Literary Fiction Audiobooks | Literature

"Brought to you by Penguin. An electrifying wild-ride of a debut novel from award-winning playwright Anders Lustgarten Meet Cherry, a bandit queen on the run, driving a pink soft-top convertible through the Badlands of Southeast England. She's never felt more Thelma and Louise in her life - except there are three of them in the car and one of them is dead. How did a head nurse and mother of two end up driving a handcuffed policeman and the corpse of a murdered refugee on a journey to find justice? Pursued by a racist, roid-raged, shaven-headed officer of the law - not to mention by her husband and daughter - what else can a woman with a conscience do in modern Britain? Thrilling, radical and darkly comedic, Anders Lustgarten's open-hearted storm of a book explores pressing political concerns with clear-sightedness and holds a mirror up to contemporary Britain. ©2024 Anders Lustgarten (P)2024 Penguin Audio"

Anders Lustgarten (Author), Louise Mai Newberry (Narrator)

Audiobook

Table For Two

"Millions of Amor Towles fans are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter fiction: six stories based in New York City and a novella set in Golden Age Hollywood. The New York stories, most of which take place around the year 2000, consider the fateful consequences that can spring from brief encounters and the delicate mechanics of compromise that operate at the heart of modern marriages. In Towles’s novel Rules of Civility, the indomitable Evelyn Ross leaves New York City in September 1938 with the intention of returning home to Indiana. But as her train pulls into Chicago, where her parents are waiting, she instead extends her ticket to Los Angeles. Told from seven points of view, “Eve in Hollywood” describes how Eve crafts a new future for herself—and others—in the midst of Hollywood’s golden age. Throughout the stories, two characters often find themselves sitting across a table for two where the direction of their futures may hinge upon what they say to each other next. Written with his signature wit, humor, and sophistication, Table for Two is another glittering addition to Towles’s canon of stylish and transporting historical fiction. Praise for The Lincoln Highway: 'A rollicking cross-country adventure, rife with unforgettable characters, vivid scenery and suspense that will keep readers flying through the pages.' Time 'Elegantly constructed and compulsively readable . . . hitch onto this delightful tour de force and you'll be pulled straight through to the end, helpless against the inventive exuberance of Towles' storytelling.' NPR 'Wise and wildly entertaining . . . Towles goes all in on the kind of episodic, exuberant narrative haywire found in myth or Homeric epic.' The New York Times Book Review"

Amor Towles (Author), Edoardo Ballerini, J. Smith Cameron (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Road to the Country

"Brought to you by Penguin. FROM THE TWICE BOOKER-SHORTLISTED AUTHOR Longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and the New American Voices Award Named a Best Book of the Year by the Economist, Boston Globe, and Kirkus Reviews When a country is torn apart by civil war, Kunle and Tunde are separated, each on opposite sides. Desperate to find his brother, Kunle’s search becomes one of atonement, leading him to join an army and to fight in a war he barely understands. Amidst the chaos, he forms deep, lifelong friendships and falls in love. But his ultimate hope remains: to reunite with his family. An emotionally powerful masterpiece, Chigozie Obioma’s odyssey of brotherhood, love, and extraordinary courage set against the backdrop of the Biafran War captures the essence of a young man’s quest for redemption in a nation ablaze. 'A major voice' SALMAN RUSHDIE 'Remarkable' ALICE WALKER 'A sweeping, heart-racing, mystical novel' NEW YORK TIMES 'Chigozie Obioma is that rare thing: an original' WALL STREET JOURNAL 'As much Bildungsroman as battle song' LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS 'A moving story of conflict, faith and fractured bonds, blending myth and realism with emotional power' iPAPER ©2024 Chigozie Obioma (P)2024 Penguin Audio"

Chigozie Obioma (Author), Junior Nyong'o (Narrator)

