-
The Border of Paradise
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Mikael Naramore, Emily Woo Zeller, Graham Halstead, Bailey Carr, Karen Peakes, Andrew Eiden
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $29.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Collected Schizophrenias
- Essays
- By: Esmé Weijun Wang
- Narrated by: Esmé Weijun Wang
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 832
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 740
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 731
An intimate, moving book written with the immediacy and directness of one who still struggles with the effects of mental and chronic illness, The Collected Schizophrenias cuts right to the core. Schizophrenia is not a single unifying diagnosis, and Esmé Weijun Wang writes not just to her fellow members of the “collected schizophrenias” but to those who wish to understand it as well.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Narration way too slow
- By Diane on 04-27-19
By: Esmé Weijun Wang
-
The Center Cannot Hold
- By: Elyn R. Saks
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,279
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,013
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,018
Professor of psychiatry Elyn R. Saks writes about her struggle with schizophrenia in this unflinching account of her mental illness. In The Center Cannot Hold, Saks draws readers into a nightmare world of medications, a misguided health-care system, and social stigmas. But she would not be defeated. With a strength and force of will that most can only imagine, Saks reclaimed her life and went on to achieve great success.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Schizophrenia Inside Out
- By Pamela Harvey on 07-23-09
By: Elyn R. Saks
-
Heavy
- By: Kiese Laymon
- Narrated by: Kiese Laymon
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,764
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5,219
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,197
Kiese Laymon is a fearless writer. In his essays, personal stories combine with piercing intellect to reflect both on the state of American society and on his experiences with abuse, which conjure conflicted feelings of shame, joy, confusion, and humiliation. Laymon invites us to consider the consequences of growing up in a nation wholly obsessed with progress yet wholly disinterested in the messy work of reckoning with where we’ve been.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Be prepared
- By Amy Eberle on 10-30-18
By: Kiese Laymon
-
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
- A Novel
- By: Ocean Vuong
- Narrated by: Ocean Vuong
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,924
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,526
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,506
Poet Ocean Vuong’s debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late 20s, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born - a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam - and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully written, but painful.
- By NB on 06-10-19
By: Ocean Vuong
-
Norwegian Wood
- By: Haruki Murakami
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,024
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,783
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,789
This stunning and elegiac novel by the author of the internationally acclaimed Wind-Up Bird Chronicle has sold over four million copies in Japan and is now available to American audiences for the first time. It is sure to be a literary event.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Sorry, but I didn't like the narrator.
- By Kelly McCarty on 10-30-15
By: Haruki Murakami
-
What My Bones Know
- A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma
- By: Stephanie Foo
- Narrated by: Stephanie Foo
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,193
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,055
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,054
By age 30, Stephanie Foo was successful on paper: She had her dream job as an award-winning radio producer at This American Life and a loving boyfriend. But behind her office door, she was having panic attacks and sobbing at her desk every morning. After years of questioning what was wrong with herself, she was diagnosed with complex PTSD—a condition that occurs when trauma happens continuously, over the course of years.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Complex PTSD from a patient's point of view!
