-
Something That Cannot Die
- Narrated by: Cynthia Nixon
- Series: Audible Original Stories
- Length: 1 hr and 22 mins
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Audible Plus
$7.95 a month
Buy for $14.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Audible Questionnaire with Cynthia Nixon
Publisher's Summary
A powerful and revealing story about Georgia O’Keeffe, torn between the city that made her and the desert that promises to set her free, written by Paula McLain, the New York Times best-selling author of The Paris Wife and the forthcoming When the Stars Go Dark, and performed by Emmy Award-winning actress Cynthia Nixon.
It’s 1929 in New York City. In an apartment high above Lexington Avenue, the painter Georgia O’Keeffe feels stuck. At 42, she should be at the apex of her powers as an artist, and yet something is missing. Her husband - the gallerist Alfred Stieglitz, who helped build her reputation in the art world - has grown needy and insecure, not to mention unfaithful. More than this, her work has lost its fire, and she knows it. The calla lilies and poppies for which she is revered now seem careful, predictable. Feeling desperate and conflicted, Georgia flees to New Mexico in search of something that will ignite her once again. There, she meets an adventurous young woman whose energy and optimism take hold of Georgia and show her a glimpse of what another kind of life - one of her own making - might look like.
Set against the transcendent desert landscapes of New Mexico, and brought to life by a beloved voice and contemporary master of historical fiction, Something That Cannot Die is an intimate portrait of a great artist and the adventures - both physical and spiritual - that moved and changed her.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Night Watchman
- By: Louise Erdrich
- Narrated by: Louise Erdrich
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman.
-
-
Beautiful
- By Melanie on 03-09-20
By: Louise Erdrich
-
Caste (Oprah's Book Club)
- The Origins of Our Discontents
- By: Isabel Wilkerson
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.
-
-
Brilliant, articulate, highly listenable.
- By GM on 08-05-20
By: Isabel Wilkerson
-
City of Girls
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Narrated by: Blair Brown
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beloved author Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction with a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s. Told from the perspective of an older woman as she looks back on her youth with both pleasure and regret (but mostly pleasure), City of Girls explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love. In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance.
-
-
I wanted so badly to to like it...
- By Amy L. Jones on 06-24-19
-
The Henna Artist
- A Novel
- By: Alka Joshi
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Escaping from an abusive marriage, 17-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There, she becomes the most highly requested henna artist - and confidante - to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own.... Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband.
-
-
Lyrical and inspiring
- By Anonymous User on 04-23-20
By: Alka Joshi
-
All the Light We Cannot See
- A Novel
- By: Anthony Doerr
- Narrated by: Zach Appelman
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is 12, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
-
-
4.72 stars......one of the best
- By james on 08-08-17
By: Anthony Doerr
-
The Evening and the Morning
- Kingsbridge, Book 4
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 24 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns. In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined.
-
-
GREAT STORY TELLING
- By peter on 09-16-20
By: Ken Follett
-
The Night Watchman
- By: Louise Erdrich
- Narrated by: Louise Erdrich
- Length: 13 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman.
-
-
Beautiful
- By Melanie on 03-09-20
By: Louise Erdrich
-
Caste (Oprah's Book Club)
- The Origins of Our Discontents
- By: Isabel Wilkerson
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.
-
-
Brilliant, articulate, highly listenable.
- By GM on 08-05-20
By: Isabel Wilkerson
-
City of Girls
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Gilbert
- Narrated by: Blair Brown
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beloved author Elizabeth Gilbert returns to fiction with a unique love story set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s. Told from the perspective of an older woman as she looks back on her youth with both pleasure and regret (but mostly pleasure), City of Girls explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love. In 1940, nineteen-year-old Vivian Morris has just been kicked out of Vassar College, owing to her lackluster freshman-year performance.
-
-
I wanted so badly to to like it...
