Literary Fiction Audiobooks | Literature

"Read by the author, Jamaica Kincaid. 'If revenge is a dish best served cold, See Now Then is a baked alaska in reverse, chilling on the outside, screaming hot at the center' - New York Times Mr and Mrs Sweet live in a house in the small town of Bennington, New England. While Mr Sweet grew up in the dining rooms of the Plaza Hotel and in the audience of the city ballet, Mrs Sweet arrived in the United States on a banana boat, sailing from Dominica. A blazing, unflinching portrait of a couple trying to make sense of the relationship they've settled for, See Now Then is the first novel in a decade from Jamaica Kincaid, one of today's most celebrated writers. Now in the Picador Collection."

Jamaica Kincaid (Author), Jamaica Kincaid (Narrator)

Audiobook

There are Rivers in the Sky

"Brought to you by Penguin. This audiobook is read by Olivia Vinall, and Elif Shafak reads the Note to Reader at the end of the story. This is the story of one lost poem, two great rivers, and three remarkable lives – all connected by a single drop of water. In the ruins of Nineveh, that ancient city of Mesopotamia, there lies hidden in the sand fragments of a long-forgotten poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh. In Victorian London, an extraordinary child is born at the edge of the dirt-black Thames. Arthur’s only chance of escaping poverty is his brilliant memory. When his gift earns him a spot as an apprentice at a printing press, Arthur’s world opens up far beyond the slums, with one book soon sending him across the seas: Nineveh and Its Remains. In 2014 Turkey, Narin, a Yazidi girl living by the River Tigris, waits to be baptised with water brought from the holy sit of Lalish in Iraq. The ceremony is cruelly interrupted, and soon Narin and her grandmother must journey across war-torn lands in the hope of reaching the sacred valley of their people. In 2018 London, broken-hearted Zaleekhah, a hydrologist, moves to a houseboat on the Thames to escape the wreckage of her marriage. Zaleekhah foresees a life drained of all love and meaning – until an unexpected connection to her homeland changes everything. A dazzling feat of storytelling from one of the greatest writers of our time, Elif Shafak’s There are Rivers in the Sky is a rich, sweeping novel that spans centuries, continents and cultures, entwined by rivers, rains, and waterdrops: ‘Water remembers. It is humans who forget.’ ***** ‘Elif Shafak is a unique and powerful voice in world literature’ Ian McEwan 'An extraordinary novel, fresh and cleansing, like the rain bouncing off the metal roof of our lives.' Colum McCann 'Make place for Elif Shafak on your bookshelf. Make place for her in your heart too. You won't regret it' Arundhati Roy 'One of the best writers in the world today' Hanif Kureishi 'A brilliant, unforgettable novel' Mary Beard © Elif Shafak 2024 (P) Penguin Audio 2024"

Elif Shafak (Author), Elif Shafak, Olivia Vinall (Narrator)

Audiobook

Mamele

"'Haunting' Telegraph 'Brilliant' Daily Mail 'Profoundly moving' Marie Claire ‘Fresh and daring' KATE SAWYER ‘One of the best books I’ve read in a while … A real triumph’ ELIZABETH MACNEAL 'A complex story about motherhood, inheritance and the things we're willing to forsake in the name of desire' AMY TWIGG 'A haunting novel … Overwhelming and seductive' LUCIE ELVEN ––– ‘When my mother washed my hair she crooned, mamele, mamele, into my ear. Little mother, meaning little daughter, meaning you’re a good girl, Edie.’ Edie lives with her partner Joanna in a crumbling country house in Broadstairs. They have spent over a decade together since the death of Harry, the third member of their polyamorous relationship. It’s a quiet, comfortable existence – but conversations about the mother who abandoned her have recently awoken in Edie feelings she long thought buried. Mamele is a stylish, searing drama about the complicated love between mothers and daughters, the indelible impact of estrangement and one woman fiercely coming into her own."

