Take What You Need

A Novel

By: Idra Novey

Narrated by: Christina Delaine, Idra Novey

A New York Times Notable Book of 2023

A Best Book of the Year: The New Yorker, L.A. Times, Boston Globe, NPR, The Guardian Author Pick, and Today

Longlisted for the 2024 Dublin Literary Award

Longlisted for 2024 Joyce Carol Oates Prize

“A heart-rending book, but also a beautiful celebration of ‘the glorious pleasure of erecting something new,’ be it a work of art or a human connection.”—The Wall Street Journal

From “one of the finest and bravest novelists at work today,” (Vulture) award-winning writer Idra Novey has conjured a novel of “astonishing and singular” honesty (Rumaan Alam) with two determined, unforgettable female voices.

Set in the Allegheny Mountains of Appalachia, Take What You Need traces the parallel lives of Jean and her beloved but estranged stepdaughter, Leah, who’s sought a clean break from her rural childhood. In Leah’s urban life with her young family, she’s revealed little about Jean, how much she misses her stepmother’s hard-won insights and joyful lack of inhibition. But with Jean’s death, Leah must return to sort through what’s been left behind.

What Leah discovers is staggering: Jean has filled her ramshackle house with giant sculptures she’s welded from scraps of the area’s industrial history. There’s also a young man now living in the house who played an unknown role in Jean’s last years and in her art.

With great verve and humor, Idra Novey zeros in on the joys and difficulty of family, the ease with which we let distance mute conflict, and the power we can draw from creative pursuits.

Take What You Need explores the continuing mystery of the people we love most with passionate and resonance, this novel illuminating can be built from what others have discarded—art, unexpected friendship, a new contentment of self. This is Idra Novey at her very best.

Gorgeous and thought-provoking

A story about art and relationships, simultaneously timeless and timely. Christina Delaine’s performance is fantastic.

Intriguing short tale!

I don’t live when an author reads the work. It sounds…authorial. But it is a fascinating brief story. Very thought provoking and imaginative in fine convincing detail.

This is a good book.

My one regret for this narration is that the authors portion does not measure up to the quality of Cristina Delaines talent.

is it really Art?

Perspective, the differences of what we see, feel and remember and what those experiences say depending on who's telling

Great book. Phenomenal performances.

An honest and nuanced look at two sides of life in Appalachia: those who leave and those who stay behind. Jean and Leah are flawed, human, brilliant, and sympathetic characters. We see their complex relationship play out in beautiful and devastating ways, against the rich tapestry of place, culture, and politics. In this story, Novey offers a realistic portrayal of the tension between place and identity.

This audio version is especially phenomenal, and I highly recommend!