Talking at Night

A Novel

By: Claire Daverley

Narrated by: Emma Appleton

Nostalgic · Intimate · Bittersweet · Romantic · Emotional

“A beautifully observed, tender love story with characters you really care about… a bit like Normal People. I devoured it.”―Jojo Moyes, New York Times bestselling author of Someone Else's Shoes

“A gorgeous story of first love, loss, and the people who stick to your ribs... Beautiful, poignant, and heart-wrenching in the best way possible.” ―Carley Fortune, New York Times bestselling author of Every Summer After

For fans of Netflix’s ONE DAY, a poignant and emotional will they/won't they story that cleverly captures both the thrill and trepidation of first love

Will and Rosie meet as teenagers.

They're opposites in every way. She overthinks everything; he is her twin brother's wild and unpredictable friend. But over secret walks home and late-night phone calls, they become closer - destined to be one another's great love story.

Until, one day, tragedy strikes, and their future together is shattered.

But as the years roll on, Will and Rosie can't help but find their way back to each other. Time and again, they come close to rekindling what might have been.

What do you do when the one person you should forget is the one you just can't let go?©2023 Claire Daverley (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Have your tissues handy for Talking at Night. . . a raw, extraordinary novel in which every scene aches with emotion.”—Real Simple

“Compelling and propulsive, Talking at Night is an achingly beautiful novel about the people in our lives who change us irrevocably and who we will always carry with us, no matter what. Claire Daverley writes with elegance and grace as she mines the depths of human emotions. This novel will consume you.”―Jill Santopolo, New York Times bestselling author of The Light We Lost

Not a favorite

Predictable. Slow. Not one I’ll recommend. It just went on and on about nothing.
Disappointed as it was recommended.

Good storyline

This isn’t my typical genre, but I still enjoyed it though it didn’t fully keep my attention. I think that’s mostly because it wasn’t fast paced like I’m used to. The reading of the book is very monotoned but I think that fits with the overall tone of the book.

Good overall

Overall I liked this book but the back and forth of the relationship between Rosie and Will got a bit redundant. I stopped cheering for them at one point bc the breakups and reconnecting got a bit overdone. I also had to speed up the audio on the app bc the reader spoke way too slowly. Easy listen though.

Brilliantly read

Love how the narrator made the different characters voices sound. Ever so slightly different from one another’s you automatically knew who was speaking. Really kept you in the story. Enjoyable emotional rollercoatser

Agonizingly Beautiful

A heartbreaking tale of love and loss and and trying to find ones way amid all the pressures and missed opportunities life throws our way.

This will stay with me a long time. Characters were so well drawn, I felt their pain. Perfect narration as well.

Wish author had more books I could read

Story and narration great. I never get through a book at “normal speed” but I did this one and loved every minute.

Achingly Beautiful Love Story

A striking and real story of two hearts bonded by tragedy and life’s unjust and unwanted deliveries. A chest-squeezing read filled with love. My favorite.

Yes.. And??

I never read normal people, so I just watched the show and at that time it was a very typical good girl nsomewhat bad boy and fall in love and the yearning , miscommunication I ate that up.

On booktok, they said that this book is like normal people and I was all for it. I love me some yearning & miscommunication trope. This book has the very typical good girl/ bad boy , and, the first half I ate it up it was pretty good. The middle was annoying. The characters will and Rosemary were unlikable. Unlike Marianne and Connell. I didn’t care about them. I literally had to skip around There’s some parts I rolled my eyes- I didn’t understand why they couldn’t be together, like some comment said because they could easily do that.

Rosemary& will was just insufferable. Only characters I really liked was Josh & Jen

Overall, it wasn’t that bad of a book but it wasn’t that good but I needed a pallet cleanser after reading a darker book. overall, it wasn’t a sweeping love story some comments said - kind of worth the credit. I don’t regret it, but it annoyed me.

The writing and the narration were a delight

As soon as the audio of the book finished I immediately wanted to restart it. It was a gorgeous and quiet literary second chance romance that makes me never want to read another commercial/popular romance ever again. The writing was so delicious. The characters were complex and relatable and flawed in the most normal of ways that any of us are. I want more from this author!

loved!

Loved every minute of this story, wish it could have gone on even longer! Heartbreaking, beautiful and very well written.