- By Amy L. Jones on 06-24-19
-
The Henna Artist
- A Novel
- By: Alka Joshi
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan
- Length: 10 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Escaping from an abusive marriage, 17-year-old Lakshmi makes her way alone to the vibrant 1950s pink city of Jaipur. There, she becomes the most highly requested henna artist - and confidante - to the wealthy women of the upper class. But trusted with the secrets of the wealthy, she can never reveal her own.... Known for her original designs and sage advice, Lakshmi must tread carefully to avoid the jealous gossips who could ruin her reputation and her livelihood. As she pursues her dream of an independent life, she is startled one day when she is confronted by her husband.
-
-
Lyrical and inspiring
- By Anonymous User on 04-23-20
By: Alka Joshi
-
All the Light We Cannot See
- A Novel
- By: Anthony Doerr
- Narrated by: Zach Appelman
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is 12, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.
-
-
4.72 stars......one of the best
- By james on 08-08-17
By: Anthony Doerr
-
The Evening and the Morning
- Kingsbridge, Book 4
- By: Ken Follett
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 24 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 997 CE, the end of the Dark Ages. England is facing attacks from the Welsh in the west and the Vikings in the east. Those in power bend justice according to their will, regardless of ordinary people and often in conflict with the king. Without a clear rule of law, chaos reigns. In these turbulent times, three characters find their lives intertwined.
-
-
GREAT STORY TELLING
- By peter on 09-16-20
By: Ken Follett
-
The Warmth of Other Suns
- The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
- By: Isabel Wilkerson
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 22 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.
-
-
Frustration
- By Margaret Clarkson on 02-02-19
By: Isabel Wilkerson
-
Midnight in Chernobyl
- By: Adam Higginbotham
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
April 25, 1986 in Chernobyl was a turning point in world history. The disaster not only changed the world’s perception of nuclear power and the science that spawned it, but also our understanding of the planet’s delicate ecology. With the images of the abandoned homes and playgrounds beyond the barbed wire of the 30-kilometer Exclusion Zone, the rusting graveyards of contaminated trucks and helicopters, the farmland lashed with black rain, the event fixed for all time the notion of radiation as an invisible killer.
-
-
Gripping non-fiction technological thriller
- By R. C. Kahrl on 04-19-19
-
Quit Like a Woman
- The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol
- By: Holly Whitaker
- Narrated by: Holly Whitaker
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The founder of the first female-focused recovery program offers a groundbreaking look at alcohol and a radical new path to sobriety. Written in a relatable voice that is honest and witty, Quit Like a Woman is at once a groundbreaking look at drinking culture and a road map to cutting out alcohol in order to live our best lives without the crutch of intoxication. You will never look at drinking the same way again.
-
-
Good advice hidden amongst tirades of hate
- By Kindle Customer on 01-19-20
By: Holly Whitaker
-
Beloved
- By: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Toni Morrison
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but 18 years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe's new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.
-
-
Perhaps best read on paper
- By Mimi on 07-29-06
By: Toni Morrison
-
American Predator
- The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century
- By: Maureen Callahan
- Narrated by: Amy Landon
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The names of notorious serial killers are usually well-known; they echo in the news and in public consciousness. But most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history American Predator is the ambitious culmination of years of interviews with key figures in law enforcement and in Keyes's life, and research uncovered from classified FBI files. Callahan takes us on a journey into the chilling, nightmarish mind of a relentless killer, and to the limitations of traditional law enforcement.
-
-
Why you shouldn’t listen to Reviews
- By jofi00 on 10-23-19
By: Maureen Callahan
-
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper
- By: Phaedra Patrick
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sixty-nine-year-old Arthur Pepper lives a simple life. He gets out of bed at precisely 7:30 a.m., just as he did when his wife, Miriam, was alive. He dresses in the same gray slacks and mustard sweater-vest; waters his fern, Frederica; and heads out to his garden. But on the one-year anniversary of Miriam's death, something changes. Sorting through Miriam's possessions, Arthur finds an exquisite gold charm bracelet he's never seen before.
