Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Poor Deer  By  cover art

Poor Deer

By: Claire Oshetsky
Narrated by: Sophie Amoss
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.29

Buy for $24.29

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

A wondrous, tender novel about a young girl grappling with her role in a tragic loss—and attempting to reshape the narrative of her life—from PEN/Faulkner Award nominee Claire Oshetsky

Margaret Murphy is a weaver of fantastic tales, growing up in a world where the truth is too much for one little girl to endure. Her first memory is of the day her friend Agnes died.

No one blames Margaret. Not in so many words. Her mother insists to everyone who will listen that her daughter never even left the house that day. Left alone to make sense of tragedy, Margaret wills herself to forget these unbearable memories, replacing them with imagined stories full of faith and magic—that always end happily.

Enter Poor Deer: a strange and formidable creature who winds her way uninvited into Margaret’s made-up tales. Poor Deer will not rest until Margaret faces the truth about her past and atones for her role in Agnes’s death.

Heartrending, hopeful, and boldly imagined, Poor Deer explores the journey toward understanding the children we once were and the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of life’s most difficult moments.

©2024 Claire Oshetsky (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about Poor Deer

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    17
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The writing is superb

I loved the mixture of realism and imagination. It made for a sad, tender and utterly original novel. This is a writer to watch.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great narration

The voice and description of Poor Deer is utterly creepy! It's a haunted tale.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Self Forgiveness

This is an emotionally fraught story and was rather difficult for me to listen to. It’s about how we assign blame to ourselves for a tragedy, even though as a very young child it was beyond our capability to analyze and conclude that we are not at fault. How we will naturally internalize and take on blame after being made the scapegoat due to others’ grief and their need to assign blame. How we make up a voice, a presence, a constant companion who cruelly accuses us of blame and comes to convince us of our wickedness. Of making up stories for a future we can’t possibly foretell. How out of habit we still can’t forgive ourselves. Of carrying a terrible and heavy burden, undeserved.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Poetry

This book drew me in with the most lovely poetic language and beautiful but eerie imagery. The feelings evoked by this tale of guilt, self flagellation, self protection and discovering oneself after a traumatic childhood event, were both touching and curious.

I can’t imagine anyone performing this book better than Sophie Amoss. She captured every character’s attitude and revealed their inner workings so deftly. Her voice was mesmerizing and a little spooky as Poor Deer. We felt the burden that Margaret felt of being haunted by her and chastised throughout her life by Poor Deer.

If you’ve ever felt grief or guilt, this a whisper in your ear you should hear.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Stunning

Utterly brilliant. Spellbinding- I never say that- this is truly one of a kind. Highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!