-
Thursday's Child
- Narrated by: Melissa Eccleston
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction
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 $27.97
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
East of Eden
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 25 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This sprawling and often brutal novel, set in the rich farmlands of California's Salinas Valley, follows the intertwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
-
-
Why have I avoided this Beautiful Book???
- By Kelly on 03-25-17
By: John Steinbeck
-
Call Your Daughter Home
- By: Deb Spera
- Narrated by: Robin Miles, Adenrele Ojo, Brittany Pressley
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1924 in Branchville, South Carolina, and three women have come to a crossroads. Gertrude, a mother of four, must make an unconscionable decision to save her daughters. Retta, a first-generation freed slave, comes to Gertrude's aid by watching her children, despite the gossip it causes in her community. Annie, the matriarch of the influential Coles family, offers Gertrude employment at her sewing circle, while facing problems of her own at home.
-
-
Lovely story/perfect narration
- By christi mccoy on 07-08-19
By: Deb Spera
-
This Tender Land
- By: William Kent Krueger
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1932: Located on the banks of the Gilead River in Minnesota, Lincoln School is home to hundreds of Native American boys and girls who have been separated from their families. The only two white boys in the school are orphan brothers Odie and Albert, who, under the watchful eyes of the cruel superintendent Mrs. Brickman, are often in trouble for misdeeds both real and imagined. The two boys' best friend is Mose, a mute Native American who is also the strongest kid in school. And they find another ally in Cora Frost, a widowed teacher who is raising her little girl, Emmy, by herself.
-
-
Scott Brick
- By Momac6 on 11-02-19
-
Beloved
- By: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Toni Morrison
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but 18 years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe's new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.
-
-
Perhaps best read on paper
- By Mimi on 07-29-06
By: Toni Morrison
-
As I Lay Dying
- By: William Faulkner
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman, Robertson Dean, Lina Patel, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the heart of this 1930 novel is the Bundren family's bizarre journey to Jefferson to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Faulkner lets each family member, including Addie, and others along the way tell their private responses to Addie's life.
-
-
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying review
- By Kristina on 11-12-08
By: William Faulkner
-
One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow
- A Novel
- By: Olivia Hawker
- Narrated by: Jackie Zebrowski
- Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wyoming, 1876. For as long as they have lived on the frontier, the Bemis and Webber families have relied on each other. With no other settlers for miles, it is a matter of survival. But when Ernest Bemis finds his wife, Cora, in a compromising situation with their neighbor, he doesn’t think of survival. In one impulsive moment, a man is dead, Ernest is off to prison, and the women left behind are divided by rage and remorse.
-
-
Mixed review
- By Kindle Customer on 11-05-19
By: Olivia Hawker
-
East of Eden
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 25 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This sprawling and often brutal novel, set in the rich farmlands of California's Salinas Valley, follows the intertwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
-
-
Why have I avoided this Beautiful Book???
- By Kelly on 03-25-17
By: John Steinbeck
-
Call Your Daughter Home
- By: Deb Spera
- Narrated by: Robin Miles, Adenrele Ojo, Brittany Pressley
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1924 in Branchville, South Carolina, and three women have come to a crossroads. Gertrude, a mother of four, must make an unconscionable decision to save her daughters. Retta, a first-generation freed slave, comes to Gertrude's aid by watching her children, despite the gossip it causes in her community. Annie, the matriarch of the influential Coles family, offers Gertrude employment at her sewing circle, while facing problems of her own at home.
-
-
Lovely story/perfect narration
- By christi mccoy on 07-08-19
By: Deb Spera
-
This Tender Land
- By: William Kent Krueger
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1932: Located on the banks of the Gilead River in Minnesota, Lincoln School is home to hundreds of Native American boys and girls who have been separated from their families. The only two white boys in the school are orphan brothers Odie and Albert, who, under the watchful eyes of the cruel superintendent Mrs. Brickman, are often in trouble for misdeeds both real and imagined. The two boys' best friend is Mose, a mute Native American who is also the strongest kid in school. And they find another ally in Cora Frost, a widowed teacher who is raising her little girl, Emmy, by herself.
-
-
Scott Brick
- By Momac6 on 11-02-19
-
Beloved
- By: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Toni Morrison
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but 18 years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe's new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved.
-
-
Perhaps best read on paper
- By Mimi on 07-29-06
By: Toni Morrison
-
As I Lay Dying
- By: William Faulkner
- Narrated by: Marc Cashman, Robertson Dean, Lina Patel, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
At the heart of this 1930 novel is the Bundren family's bizarre journey to Jefferson to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Faulkner lets each family member, including Addie, and others along the way tell their private responses to Addie's life.