- By Howard_a on 05-24-22
By: Stephanie Foo
-
The Collected Schizophrenias
- Essays
- By: Esmé Weijun Wang
- Narrated by: Esmé Weijun Wang
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 832
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 740
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 731
An intimate, moving book written with the immediacy and directness of one who still struggles with the effects of mental and chronic illness, The Collected Schizophrenias cuts right to the core. Schizophrenia is not a single unifying diagnosis, and Esmé Weijun Wang writes not just to her fellow members of the “collected schizophrenias” but to those who wish to understand it as well.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Narration way too slow
- By Diane on 04-27-19
By: Esmé Weijun Wang
-
The Center Cannot Hold
- By: Elyn R. Saks
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,279
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,013
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,018
Professor of psychiatry Elyn R. Saks writes about her struggle with schizophrenia in this unflinching account of her mental illness. In The Center Cannot Hold, Saks draws readers into a nightmare world of medications, a misguided health-care system, and social stigmas. But she would not be defeated. With a strength and force of will that most can only imagine, Saks reclaimed her life and went on to achieve great success.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Schizophrenia Inside Out
- By Pamela Harvey on 07-23-09
By: Elyn R. Saks
-
Heavy
- By: Kiese Laymon
- Narrated by: Kiese Laymon
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,764
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5,219
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,197
Kiese Laymon is a fearless writer. In his essays, personal stories combine with piercing intellect to reflect both on the state of American society and on his experiences with abuse, which conjure conflicted feelings of shame, joy, confusion, and humiliation. Laymon invites us to consider the consequences of growing up in a nation wholly obsessed with progress yet wholly disinterested in the messy work of reckoning with where we’ve been.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Be prepared
- By Amy Eberle on 10-30-18
By: Kiese Laymon
-
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
- A Novel
- By: Ocean Vuong
- Narrated by: Ocean Vuong
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,924
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,526
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,506
Poet Ocean Vuong’s debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late 20s, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born - a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam - and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully written, but painful.
- By NB on 06-10-19
By: Ocean Vuong
-
Norwegian Wood
- By: Haruki Murakami
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,024
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,783
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,789
This stunning and elegiac novel by the author of the internationally acclaimed Wind-Up Bird Chronicle has sold over four million copies in Japan and is now available to American audiences for the first time. It is sure to be a literary event.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Sorry, but I didn't like the narrator.
- By Kelly McCarty on 10-30-15
By: Haruki Murakami
-
What My Bones Know
- A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma
- By: Stephanie Foo
- Narrated by: Stephanie Foo
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 1,193
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,055
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,054
By age 30, Stephanie Foo was successful on paper: She had her dream job as an award-winning radio producer at This American Life and a loving boyfriend. But behind her office door, she was having panic attacks and sobbing at her desk every morning. After years of questioning what was wrong with herself, she was diagnosed with complex PTSD—a condition that occurs when trauma happens continuously, over the course of years.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Complex PTSD from a patient's point of view!
- By Howard_a on 05-24-22
By: Stephanie Foo
-
Conversations with Friends
- A Novel
- By: Sally Rooney
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,492
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,141
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,139
Frances is a cool-headed and darkly observant young woman vaguely pursuing a career in writing while studying in Dublin. Her best friend and comrade-in-arms is the beautiful and endlessly self-possessed Bobbi. At a local poetry performance one night, Frances and Bobbi catch the eye of Melissa, a well-known photographer, and as the girls are then gradually drawn into Melissa's world, Frances is reluctantly impressed by the older woman's sophisticated home and tall, handsome husband, Nick.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting point of view; glad I listened!
- By Amazon Customer on 08-23-17
By: Sally Rooney
-
Detransition, Baby
- A Novel
- By: Torrey Peters
- Narrated by: Renata Friedman
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,123
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 965
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 970
Reese almost had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York City, a job she didn't hate. She had scraped together what previous generations of trans women could only dream of: a life of mundane, bourgeois comforts. The only thing missing was a child. But then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Now Reese is caught in a self-destructive pattern: avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Emotional Torture
- By Teh Micha on 04-27-21
By: Torrey Peters
-
The Committed
- A Novel
- By: Viet Thanh Nguyen
- Narrated by: Francois Chau
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 700
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 615
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 616
