The Need

By: Helen Phillips

Narrated by: Alex Allwine

***LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION***
Named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time

“An extraordinary and dazzlingly original work from one of our most gifted and interesting writers” (Emily St. John Mandel, author of The Glass Hotel). The Need, which finds a mother of two young children grappling with the dualities of motherhood after confronting a masked intruder in her home, is “like nothing you’ve ever read before…in a good way” (People).

When Molly, home alone with her two young children, hears footsteps in the living room, she tries to convince herself it’s the sleep deprivation. She’s been hearing things these days. Startling at loud noises. Imagining the worst-case scenario. It’s what mothers do, she knows.

But then the footsteps come again, and she catches a glimpse of movement.

Suddenly Molly finds herself face-to-face with an intruder who knows far too much about her and her family. As she attempts to protect those she loves most, Molly must also acknowledge her own frailty. Molly slips down an existential rabbit hole where she must confront the dualities of motherhood: the ecstasy and the dread; the languor and the ferocity; the banality and the transcendence as the book hurtles toward a mind-bending conclusion.

“Brilliant” (Entertainment Weekly), “grotesque and lovely” (The New York Times Book Review, Editor’s Choice), and “wildly captivating” (Oprah Daily), The Need is a glorious celebration of the bizarre and beautiful nature of our everyday lives and “showcases an extraordinary writer at her electrifying best” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Critic reviews

"Listeners immediately know something is wrong as Alexandra Allwine's urgent tone opens this tense and eerie novel. There's an intruder in Molly's house, and as she crouches in the dark, clutching her two small children, her confusion from sleep deprivation spirals into primal fear. The audiobook jumps between Molly's eventual confrontation with the intruder and her time as a paleobotanist, when she spends her days digging up plant fossils from "the pit" —from which strange objects start emerging. Allwine's voice has a smoky guise that suggests the hazy days Molly so often experiences after sleepless nights. Soon, the secrets of this literary thriller start to unravel, and the dark realities of motherhood rise to the surface."

Bizarre

The story is bazaar and Clever at the same time. That being said I am still lost.

You have to follow…

Very closely or you will be lost…. Quite honestly I should give it another read through, not sure if it went over my head or if it simply the way the story was laid out.

If your a Mom — of 2 littles,,

The Need was a bit to much of Mommy, mommy,mommy - I get the message , but for me it was just to much about how exhausting being a Mom is . Anyone who has raised children know exactly how tiring it can be - and I guess if I were younger and in the midsts of doing that - this story may have held my attention more , or possibly less . Ok story line- not book I couldnt put down by any means....,,,

Couldn’t finish

Did not hold my interest. Perhaps a young mother solely focused on her children might enjoy this story

Unique & Intriguing

I don’t think I’ve ever read or listened to a story quite like this one. An archeologist and mother of toddlers, the two sides of her meeting in a psychological mystery with fringe science fiction elements. It’s about the paranoia over the safety of your kids while alone with them, single parenting while the husband’s away. How those might fears come to life in surreal ways. It’s about our very human dual natures and the opposing forces within us. And it’s told through characters that are so real they feel like your own family by the end. Molly is so much more patient and complex than she realizes and her daughter Viv is charmingly portrayed and delivers some of the most genius messages in the book. Although the ending is a little too subtle and leaves more questions about Molly’s reality almost than the beginning, I listened to it again because the world Phillips creates in the Need is mesmerizing.