-
-
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying review
- By Kristina on 11-12-08
By: William Faulkner
-
One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow
- A Novel
- By: Olivia Hawker
- Narrated by: Jackie Zebrowski
- Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wyoming, 1876. For as long as they have lived on the frontier, the Bemis and Webber families have relied on each other. With no other settlers for miles, it is a matter of survival. But when Ernest Bemis finds his wife, Cora, in a compromising situation with their neighbor, he doesn’t think of survival. In one impulsive moment, a man is dead, Ernest is off to prison, and the women left behind are divided by rage and remorse.
-
-
Mixed review
- By Kindle Customer on 11-05-19
By: Olivia Hawker
-
River People
- By: Margaret Lukas
- Narrated by: Lauren Billingsley
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Nebraska, in the late 1890s, 17-year-old Effie and 11-year-old Bridget must struggle to endure at a time when women and children had few rights, and society looked upon domestic abuse as a private family matter. The story is told through the eyes of the girls as they learn to survive under grueling circumstances. River People is a novel of inspiration, love, loss, and renewal.
-
-
Interesting book but difficult listen for animal lovers
- By kelly on 06-18-20
By: Margaret Lukas
-
Veins of Gold
- By: Charlie N. Holmberg
- Narrated by: Piper Goodeve
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abandoned by their father for the gold rush, Gentry and her siblings labor to survive alone in the inhospitable West. When bizarre natural disasters begin wreaking havoc on the land, Gentry discovers a world of magic. Desperate for help, she accepts aid from a mysterious stranger. Winn not only sees the magic, but controls its hunger by feeding it gold - the very thing Gentry's father left to acquire. But the earth's unrest only grows worse, and Gentry's fear leads her to a terrible choice: marry a wealthy man she does not love or trust in Winn's unpredictable power to save her family.
-
-
Poor world building and character development
- By WeveGotEars on 07-30-18
-
The Secret River
- By: Kate Grenville
- Narrated by: Paul Blackwell
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1806 William Thornhill, a man of quick temper and deep feelings, is transported from the slums of London to New South Wales for the term of his natural life. With his wife, Sal, and their children he arrives in a harsh land he cannot understand. But the colony can turn a convict into a free man. Eight years later Thornhill sails up the Hawkesbury to claim 100 acres for himself. Aboriginal people already live on that river. And other recent arrivals - Thomas Blackwood, Smasher Sullivan, and Mrs Herring - are finding their own ways to respond to them.
-
-
Powerful yet heartbreaking. An absolute must for every Australian
- By henhao on 03-01-16
By: Kate Grenville
-
How Much of These Hills Is Gold
- A Novel
- By: C Pam Zhang
- Narrated by: Catherine Ho, Joel de la Fuente
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ba dies in the night; Ma is already gone. Newly orphaned children of immigrants, Lucy and Sam are suddenly alone in a land that refutes their existence. Fleeing the threats of their Western mining town, they set off to bury their father in the only way that will set them free from their past. Along the way, they encounter giant buffalo bones, tiger paw prints, and the specters of a ravaged landscape as well as family secrets, sibling rivalry, and glimpses of a different kind of future.
-
-
Artistically written
- By Sherry Novak on 08-15-20
By: C Pam Zhang
-
The Outside Boy
- By: Jeanine Cummins
- Narrated by: Alan Devally
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ireland, 1959: Young Christopher Hurley is a tinker, a Pavee gypsy, who roams with his father and extended family from town to town, carrying all their worldly possessions in their wagons. Christy carries with him a burden of guilt as well, haunted by the story of his mother’s death in childbirth. The wandering life is the only one Christy has ever known, but when his grandfather dies, everything changes. His father decides to settle briefly, in a town, where Christy and his cousin can receive proper schooling and prepare for their first communions.
-
-
Pure Torture
- By Nena on 01-27-21
By: Jeanine Cummins
-
If It Rains
- By: Jennifer L. Wright
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A story of resilience and redemption set against one of America’s defining moments - the Dust Bowl.
-
These Is My Words
- The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901
- By: Nancy E. Turner
- Narrated by: Amy Rubinate
- Length: 13 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A moving, exciting, and heartfelt American saga inspired by the author's own family memoirs, these words belong to Sarah Prine, a woman of spirit and fire who forges a full and remarkable existence in a harsh, unfamiliar frontier. Scrupulously recording her steps down the path Providence has set her upon - from child to determined young adult to loving mother.
-
-
Amazing Epic Pioneering Woman Story
- By Andrea on 01-03-15
By: Nancy E. Turner
-
China Room
- A Novel
- By: Sunjeev Sahota
- Narrated by: Indira Varma, Antonio Aakeel
- Length: 5 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mehar, a young bride in rural 1929 Punjab, is trying to discover the identity of her new husband. Married to three brothers in a single ceremony, she and her now-sisters spend their days hard at work in the family’s “china room,” sequestered from contact with the men - except when their domineering mother-in-law, Mai, summons them to a darkened chamber at night. Curious and strong willed, Mehar tries to piece together what Mai doesn’t want her to know.