Audiobook

Wait: A Novel

"A young woman reunites with her teenage sister in their childhood home on Nantucket Island after their mother is deported in this alluring coming-of-age novel that "movingly tackles serious issues in one of America's premier vacation spots" (NPR). "Gabriella Burnham knows . . . the Nantucket of undocumented immigrants and broken families. . . . This tender novel allows us to rejoice when tiny windows of opportunities begin to open."-Imbolo Mbue, The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) A VULTURE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Elise is out dancing the night before her college graduation when her younger sister, Sophie, calls to tell her that their mom is nowhere to be found. Elise leaves on the next flight back to her childhood home, Nantucket Island, for the first time in nearly four years. The sisters soon learn that their mother was stopped by police on her way home from work and deported to São Paulo, Brazil. Intent on bringing her mother back, Elise stays and secures the same job she had in high school: monitoring endangered birds. Meanwhile, her best friend from college, Sheba-a gregarious socialite and heir to a famed children's toy company-reveals that she has inherited her grandfather's summer mansion on Nantucket. Elise's worlds collide as she confronts the emotional and material conditions that have fractured her family, as well as the life in Brazil that her mother has had to leave behind. Told with penetrating insight, humor, and unexpected tenderness, Wait is a story about a family swimming against the social currents that erode bonds: housing precarity, immigration systems, and inherited wealth. But it is also a story about love, wit, and sisterhood, and how two sisters cling to each other in the midst of cataclysmic change, all the while dreaming about a better future."

Gabriella Burnham (Author), Gisela Chípe (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Radetzky March

"Set during the doomed splendour of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, The Radetzky March tells the story of the celebrated Trotta family, tracing their rise and fall over three generations. Theirs is a sweeping history of heroism and duty, desire and compromise, tragedy and heartbreak, a story that lasts until the darkening eve of WWI, when all is set to fall apart. A rich and luminous masterpiece, moving, compassionate, witty and dramatic, The Radetzky March is one of the great reading pleasures of 20th-century literature. It is especially powerful in this translation by Michael Hofmann. 'For sheer, epic sweep, I love reading The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth, set in imperial Vienna. I can't recommend it highly enough' Jeremy Paxman 'Timeless... I re-read this book every two or three years, captivated anew by its low-key melancholia and its wry take on the human predicament' William Boyd, Mail on Sunday"

Joseph Roth, Michael Hofmann (Author), David Rintoul (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Theatre of Glass and Shadows

"'Marvellous' Bridget Collins, The Sunday Times bestselling author of The Binding Sometimes the greatest spectacle hides the darkest secrets . . . In an alternate London, the city's Theatre District is a walled area south of the river where an immersive production - the Show - has been running for centuries, growing ever bigger, more sprawling and lavish. The Show is open to anyone who can afford a ticket but the District itself is a closed world; even the police have no jurisdiction within its walls. Juliet's mother died when she was a baby. Brought up by her emotionally distant father and even more distant stepmother, she has never felt wanted. It's only when her father passes away that Juliet - now nineteen - learns her birth was registered in the District. Desperate to belong somewhere at last, she travels to London where she hopes to unearth the truth about her identity, her mother's death and her father's years of silence - and claim her birthright. But in the District, there is only one central truth: the Show must go on. And in a world where illusions abound, and powerful men control the narrative, Juliet has no idea of just how far some will go to ensure certain stories are never told . . . For fans of The Miniaturist and The Doll Factory, The Theatre of Glass and Shadows is a place where nothing is as it seems. 'Original and captivating' Karen Coles, author of The Asylum"

Anne Corlett (Author), Helen Rueben (Narrator)

Audiobook

Butcher

"‘Simply the most consistently inventive, brilliant, curious and creative writer going’ GILLIAN FLYNN 'Gripping … Bravura storytelling' VOGUE 'A blood-soaked, gothic nightmare' FINANCIAL TIMES From one of our most accomplished storytellers, an extraordinary and arresting novel about a nineteenth-century women's asylum, and a terrifying doctor who wants to change the world. Humiliated by a procedure gone terribly wrong, Dr Silas Weir is forced to take a position at the New Jersey Asylum for Female Lunatics. There, his work focuses on women who have been neglected by the state – women he subjects to grotesque modes of experimentation. Based on authentic historical documents, Butcher is a nightmare voyage through the darkest regions of the American psyche. 'A ghastly and harrowing page-turner' STEPHEN KING, via X 'A triumph of style and brio’ FINANCIAL TIMES 'Terrifying' FLAUNT 'Vividly and compellingly-drawn' iNEWS"

Joyce Carol Oates (Author), Amy Shiels, Cassandra Campbell, Danny Campbell, Edoardo Ballerini, Jeremy Carlisle Parker, Max Meyers, Robert Fass, Tavia Gilbert (Narrator)