Traumatized by his reeducation at the hands of his former best friend, and struggling to assimilate into French culture, the Sympathizer finds Paris both seductive and disturbing. As he falls in with a group of left-wing intellectuals he meets at dinner parties given by his French Vietnamese “aunt”, he finds stimulation for his mind but also customers for his narcotic merchandise. But the new life he is making has perils, whether the self-torture of addiction, the authoritarianism of a state locked in a colonial mindset, or the paradox of how to reunite his two closest friends.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Clever, Ironic, Repetitive
- By AuntGert on 03-05-21
-
The Push
- A Novel
- By: Ashley Audrain
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9,706
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8,551
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8,506
Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had. But in the thick of motherhood's exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter - she doesn't behave like most children do. Or is it all in Blythe's head? Her husband, Fox, says she's imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Disturbing, Jaw Dropping, Unforgettable
- By Wendi on 01-16-21
By: Ashley Audrain
-
The Family Upstairs
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Tamaryn Payne, Bea Holland, Dom Thornburn
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11,201
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9,981
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9,925
Gifted musician Clemency Thompson is playing for tourists on the streets of Southern France when she receives an urgent text message. Her childhood friend, Lucy, is demanding her immediate return to London. It’s happening, says the message. The baby is back. Libby Jones was only six months old when she became an orphan. Now 25, she’s astounded to learn of an inheritance that will change her life. A gorgeous, dilapidated townhouse in one of London’s poshest neighborhoods has been held in a trust for her all these years. Now, it’s hers.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Did Not Disappoint... I LOVE LISA JEWELL
- By Tawny on 11-06-19
By: Lisa Jewell
-
The Girls with No Names
- By: Serena Burdick
- Narrated by: Emily Lawrence, Nancy Peterson, Amy McFadden
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,658
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,930
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,889
Growing up in New York City in the 1910s, Luella and Effie Tildon realize that even as wealthy young women, their freedoms come with limits. But when the sisters discover a shocking secret about their father, Luella, the brazen elder sister, becomes emboldened to do as she pleases. Her rebellion comes with consequences, and one morning Luella is mysteriously gone.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Consumed this in a few days.....
- By Sarah on 04-20-20
By: Serena Burdick
-
Olive Kitteridge
- Fiction
- By: Elizabeth Strout
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,648
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,308
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,309
At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Depressing! Watse of a credit!
- By Amazon Customer on 10-28-19
By: Elizabeth Strout
-
A Witch in Time
- By: Constance Sayers
- Narrated by: Courtney Patterson, Claire Christie, Brittany Wilkerson, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,078
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,657
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,640
Helen Lambert has lived several lives-a young piano virtuoso in 1890s Paris, an actress in 1930s Hollywood, a rock star in 1970s Los Angeles - only she doesn't know it. Until she meets a strange man who claims he's watched over her for centuries, bound to her from the beginning. At first, Helen doesn't believe him. Her life is as normal as any other modern career woman's. Then she begins having vivid dreams about ill-fated love and lives cut short. Caught in a curse, Helen will be forced to relive the same tragic events that ruined her previous lives.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Tired of Heroines’ Repeatedly Making Stupid Decisions
- By Neecie on 03-26-20
By: Constance Sayers
-
The Other Mrs.
- By: Mary Kubica
- Narrated by: Piper Goodeve, Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,869
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 3,457
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,442
Sadie and Will Foust have only just moved their family from bustling Chicago to small-town Maine when their neighbor Morgan Baines is found dead in her home. The murder rocks their tiny coastal island, but no one is more shaken than Sadie. But it’s not just Morgan’s death that has Sadie on edge. And as the eyes of suspicion turn toward the new family in town, Sadie is drawn deeper into the mystery of what really happened that dark and deadly night.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Awful narrator
- By Jennifer Shaw on 02-18-20
By: Mary Kubica
-
The Magician's Assistant
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Karen Ziemba
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,258
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,822
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,820
When a gay Los Angeles magician named Parsifal dies suddenly, he leaves behind his heartbroken assistant, Sabine, and a secret past that leads her to Nebraska and a father she never knew he had.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Patchett Has It
- By Pamela Harvey on 06-10-08
By: Ann Patchett
-
The Unknown Errors of Our Lives
- Stories
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Deepti Gupta
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
In nine poignant stories spiked with humor and intelligence, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni captures lives at crossroad moments - caught between past and present, home and abroad, tradition, and fresh experience. A widow in California, recently arrived from India, struggles to adapt to a world in which neighbors are strangers and her domestic skills are deemed superfluous in the award-winning "Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter".
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Catalyst for introspection on life.