-
-
China Room Confusion
- By Jan on 09-13-21
By: Sunjeev Sahota
-
Vera
- By: Carol Edgarian
- Narrated by: Kathe Mazur
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Meet Vera Johnson, 15-year-old illegitimate daughter of Rose, notorious proprietor of San Francisco’s most legendary bordello. Vera has grown up straddling two worlds - the madam’s alluring sphere, replete with tickets to the opera, surly henchmen, and scant morality, and the quiet domestic life of the family paid to raise her.
-
-
The Phoenix here is more than San Francisco
- By Carol C on 04-16-21
By: Carol Edgarian
-
Small Favors
- By: Erin A. Craig
- Narrated by: Rachel Music
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ellerie Downing is waiting for something to happen. Life in isolated Amity Falls, surrounded by an impenetrable forest, has a predictable sameness. Her days are filled with tending to her family's beehives, chasing after her sisters, and dreaming of bigger things while her twin, Samuel, is free to roam as he wishes.
-
-
meh story and horrible voice over
- By Jacquelyn Holt on 11-15-21
By: Erin A. Craig
-
All the Forgivenesses
- By: Elizabeth Hardinger
- Narrated by: Stephanie Einstein
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing up on their hardscrabble farm in rural Kentucky, 15-year-old Albertina "Bertie" Winslow has learned a lot from her mama, Polly. She knows how to lance a boil, make a pie crust, butcher a pig, and tend to every chore that needs doing. What she doesn't know, but is forced to reckon with all too soon, is how to look after children as a mother should. When Polly succumbs to a long illness, Bertie takes on responsibility for her four younger siblings and their dissolute, unreliable daddy.
-
-
Wonderful life story
- By gayle boyce on 10-01-19
-
The Girls in the Stilt House
- A Novel
- By: Kelly Mustian
- Narrated by: Johanna Parker
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ada promised herself she would never go back to the Trace, to her unbearable life on the swamp, and to her harsh father in Mississippi. But now, after running away to Baton Rouge and briefly knowing a different kind of life, she finds herself with nowhere to go but back home. Matilda, daughter of a sharecropper, is from the other side of the Trace. Doing what she can to protect her family from the whims and demands of some particularly callous locals is an ongoing struggle, so she forms a plan to go north.
-
-
Long winded
- By Marnie on 04-15-21
By: Kelly Mustian
Publisher's Summary
Critic Reviews
"The haunting eloquence and dreamlike weaving of the mythic and the mundane invite comparisons to the works of David Almond." (Publishers Weekly)
"Hauntingly read by Melissa Eccleston...Thursday's Child is a poignant, emotionally wrenching, highly recommended narrative." (Midwest Book Review)
More from the same
What listeners say about Thursday's Child
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
- Nina
- 06-27-06
Difficult to like
This book has a good underlying narrative, but many stories have been written about the Irish pverty experience in recent years and most are better than this one.
It's very slow to get anything going, and I couldn't drum up much interest until over halfway thru it. Not the narrators fault. A well-constructed ending, but not much fun getting there.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ann
- 01-08-12
well-written
This is the second book I have read by Sonya Hartnett. I read another of her books (in print form) and she can really write. Her books often get classified as children's books or young adult because of the age of the protagonists, but her writing is beautiful and definitely more literary.
Thursday's Child is such an original story. I loved the idea of Tin living underground and becoming like a mythical creature or animal (something other than human). I wished he was in the story a little more, because he was such an intriguing character. But there were other characters I liked and the dialogue and descriptions of rural Australia were also quite good.
Worth a listen if you like unique, well-written stories with a bit of fantasy or magical realism. The narrator has a lovely Australian accent and was a good choice for the book.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Dana
- 03-15-07
Very touching
This book is worth spending the evening or day listening to. I couldn't turn it off. I got my whole house clean while listening to this touching and sad story.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Yousaf Ali Khan
- 05-05-21
worth the read
I enjoyed it, worth the read. The writing is pleasing and the the lead's pov is poignant and heart wrenching; brought a tear to my eye on numerous occasions. The theme of a small child taking on the burden of her broken family, seems to come from the writers own experience, pain and understanding.
My apologies in advance but I have to honest; I felt more time should have been spent on the outline.The surprise ending didn't surprise me. The idea of the small boy digging had more echoes of a ghost story that a straight period coming of age story. Something was not fully articulated. The leads own story was overshadowed by the digging. The editor needed to ask the author what was the digging about and help her lock down on one clear theme.
I can't help feeling that the writer's self exploration has literally dug itself into the story.