Audiobook

To Sing of War

"From the author of the Miles Franklin Award shortlisted Storyland, comes a rich, layered and thrilling novel of love, war and friendship, To Sing of War. Longlisted 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize 'Transcends the boundaries of historical fiction' Books+Publishing DECEMBER 1944 In New Guinea, a young Australian nurse, Lotte Wyld, chances upon her first love, Virgil Nicholson, a soldier in the Allies' hard-fought jungle campaign. At Los Alamos in the United States, idealistic physicists Miriam Carver and Fred Johnson join Robert Oppenheimer and a team of brilliant scientists in a collective dream to build a weapon that will stop all war, while Kitty Oppenheimer wrestles with restrictions on her freedom. And on the sacred island of Miyajima in Japan, Hiroko Narushima is doing her best to protect her family. Each of these people yearns to belong, yet each fiercely protects their independence. Secrets, misunderstandings and fears burden them; shame shapes them; hope and imagination lift them up. They are caught in a moment of history, both enthralled and appalled by actions they must undertake. A beautiful, rich and intricately woven novel, To Sing of War asks how one person can make a difference in a world that is wondrous, thrilling and endangered. It insists on our interconnectedness, hums with the energy of the world and is a blazingly powerful and deeply moving account of friendship, love and war. 'Deeply intelligent and very affecting' The Saturday Paper 'In an exquisite, braided narrative, To Sing of War reanimates World War II in a paean to the environment.' Australian Book Review 'To Sing of War is one of the best things I've read this year, sweeping and yet intimate, ambitious, lyrical, propelled by memorable characters you don't want to let go of ... a fluid sense of time, a strong evocation of place and events. It's a novel of big themes, boldly told.' Caroline Baum 'An intricately woven novel, straddling war, love and friendship.' Sydney Morning Herald 'This is a book I didn't want to end. Its story, characters, settings and portrayal of war's insidious barbarity are utterly compelling.' Good Reading Bookclub 'I read very quickly, was totally immersed in it, and then I noticed there were moments of birdsong, of nature, and of music and war; this idea of singing war, which goes back both to Virgil and also to something else, she references Brecht at the beginning, but there is something that she is doing there that I found terribly moving.' Kate Evans, ABC Radio, The Bookshelf 'Catherine McKinnon's last novel, the Miles Franklin-shortlisted Storyland, is one of the more striking Australian novels of recent years ... Her new novel, To Sing of War, is no less ambitious. Interweaving the stories of half a dozen characters spread across the planet, it traces them to their convergence in the moment when the bomb fell on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, wiping out tens of thousands of lives in a matter of seconds ... The real power of this deeply intelligent and very affecting novel flows from its awareness of what war does to those caught up in it.' James Bradley, The Saturday Paper 'War writing can sometimes be formulaic and cliched, but McKinnon seeks a grittier view of war's complexities. To Sing of War recognises the prevalence of sexual violence in wartime - something which is often overlooked in commemorations.' Brigid Magner, The Conversation"

Catherine Mckinnon (Author), Annabelle Tudor (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hold Back the Night: The most gripping, emotional novel you'll read this year

