The Dream Peddler

A Novel

By: Martine Fournier Watson

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

“Astonishing . . . Explores the vast underground legacy of our own desires. This is the must-read book of the year.” —Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Child Finder

A richly imagined debut novel about a traveling salesman and the small town he changes forever

If someone offered you a magic elixir that could conjure any dream you wanted . . . would you take it?

Traveling salesmen like Robert Owens have passed through Evie Dawson’s town before, but none of them offered anything like what he has to sell: dreams, made to order, with satisfaction guaranteed.

Soon after he arrives, the community is shocked by the disappearance of Evie’s young son. The townspeople, shaken by the Dawson family’s tragedy and captivated by Robert’s subversive magic, begin to experiment with his dreams. And Evie, devastated by grief, turns to Robert for a comfort only he can sell her. But the dream peddler’s wares awaken in his customers their most carefully buried desires, and despite all his good intentions, some of them will lead to disaster.

Gorgeously told through the eyes of Evie, Robert, and a broad cast of fully realized characters, The Dream Peddler is an imaginative, moving novel of overcoming loss and reckoning with the longings we keep secret.

Fantastic story!

It ended too quickly! I would have listened for a lot longer to the stories of the characters, but everything was written perfectly.

It's a Dream of a Book

This book reads like a dream. Beautiful passages and descriptions. It reminded me of Bradbury's classic, Something Wicked This Way Comes. A peddler of dreams comes to town selling potions that spark dreams amongst the townspeople...and rumors and gossip.

I recommend this book.

Missed potential

This story should have focused on building a sense of mystery around the dream peddler, but instead the author chose to write pretty prose, to the detriment of character development. There should have been a feeling of magic. I did enjoy the sense of small town life and the tight community, but I was disappointed for the reasons already mentioned😔

Beautifully written, beautifully read!

I set aside the new Harlan Coben I'd been listening to and wasn't disappointed! (Sorry, Harlan...) Dazzling descriptions and a brisker pace than most literary fiction you'll find. Great debut, excited to see more from this author!

The unfinished tell about Jackson

The fact that Jackson got away with everything he did. I really thought he was the one that took advantage of Benni because he could not except the fact that he might be homosexual. In a time that it was not talked about or excepted.