Under the Whispering Door

By: TJ Klune

Narrated by: Kirt Graves

Length: 14 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

"Narrator Kirt Groves provides an excellently distinct cast of voices."- Locus

A Man Called Ove meets The Good Place in Under the Whispering Door, a delightful queer love story from TJ Klune, author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller The House in the Cerulean Sea.

Welcome to Charon's Crossing.

The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.

And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.

But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.

"Graves matches his narrative pace to the measured unwinding of the story's layers, focused but unhurried, in the same way that Hugo brews his therapeutic cups of tea." —AudioFile

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books

©2021 TJ Klune (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

A NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY AND INDIE BESTSELLER
An Indie Next Pick!

“There is so much to enjoy in Under the Whispering Door, but what I cherish the most is its compassion for the little things — a touch, a glance, a precious piece of dialogue — healing me, telling me that for all the strangenesses I hold, I am valued, valid — and maybe even worthy of love.” (Ryka Aoki, Light from Uncommon Stars)

"Narrator Kirt Groves provides an excellently distinct cast of voices."- Locus

"A warm hug of a book about a Grinch of a man who dies and a ferryman, who helps the dead in their journey onwards. Under the Whispering Door is a kind book, full of faith in the goodness of people, full of kind people showing how compassion is a strength. It broke my heart with its unflinching understanding that grief never goes away, never empties, only settles into the room of your soul like a strange souvenir. And then it healed me in the next breath.” —Cassandra Khaw, author of Nothing But Blackened Teeth

Wonderful

It was lovely. It was slightly different then his previous work, but still within his writing style. More mature. I enjoyed it a lot.

A great read!

I love ghost stories and this had great reviews so I was like, “why not?!”

In truth, I thought I made a bad choice at first. The first 3-4 hours felt long to me. I wanted to get to the meat of the story (I’ll admit I am inpatient lol). I am glad I stuck it out though!

You need the beginning to really settle into the story (I know, duh, right? LOL) Yes, at times things drew out, but the emotional payoff in the end was SO worth it. The author did a beautiful job of anchoring you in with the characters and making it feel like a realistic timeline for things to happen.

I also laughed several times and cried at the end. This was a wonderful book about life, love, and hope despite the main topic of death.

I highly recommend.

good conclusion

book is like a 3 star movie, plot isn't the best but has a feel good ending

Beautiful story

And a heartwarming end to a story that explores always having hope, even at the ‘end.’

A work of art!

I chuckled, I laughed, I cried and I bawled my eyes out. This book was a revelation. You will fall in love with the characters in this book and they will enchant you in this fantastical world of death and life.

I’m so in love with this book

Thank you TJ Klune for writing such a captivating, beautiful and hilarious story. I didn’t want it to end. The characters were so full and the story was so rich. The narrator made everything perfect. I’ll most definitely be listening to this one again and I’m not usually a book repeater. Beautiful beautiful story. THANK YOU!!

Amazing

Wow. I’m not sure I’ve laughed and cried as much through any other book I’ve ever read. I loved every second of this book. The characters, plot, the emotional rollercoaster it took me on, all of it. The narrator did such a good job too. I would definitely recommend this book. TJ Klune has a way of writing straight to your heart.

Beautiful

Everything Kirt Graves reads is poetry. I love our unexpected hero and that hard subjects are not shied away from but are treated with dignity in this story. The little world T.J. Klune built for these characters was so alive i could hear and taste and see it. Well written and well told, thank you.

Not as good as House in the Cerulean Sea but still a nice read

Very much this authors style, but not quite as good. Hard to follow up that book though.

Magical, beautiful and wonderful story of death and life somethings in between

TJ Klune is becoming one of my favorite authors. His writing and his characters so fully formed. He explores so much in this new book about life and death and somethings in between. When nasty and self centered Wallace shows up at at the tea shop to find out that he’s dead, he has no idea what wonders await him. He’s about to learn more about being a decent human being in death than he ever learned in life. He might finally find friends and family and love…but will he? Will he be able to learn enough humility to save himself. And what will he be saving himself from, death or life or just himself? I don’t want to give anything away but as usual TJ Klune has constructed a beautiful and complex story with complicated characters that learn so much from each other. Turns out there’s as much to learn about living a good life as there is about leaving a good life, or a bad one. In dying, the adventure may only be beginning and what an adventure this is! This story melted my heart and took me on a wonderful ride filled with such wonderful characters. But if you know TJ Klune’s work, you already know the magic he can weave so well and there is plenty here in UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR! Every time I read a new TJ Klune novel I immediately pray that the movie rights have already been snatched up by someone because he writes with such wild imagination, such humanity, such adventure and such love. After reading THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA I was hooked and now that I’ve finished this, I will continue to read all the others he’s already written and anxiously await the ones he will be writing in the future. Enjoy this book…I know I did!!!!!