- By amanda shelton on 11-14-21
-
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
- A Novel
- By: Juliet Grames
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 632
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 561
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 561
For Stella Fortuna, death has always been a part of life. Stella’s childhood is full of strange, life-threatening incidents - moments where ordinary situations like cooking eggplant or feeding the pigs inexplicably take lethal turns. Even Stella’s own mother is convinced that her daughter is cursed or haunted. When the Fortunas emigrate to America on the cusp of World War II, Stella and her sister, Tina, must come of age side by side in a hostile new world with strict expectations for each of them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Misogyny at its worst
- By brenda on 01-15-20
By: Juliet Grames
Publisher's Summary
A remarkable multigenerational novel, The Border of Paradise transports listeners into the world of an iconoclastic midcentury family.
In booming postwar Brooklyn, the Nowak Piano Company is an American success story. There is just one problem: the Nowak’s only son, David. A handsome kid and shy like his mother, David struggles with neuroses. If not for his only friend, Marianne, David’s life would be intolerable. When David inherits the piano company at just 18 and Marianne breaks things off, David sells the company and travels around the world. In Taiwan, his life changes when he meets the daughter of a local madame - beautiful, sharp-tongued Daisy. Returning to the United States, the couple (and newborn son) buy an isolated country house in Northern California’s Polk Valley.
As David's mental health deteriorates, he has a brief affair with Marianne, producing a daughter. When Marianne appears at their doorstep, the couple's fateful decision to take the child as their own determines a tragic course of events for the entire family. Told from multiple perspectives, The Border of Paradise culminates in heartrending fashion, as the young heirs to the Nowak fortune must confront their past and the tragic reality of their future.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Border of Paradise
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sharey
- 08-14-19
Quirky and Interesting
This book grabs you from the beginning and holds your attention to the finish line.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall1 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story1 out of 5 stars
- rachel
- 07-17-21
Wtf did I just read
Horribly depressing and disturbing. I hated nearly every character. I would not recommend to anyone.
Related to this topic
-
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
- A Novel
- By: Juliet Grames
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 632
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 561
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 561
For Stella Fortuna, death has always been a part of life. Stella’s childhood is full of strange, life-threatening incidents - moments where ordinary situations like cooking eggplant or feeding the pigs inexplicably take lethal turns. Even Stella’s own mother is convinced that her daughter is cursed or haunted. When the Fortunas emigrate to America on the cusp of World War II, Stella and her sister, Tina, must come of age side by side in a hostile new world with strict expectations for each of them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Misogyny at its worst
- By brenda on 01-15-20
By: Juliet Grames
-
Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All
- By: Laura Ruby
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 80
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 66
When Frankie’s mother died and her father left her and her siblings at an orphanage in Chicago, it was supposed to be only temporary - just long enough for him to get back on his feet and be able to provide for them once again. That’s why Frankie's not prepared for the day that he arrives for his weekend visit with a new woman on his arm and out-of-state train tickets in his pocket. Now, Frankie and her sister, Toni, are abandoned alongside so many other orphans - two young, unwanted women doing everything they can to survive.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Boring, boring, boring
- By Marie J. on 08-20-21
By: Laura Ruby
-
The Book of V.
- A Novel
- By: Anna Solomon
- Narrated by: Dara Rosenberg, Eva Kaminsky, Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 186
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 153
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 153
Lily is a mother, daughter, and second wife. And a writer, maybe? Or she was going to be, before she had kids. Now, in her rented Brooklyn apartment she’s grappling with her sexual and intellectual desires in 2016. Vivian Barr seems to be the perfect political wife, dedicated to helping her charismatic and ambitious husband find success in Watergate-era Washington DC. But one night he demands a humiliating favor, and her refusal changes the course of her life. Esther is a fiercely independent young woman in ancient Persia, where she and her uncle’s tribe live a tenuous existence.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Don’t waste time
- By Dan on 05-12-20
By: Anna Solomon
-
Patsy
- A Novel
- By: Nicole Dennis-Benn
- Narrated by: Sharon Gordon
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 429
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 376
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 376
When Patsy gets her long-coveted visa to America, it comes after years of yearning to leave Pennyfield, the beautiful but impoverished Jamaican town where she was raised. More than anything, Patsy wishes to be reunited with her oldest friend, Cicely, whose letters arrive from New York steeped in the promise of a happier life and the possible rekindling of their young love. But Patsy's plans don't include her overzealous, evangelical mother - or even her five-year-old daughter, Tru. Patsy gives voice to a woman who looks to America for the opportunity to choose herself first.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
If heroes are required... Avoid!