Gemma Reeves (Author), Natalie Pela (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hollow Out the Dark: A Novel

"Award-winning author James Wade blends atmospheric prose with soul-stirring themes in Hollow Out the Dark, a gothic adventure set against a Depression-era landscape where a whiskey war threatens to decimate a small Texas town. A veteran of the Great War, Jesse Cole is grateful for the quiet life he now leads. But when his closest friend runs afoul of local criminals Frog and Squirrel Fenley, Jesse is forced to spin his moral compass and enter a violent and volatile underworld. There he encounters corrupt lawmen, hired assassins, and a dark family secret that will upend all he once knew. Complicating matters are Texas Ranger Amon Atkins—who arrives to investigate the Fenleys just as their empire is threatened by a deadly new competitor—and the green-eyed, raven-haired Adaline, a love Jesse thought he’d lost forever. With resources scarce and winter falling hard on the town, a desperate Jesse must choose between the law and the lawless and find a way to survive while still protecting the people he loves. A heart-pounding tale full of plot-twisting revelations, Hollow Out the Dark brings readers into a whiskey-fueled world where everyone has a secret, and love everlasting balances on the edge of a knife."

James Wade (Author), Roger Clark (Narrator)

Audiobook

Wife

"'Mendelson is a master of the literary monster' - The Sunday Times When Zoe moves in with Penny, their relationship looks perfect; after all, everyone wants a wife. But this is the story of how love can become a disaster . . . Zoe Stamper, junior researcher in Ancient Greek Tragedy, meets fellow academic Dr Penny Cartwright at a faculty flute recital. Dr Cartwright seems impossibly glamorous to Zoe, who is, after all, several rungs down the academic pecking order - and a nervous ingénue as far as Penny's sophisticated circle is concerned. But Penny leaves Zoe a cryptic note, and a passionate affair ensues. Once Penny confesses all to her live-in lover, Justine, their happiness seems assured. But there is something else Penny needs as badly in her life as Zoe's adoration, and thus the beginning of their affair might also have signalled its end . . . Wife by Charlotte Mendelson is a beautifully observed and coruscating novel about the joys of passionate love and motherhood, and those left behind in its wake when passion curdles. It is heartbreaking and funny, profound and gripping, as it takes the reader from the end of a relationship to its beginning, and back again. 'A bravura portrait of a marriage in meltdown' - The Guardian 'A clever, lacerating account of coercive control . . . a finely executed novel' - Financial Times"

Charlotte Mendelson (Author), Kristin Atherton (Narrator)

Audiobook

Liars

"A searing novel about being a wife, a mother, and an artist, and how marriage makes liars of us all. 'An unflinchingly true and honest depiction of a marriage turning from gold to dust ' - Miranda Cowley Heller, author of The Paper Palace 'A white-hot dissection of the power imbalances in a marriage, and as gripping as you want fiction to be.' - Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity A nuclear family can destroy a woman artist. I'd always known that. But I'd never suspected how easily I'd fall into one anyway. When Jane, an aspiring writer, meets filmmaker John Bridges, they both want the same things: to be in love, to live a successful, creative life, and to be happy. When they marry, Jane believes she has found everything she was looking for, including - a few years later - all the attendant joys and labors of motherhood. But it's not long until Jane finds herself subsumed by John's ambitions, whims, and ego; in short, she becomes a wife. As Jane's career flourishes, their marriage starts to falter. Throughout the upheavals of family life, Jane tries to hold it all together. That is, until John leaves her. Sarah Manguso's Liars is a tour de force of wit and rage, telling the blistering story of a marriage as it burns to the ground, and of a woman rising inexorably from its ashes. 'Painful and brilliant - I loved it' - Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot and Either/Or"

Sarah Manguso (Author), Rebecca Lowman (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Lantern of Lost Memories: A charming and heartwarming story for fans of cosy Japanese fiction