-
-
sweet, predictable novel of widower's quest
- By Mark on 01-05-18
By: Phaedra Patrick
About the Creator
About the Performer
Audible Originals
We’re raising the bar on audio entertainment with these original listens produced in the Audible studios.



Historical Fiction
From classics to modern favorites, this list features some of greatest stories brought to life by Hollywood’s best.
Best of Fiction
Getting caught up in a mystery or tangled family drama; laughing with, rooting for, or crying over people who don’t exist…
What listeners say about Something That Cannot Die
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Euretta Young
- 12-19-20
i felt my life in this story
I love this short story because I am in a place where I am looking for a place and time I missed by starting adulthood as a child. From that time on I pleased everyone but me. Now 68 and alone I still feel like that sixteen year old mother with all my hopes still ahead of me. Saying when I get my child in school I will go back to school also.. Instead I had another child. but not giving up I kept going back to school until I got a degree. So I think I see myself in the lady.
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 12-18-20
This transported me to New Mexico and Ghost Ranch
I’m a big Georgia O’Keeffe fan, and have traveled to and stayed at Ghost Ranch, near her home there, and to see her Abiquiu home a number of times. I’ve read about her life and seen major exhibitions of her work.
I loved this story! I felt like I was right there with her, seeing the beauty of New Mexico and witnessing her growing independence.
Terrific story that left me wanting 25 more chapters!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- KatG
- 12-23-20
I wish this was a full length novel!
Excellent! Engrossing! The story ended and I wanted to keep hearing Georgia's thoughts and feelings.
She was a woman ahead of her time and lived life on her own terms.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Carrie Salter
- 12-21-20
Subtly and beautifully told.
The telling of this story about Georgia O'Keefe made me feel like I was sitting in the room, or outside the tent with Georgia O'Keefe. So richly told, each chapter lets one experience in the hearing, what Ii think many wildly creative women have felt. A need for freedom to create, but conflicted in their relationships. Hearing of the life of such a remarkable woman (who I have read about many times before) , her acceptance of those who dared to be different when so much was behind closed doors, just simply made me feel good. Enjoy!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- cp
- 12-20-20
Such a pleasant listen!
This was so enjoyable to listen to and I was sorry when it ended.
it made me wonder why I don't spend more time alone in peaceful nature.
Life is so busy now and this just calmed me down.
Wonderful narration!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MH
- 12-30-20
Hi hum
Another book/story of pretend dialogue from the past - the protagonists (the good guys/gals) are really woke- everyone around them, especially men are blockheaded oppressors (the bad guys/gals) - this is so tedious, Audible. Utter, predictable bore. A disservice to Georgia.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kristin D
- 12-25-20
lovely and beautiful
Such a delightful story, i found it beautiful and romantic, captivating and extremely relatable. something I want to send to all of my 40-something lady friends to remind them how much life there is out there to be lived on their own terms.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tom
- 12-25-20
Wonderful Production.
Spent time in Abiquiu and at the Ranch. McLain perfectly captures it and the Voice of Georgia O’Keefe! 4 Stars!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Krista
- 12-24-20
Mesmerizing!
This book was amazing! Whether or not you love Georgia Okeeffe, this is a wonderful short book. Several times this book had me in happy tears after the beautiful explanation of the beautiful New Mexico scenery. I have lived in New Mexico and miss it very much, this book capturing the joy and beauty and magic that is New Mexico that Georgia Okeeffe was able to find. This book is definitely recommend it and can be listened to in under a couple hours.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Admiralu
- 01-04-21
Monologue about Inspiration
This was not what I expected. Instead of a documentary, it’s a monologue about finding artistic freedom. Great title for artists and creators to enjoy. I found it overly long and somewhat dull. The artist finds a place in New Mexico that inspires her artwork.
1 person found this helpful