- By Averil on 10-19-19
-
The Patron Saint of Liars
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Julia Gibson
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,012
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 824
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 823
St. Elizabeth's is a lovely old place in a small town in Kentucky that used to be the beautiful Hotel Louisa. In the 1960s, it is a home for unwed mothers run by nuns. Life at St. Elizabeth's is not unpleasant, but it is temporary. All the pregnant women who come there will go home within the year. Except for Rose, a beautiful, mysterious woman, who is neither unwed nor alone. She is simply pregnant and doesn't want her husband or her mother to know. She plans to give her baby up because she knows she cannot be the mother the baby needs.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Incomplete
- By Deborah on 04-24-08
By: Ann Patchett
-
Animal
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Taddeo
- Narrated by: Emma Roberts
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 534
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 473
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 470
Joan has spent a lifetime enduring the cruelties of men. But when one of them commits a shocking act of violence in front of her, she flees New York City in search of Alice, the only person alive who can help her make sense of her past. In the sweltering hills above Los Angeles, Joan unravels the horrific event she witnessed as a child - that has haunted her every waking moment - while forging the power to finally strike back.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Should come with a lot of trigger warnings
- By Harry on 07-13-21
By: Lisa Taddeo
-
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
- A Novel
- By: Juliet Grames
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 632
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 561
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 561
For Stella Fortuna, death has always been a part of life. Stella’s childhood is full of strange, life-threatening incidents - moments where ordinary situations like cooking eggplant or feeding the pigs inexplicably take lethal turns. Even Stella’s own mother is convinced that her daughter is cursed or haunted. When the Fortunas emigrate to America on the cusp of World War II, Stella and her sister, Tina, must come of age side by side in a hostile new world with strict expectations for each of them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Misogyny at its worst
- By brenda on 01-15-20
By: Juliet Grames
-
Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All
- By: Laura Ruby
- Narrated by: Lisa Flanagan
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 80
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 66
When Frankie’s mother died and her father left her and her siblings at an orphanage in Chicago, it was supposed to be only temporary - just long enough for him to get back on his feet and be able to provide for them once again. That’s why Frankie's not prepared for the day that he arrives for his weekend visit with a new woman on his arm and out-of-state train tickets in his pocket. Now, Frankie and her sister, Toni, are abandoned alongside so many other orphans - two young, unwanted women doing everything they can to survive.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Boring, boring, boring
- By Marie J. on 08-20-21
By: Laura Ruby
-
The Book of V.
- A Novel
- By: Anna Solomon
- Narrated by: Dara Rosenberg, Eva Kaminsky, Gabra Zackman
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 186
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 153
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 153
Lily is a mother, daughter, and second wife. And a writer, maybe? Or she was going to be, before she had kids. Now, in her rented Brooklyn apartment she’s grappling with her sexual and intellectual desires in 2016. Vivian Barr seems to be the perfect political wife, dedicated to helping her charismatic and ambitious husband find success in Watergate-era Washington DC. But one night he demands a humiliating favor, and her refusal changes the course of her life. Esther is a fiercely independent young woman in ancient Persia, where she and her uncle’s tribe live a tenuous existence.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Don’t waste time
- By Dan on 05-12-20
By: Anna Solomon
-
Patsy
- A Novel
- By: Nicole Dennis-Benn
- Narrated by: Sharon Gordon
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 429
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 376
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 376
When Patsy gets her long-coveted visa to America, it comes after years of yearning to leave Pennyfield, the beautiful but impoverished Jamaican town where she was raised. More than anything, Patsy wishes to be reunited with her oldest friend, Cicely, whose letters arrive from New York steeped in the promise of a happier life and the possible rekindling of their young love. But Patsy's plans don't include her overzealous, evangelical mother - or even her five-year-old daughter, Tru. Patsy gives voice to a woman who looks to America for the opportunity to choose herself first.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
If heroes are required... Avoid!