"One photograph, one treasured memory, one chance to go back . . . If you could relive one day of your life, which would you choose? In a cosy photography studio in the mountains between this world and the next, someone is waking up as if from a dream. A kind man will hand them a hot cup of tea and gently explain that, having reached the end of their life, they have one final task. There is a stack of photos on their lap, one for every day of their life, and now they must choose the pictures that capture their most treasured memories, which will be placed in a beautiful lantern. Once completed, it will be set spinning, and their cherished moments will flash before their eyes, guiding them to another world. But, like our most thumbed-over photographs, our favourite memories become faded with age, so each visitor to the studio has the chance to choose one day to return to and photograph afresh. Each has a treasured story to tell, from the old woman rebuilding a community in Tokyo after a disaster, to the flawed Yakuza man who remembers a time when he was kind, and a strong child who is fighting to survive. Extraordinarily moving and wise, Sanaka Hiiragi's The Lantern of Lost Memories is a beautiful Japanese tale about the people that make us and the moments that change us."

Sanaka Hiiragi (Author), Hanako Footman (Narrator)

Audiobook

Five-Star Stranger: A Novel

"An exciting and "inventive" (HuffPost) debut novel about a top-rated man on the Rental Stranger app—a place where users can hire a pretend fiancé, a wingman, or companion of any kind—who finds out who he is by being anyone but himself. Would you hire someone to be the best man at your wedding? Your stand-in brother? The father to your child? In an age where online ratings are all-powerful, Five-Star Stranger follows the adventures of a top-rated man on the Rental Stranger app as he navigates New York City under the guise of characters he plays, always maintaining a professional distance from his clients. But, when an eccentric patron threatens to upend his long-term role as father to a young girl, Stranger begins to reckon with his attachment to his pretend daughter, her mother, and his own fraught past. Now, he must confront the boundaries he has drawn and explore the legacy of abandonment that shaped his life. "A sharp page-turner about our culture's commodification of everything" (Debutiful), Five-Star Stranger is a strikingly vivid novel about isolation in a hyperconnected world, and "what it means to love and be loved" (Rachel Khong, author of Real Americans)."

Kat Tang (Author), Julian Cihi (Narrator)

Audiobook

Junction of Earth and Sky: A heart-breaking, lyrical novel about the enduring power of love

"'Remarkable' Charmaine Wilkerson 'Heartbreaking' Ericka Waller 'Moving and hopeful' Imogen Crimp 'Beautifully crafted' Ania Card A sweeping and emotional debut from a dazzling new voice - for fans of The Paper Palace, The Dutch House and Betty. Coming of age in 1940s England, Alice's life is thrown into chaos under the shadow of the war. Forced to let go of her hopes and dreams, she finds herself uprooted to America and a life she never could have imagined. Decades later, it is the 1990s and Alice's granddaughter Marnie is living out of a worn-out Chevy Nova, running heroin and cocaine along the New England coastline. Yet she carries with her memories of a nurtured childhood in hardscrabble Rhode Island, where all the disappointments of her young parents were eclipsed by her grandmother's love. Spanning six decades and two continents, from the shores of WWII England to the underside of 1990s America, JUNCTION OF EARTH AND SKY unfolds -in multiple timelines -the enduring bond of grandmother and granddaughter, plagued by the past but determined to find their place in the world against all the odds."

Susan Buttenwieser (Author), Sarah Borges (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Anthropologists

