling is a novel that readers will gulp down, gasping.... Tallent [is a] prodigiously talented new writer.” (The Washington Post)

Precious meets Misery meets Die Hard

I bought this book on Stephen King’s much touted endorsement: “a masterpiece,” he called it. Overall an enjoyable but dark read which loses its way in the last quarter of the book when it moves from a tight psychological thriller to basically Die Hard 3 in an instant. I think the author was aiming to secure a film option — over-the-top machine-gun violence at a prom on a beach. Really?

Wow... And excellent audio

This book was difficult to listen to at times because the story was so intense and dark, but it was so worthwhile. I could hardly stop listening. The writing is superb. I’ve read about the controversy around this male author writing a story from the perspective of an abused girl, but I found the novel to be sophisticated, insightful, and deeply compassionate — all that a novel should be around a topic that should be explored in fiction much more than it is. (Besides, writers should be able to explore any topic and point of view that appeals to their imagination, especially when done with such care as was the case here.) I applaud the writer for taking on such an important topic and doing it so well. Full, rich, highly nuanced worlds were created in this novel, both psychological and physical worlds.

I also must comment on the narrator for the audiobook. I could hardly imagine a more perfect voice, and the delivery was flawless. I highly recommend this book in the audio version, and I think I may also buy the hardcover version to have a copy of this fine novel for my library and to enjoy the language at a slower pace than by listening.

Compelling

Beautifully written and narrated. Kept me reading. I think this book could have been stronger without all the in depth gun descriptions that were likely lost and over the top for the average reader. Also, there was a bit too much circular and repetitive dialog between the characters. which got annoying. Perhaps a tad more editing would have made this an epic tale. All in all this book got to me .I found myself wanting to throttle Julia into action. I look forward to more from this author.

A Book of Firsts

First 1st. I've never hated a character as much as I hated one of the main characters. Second 1st. I've never shouted at the characters in an audible book. Third 1st. I've never had such mixed feelings about a book.

This book is gritty, brutal, beautifully written, and at times heartbreaking. The characters are not like any people you know in your life. Maybe because of that you can remove yourself from the violence of the narrative.

If violence and enough swearing to make your ears bleed make you queasy, then pass on this one. If you want to listen to a book unlike anything you've read/listened to before, then dive in.

Alex McKenna has a raspy voice befitting the story. Listen to a sample to decide if her voice annoys you. I happen to love her voice but many of the reviewers do not. She narrated "Sweetbitter" so I was familiar with her voice.

interesting read

If you can look past some of the more gruesome details in this book, the story is a great tale of survival at all costs. I enjoyed it.

Not agreeing with the negative reviews!

This is a brutally harsh story. Not for the faint of heart. If you are not looking for a touchy feel good book, and for a story with a serious troubling edge, this is a great book. Hopeful, shocking and traumatic all the way through. I had to go back and re listen to earlier chapters at the end. Narrator is excellent. If you dont think so in the beginning you will very quickly.

Amazing story beautifully written and told

Story is gripping and spell binding from the first. Characters come to life. Narration is wonderful. Highly recommend this.

Horrific

As awful a story it was and I wanted to stop reading it I had to keep listening to see just how sad and horrific this story was. It will stay with me for a long time

Troubling

I couldn't stop listening. it was horrible and heart wrenching and I couldn't stop listening. I am a social worker. I did child abuse investigations then worked with children in foster care for 35 years. It's a tough field. I found this story to be spot on with feelings, emotions, skewed thinking and a profound love for a parent even through horrific fear and abuse. The ending was not what I wanted, but it was so appropriate because the road to healing is a continuous journey.

Masterful

This book is a must-read, but only if you can stomach it. Brilliant and visceral.