- By Averil on 10-19-19
-
The Patron Saint of Liars
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Julia Gibson
- Length: 14 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,012
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 824
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 823
St. Elizabeth's is a lovely old place in a small town in Kentucky that used to be the beautiful Hotel Louisa. In the 1960s, it is a home for unwed mothers run by nuns. Life at St. Elizabeth's is not unpleasant, but it is temporary. All the pregnant women who come there will go home within the year. Except for Rose, a beautiful, mysterious woman, who is neither unwed nor alone. She is simply pregnant and doesn't want her husband or her mother to know. She plans to give her baby up because she knows she cannot be the mother the baby needs.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Incomplete
- By Deborah on 04-24-08
By: Ann Patchett
-
Animal
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Taddeo
- Narrated by: Emma Roberts
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 534
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 473
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 470
Joan has spent a lifetime enduring the cruelties of men. But when one of them commits a shocking act of violence in front of her, she flees New York City in search of Alice, the only person alive who can help her make sense of her past. In the sweltering hills above Los Angeles, Joan unravels the horrific event she witnessed as a child - that has haunted her every waking moment - while forging the power to finally strike back.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Should come with a lot of trigger warnings
- By Harry on 07-13-21
By: Lisa Taddeo
-
Five Tuesdays in Winter
- Stories
- By: Lily King
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot, Mark Bramhall, Stacey Glemboski, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 928
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 830
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 834
Lily King’s literary mastery, her spare and stunning prose, and her gift for creating lasting and treasured characters is on full display in this curated selection of short fiction. Five Tuesdays in Winter showcases an exhilarating new form for this extraordinarily gifted author writing at the height of her career.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Depressing and Unfulfilling
- By Anonymous User on 11-16-21
By: Lily King
-
Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant
- By: Anne Tyler
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Rodgers
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 105
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 103
Pearl Tull is nearing the end of her life but not of her memory. It was a Sunday night in 1944 when her husband left the little row house on Baltimore's Calvert Street, abandoning Pearl to raise their three children alone: Jenny, high-spirited and determined, nurturing to strangers but distant to those she loves; the older son, Cody, a wild and incorrigible youth possessed by the lure of power and money; and sweet, clumsy Ezra, Pearl's favorite, who never stops yearning for the perfect family that could never be his own. Now Pearl and her three grown children have gathered....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Classic Anne Tyler
- By Eve Harris on 09-14-21
By: Anne Tyler
-
A Home at the End of the World
- By: Michael Cunningham
- Narrated by: Colin Farrell, Dallas Roberts, Blair Brown, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 297
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 181
Michael Cunningham's celebrated novel is the story of two boyhood friends: Jonathan, lonely, introspective, and unsure of himself; and Bobby, hip, dark, and inarticulate. In New York after college, Bobby moves in with Jonathan and his roommate, Clare, a veteran of the city's erotic wars. Bobby and Clare fall in love, scuttling the plans of Jonathan, who is gay, to father Clare's child.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
ended too soon
- By Sue on 09-30-05
-
My Name Is Lucy Barton
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Strout
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 4 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,665
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,352
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 2,349
Lucy Barton is recovering slowly from what should have been a simple operation. Her mother, to whom she hasn't spoken for many years, comes to see her. Gentle gossip about people from Lucy's childhood in Amgash, Illinois, seems to reconnect them, but just below the surface lie the tension and longing that have informed every aspect of Lucy's life: her escape from her troubled family, her desire to become a writer, her marriage, her love for her two daughters.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Because we all love imperfectly.