"'Savaş' prose is an X-ray - an acute portrait of the tender frequencies that make a life.' Raven Leilani, author of Luster Asya and Manu are looking at apartments, envisioning their future in a foreign city. Removed from the web of family and its obligations, what traditions and rituals should they establish together? As they dream about the possibilities of each new listing, Asya, a documentary filmmaker, spends her days gathering footage from the neighbourhood park like an anthropologist observing local customs, anxious to know how people really live. 'Forget about daily life,' chides her grandmother on the phone, 'no one cares about that.' Meanwhile, life back in Asya and Manu's respective home countries continues - parents age, grandparents get sick, nieces and nephews grow up - all just slightly beyond their reach. But the world they're making in their new city is growing, too, they hope. As they open up the horizons of their lives, what and whom will they hold onto, and what will they need to release? Unfolding over a series of apartment viewings, late-night conversations, last rounds of drinks and lazy breakfasts, The Anthropologists is a soulful examination of home-building and modern love, written with Aysegül Savaş' distinctive elegance, warmth and humour. Advance praise for THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS 'The Anthropologists is about love, youth, and that most profound and elusive of subjects - happiness. Full of delicacy, wisdom and wit, this is another gorgeous work from one of my favourite writers.' Katie Kitamura, author of Intimacies 'Like Walter Benjamin, Ayşegül Savaş uncovers trapdoors to bewilderment everywhere in everyday life; like Henry James, she sees marriage as a mystery, unsoundably deep. The Anthropologists is mesmerising; I felt I read it in a single breath.' Garth Greenwell, author of Cleanness 'Yet another gorgeous, gorgeous book from Aysegül Savaş: she is an author who simply, and astoundingly, knows. Savaş knows hope. Savaş knows despair. Savaş knows joy, and malaise, and laughter and curiosity. There are worlds inside of Savaş' prose, and The Anthropologists is both a bright light and a map for how to be. A massively heartening achievement.' Bryan Washington, author of Family Meal"

Aysegül Savas (Author), Kathryn Aboya (Narrator)

Audiobook

Clickbait: A Novel

"With the dark comedy and sharp observations of Monica Heisey and Dolly Alderton, a whip-smart and laugh-out-loud funny debut novel about a disgraced, newly divorced journalist demoted to a “clickbait” job at a Manhattan tabloid. The first thing they tell you when you begin your training is never to become the news. Natasha has screwed up royally. Her mistake isn’t just embarrassing, it's a breach of journalistic ethics that makes headlines and costs her a plum job reporting from London. Back in New York at thirty-five and single, divorced from a kind man she loved, she finds herself at the bottom of the media food chain—a junior reporter at a clickbait factory, rewriting sensational tabloid stories to make them just different enough to avoid lawsuits. As if her professional fall from grace weren’t bad enough, she’s taken the money she’d saved for a down payment for a home on a charming Brooklyn block with her husband, and rashly bought a boxy apartment overlooking the gray ocean in Rockaway Beach, Queens. Though seeing friends and family only serves to remind her of what she’s lost, things begin to pick up when her ex-boyfriend Zach moves back to New York and accepts her offer of a spare bedroom. The arrangement is strictly platonic, of course—for him. But Natasha can't help but wonder whether he might be the solution to all her problems. As Natasha's obsession with Zach grows and her involvement in increasingly dystopian ''churnalism'' deepens, her worlds threaten to collide in the most cataclysmic, extremely public way."

Holly Baxter (Author), Brittany Pressley (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Little Trickerie

"Brought to you by Penguin. Listen. My one-time friend Maria did tell me once: 'Make your own paradise, Tibb, since this world is no sweet place for people like us.' Born a vagabond, Tibb Ingleby has never had a roof of her own. But her mother has taught her that if you're not too bound by the Big Man's rules, there are many ways a woman can find shelter in this world. Now her ma is dead in a trick gone wrong and young Tibb is orphaned and alone. As she wends her way across the fields and forests of medieval England, Tibb will discover there are people who will care for her, as well as those who mean her harm. And there are a great many others who are prepared to believe just about anything. And so, when the opportunity presents itself to escape the shackles society has placed on them, Tibb and her new friends conjure an audacious plan: her greatest trickerie yet. But before they know it, their hoax takes on a life of its own, drawing crowds - and vengeful enemies - to their door... A Little Trickerie is blazingly original, disarmingly funny and deeply moving. Portraying a side of Tudor England rarely seen, it's a tale of belief and superstition, kinship and courage, with a ragtag cast of characters and an unforgettable and distinctly unangelic heroine. 'Crisp, transportive, uplifting. The fresh, irreverent voice of Tibb Ingleby is sheer brilliance. I loved it!' BONNIE GARMUS, author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY ©2024 Rosanna Pike (P)2024 Penguin Audio"

Rosanna Pike (Author), Laura Aikman (Narrator)

Audiobook

Literary Fiction Audiobooks in Literature