- By Bonny on 01-15-16
By: Elizabeth Strout
-
The Push
- A Novel
- By: Ashley Audrain
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9,706
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8,551
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8,506
Blythe Connor is determined that she will be the warm, comforting mother to her new baby Violet that she herself never had. But in the thick of motherhood's exhausting early days, Blythe becomes convinced that something is wrong with her daughter - she doesn't behave like most children do. Or is it all in Blythe's head? Her husband, Fox, says she's imagining things. The more Fox dismisses her fears, the more Blythe begins to question her own sanity, and the more we begin to question what Blythe is telling us about her life as well.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Disturbing, Jaw Dropping, Unforgettable
- By Wendi on 01-16-21
By: Ashley Audrain
-
Shadow Tag
- A Novel
- By: Louise Erdrich
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 109
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 111
When Irene America discovers that her husband, Gil, has been reading her diary, she begins a secret Blue Notebook, stashed securely in a safe deposit box. There she records the truth about her life and her marriage, while turning her Red Diary - hidden where Gil will find it - into a manipulative farce. Alternating between these two records, complemented by unflinching third-person narration, Shadow Tag is an eerily gripping listen.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Enjoyed it until the ending
- By Maxine on 03-07-10
By: Louise Erdrich
-
The Unknown Errors of Our Lives
- Stories
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Deepti Gupta
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
In nine poignant stories spiked with humor and intelligence, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni captures lives at crossroad moments - caught between past and present, home and abroad, tradition, and fresh experience. A widow in California, recently arrived from India, struggles to adapt to a world in which neighbors are strangers and her domestic skills are deemed superfluous in the award-winning "Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter".
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Catalyst for introspection on life.
- By amanda shelton on 11-14-21
-
The Wicked City
- A Novel
- By: Beatriz Williams
- Narrated by: Julie McKay, Dara Rosenberg
- Length: 13 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 267
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 247
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 246
When she discovers her husband cheating, Ella Hawthorne impulsively moves out of their SoHo loft and into a small apartment in an old Greenwich Village building. Her surprisingly attractive new neighbor, Hector, warns her to stay out of the basement at night. Tenants have reported strange noises after midnight - laughter, clinking glasses, jazz piano - even though the space has been empty for decades. Back in the Roaring '20s, the place hid a speakeasy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is worth reading
- By lyl on 03-20-17
By: Beatriz Williams
-
The Family
- By: Naomi Krupitsky
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 861
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 766
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 767
Sofia Colicchio is a free spirit, loud and untamed. Antonia Russo is thoughtful, ever observing the world around her. Best friends since birth, they live in the shadow of their fathers’ unspoken community: the Family. Sunday dinners gather them each week to feast, discuss business, and renew the intoxicating bond borne of blood and love. But the disappearance of Antonia’s father drives a whisper-thin wedge between the girls as they grow into women, wives, mothers, and leaders. One fateful night, their loyalty to each other and the Family will be tested.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Another Hyped up Book Club Pick that didn’t deliver
- By steven testasecca on 11-14-21
By: Naomi Krupitsky
-
What Big Teeth
- By: Rose Szabo
- Narrated by: Jasika Nicole
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 113
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 102
Eleanor Zarrin has been distanced from her family for years. When she returns home after a violent incident at boarding school, trying to fit back into the space she left becomes even more difficult when their headstrong matriarch unexpectedly dies. Eleanor's bloodthirsty family is left unchecked for the first time in decades, and when her Grandmere arrives to help the family adjust, it's clear that something dark is lurking beneath her genteel exterior.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This book felt like it was written just for me
- By Sophia on 06-08-21
By: Rose Szabo
-
All Things Cease to Appear
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Brundage
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 489
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 436
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 441
Late one winter afternoon in upstate New York, George Clare comes home to find his wife killed and their three-year-old daughter alone - for how many hours? - in her room across the hall. He had recently begrudgingly taken a position at a nearby private college (far too expensive for local kids to attend) teaching art history and moved his family into a tight-knit, impoverished town that has lately been discovered by wealthy outsiders in search of a rural idyll.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Waiting for Something to Solidify
- By Mel on 06-0