"'ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE' KATE SAWYER 'WILL GET UNDER YOUR SKIN AND LODGE ITSELF IN YOUR HEART' ERIN KELLY 'HEARTBREAKING AND LIFE-AFFIRMING' LOUISE HARE 'POWERFUL, TIMELY, IMPORTANT' BETH UNDERDOWN 'BEAUTIFUL, COMPLEX AND MOVING' PLATINUM MAGAZINE 'POWERFUL AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING' RED 'I URGE EVERYONE TO READ THIS NOVEL' ERICKA WALLER 'THESE CHARACTERS WILL WRAP AROUND YOUR HEART' ARAMINTA HALL From the Observer debut novelist of the year, comes a blistering, heart-wrenching new novel of complicity and atonement, delving into one nurse's experience of the little-known history of conversion therapy and the heart-breaking betrayal of the AIDS crisis. March 2020. Annie is alone in her house as the world shuts down, only the ghosts of her memories for company. But then she receives a phone call which plunges her deeper into the past. 1959. Annie and Rita are student nurses at Fairlie Hall mental hospital. Working long, gruelling hours, they soon learn that the only way to appease their terrifying matron is to follow the rules unthinkingly. But what is happening in the hospital's hidden side wards? And at what point does following the rules turn into complicity - and betrayal? 1983. Annie is reeling from the loss of her husband and struggling to face raising her daughter alone. Following a chance encounter, she offers a sick young man a bed for the night, a good deed that soon leads to another. Before long, she finds herself entering a new life of service - her home a haven for those who are cruelly shunned. But can we ever really atone? The powerful and captivating new novel from the celebrated author of KEEPER and YOUNG WOMEN, HOLD BACK THE NIGHT is Jessica Moor's most powerful and commercial book to date. A darkly compelling character-led novel, drawing on themes of complicity and betrayal, it is bursting with talking points and absolutely perfect for reading groups. Praise for HOLD BACK THE NIGHT and Jessica Moor: 'The literary sensation . . . heart-breaking' My Weekly 'Absolutely incredible. Intricate, heart-breaking, with perfect prose and characterisation. This is an author stepping into her power and it is a privilege to behold' Kate Sawyer, Costa shortlisted author of The Stranding and This Family 'Beautifully written and authentic, this novel shines an unflinching light on the darkest episodes of recent medical history. Hold Back The Night will get under your skin and lodge itself in your heart' Erin Kelly 'Powerful, at times gut-wrenching' Peter Tatchell 'Heart-breaking and life-affirming in equal measure. Dealing with the horrors of conversion therapy in the 1950s and the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, this is a story of redemption and hope as much as it is grief and shame. I absolutely loved it' Louise Hare 'Jessica Moor is a new young writer I believe in' Jeanette Winterson 'Heartbreaking and beautifully written' Heather Darwent 'A shocking, vital story that will never let you go. I urge everyone to read this novel. Jessica does not flinch away from the themes in this book, but writes with purposeful intent. She does not linger on the suffering, but shines a light on hope. An outstanding achievement' Ericka Waller 'Hold back the Night is a book about fear and power, the stories we tell ourselves and the people we hope to be. Beautiful and lyrical, these characters will wrap around your heart. I loved it' Araminta Hall"

Jessica Moor (Author), Elizabeth Bower (Narrator)

Audiobook

South: A Novel

"South is a hallucinatory reimagination of life in a world under totalitarianism, and an individual's quest for truth, agency, and understanding. 'A quiet meditation on imagination and reality, absence and presence, and the world around us. Lakghomi achieves a poetic and hypnotic effect with his tightly constructed, spare prose.' —Brandon Hobson, author of The Removed 'A Lynchian descent into the paranoia and alienation of totalitarianism, South is a haunting and dreamlike novel' —SHELF AWARENESS B, a journalist, travels to the South of an unnamed desert country for a mysterious mission to write a report about the recent strikes on an offshore oil rig. From the beginning of his trip, he is faced with a cruel and broken landscape of drought and decay, superstitious believers of evil winds and spirits, and corrupt entities focused on manipulation and censorship. As he tries to defend himself against his unknown enemies, we learn about his father's disappearance, his fading love with his wife, and his encounter with an unknown woman. A puzzle-like novel about totalitarianism, surveillance, alienation, and guilt that questions the forces that control us."

Babak Lakghomi (Author), Shawn K. Jain (Narrator)

Audiobook

Laurie Lee: A BBC Radio Collection: Cider with Rosie, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning & more

"A collection of full-cast dramatisations plus interviews with Laurie Lee Laurie Lee was a poet, novelist and screenwriter renowned for his bestselling autobiographical trilogy Cider With Rosie, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and A Moment of War. Among the best loved memoirs in the English language, the books chart Lee’s life from his boyhood summers in a remote Cotswold village to joining the Republican International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. Included here are dramatisations of the first two volumes, alongside a specially written radio play and four fascinating interview programmes. Cider with Rosie – Recorded on location in and around the Slad valley in Gloucestershire, this lyrical, evocative account of Laurie Lee’s childhood in the West Country just after the First World War stars Tim McInnerny and Niamh Cusack. As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning – It is the mid-1930s and 19-year-old Laurie sets out on foot to London, but soon finds himself en route to Spain. Accompanied by his trusty fiddle, he walks the length of the country – but as he reaches Almunecar, the Spanish Civil War begins… Featuring recordings made in Spain, this irresistible tale stars Jonathan Keeble as Laurie Lee. I Call Me Adam – Laurie Lee retells the story of the Bounty mutineers, as they occupy Pitcairn Island and try to create a new life there. Produced by the celebrated poet and playwright Louis MacNeice, this bloodthirsty take on what happened to Fletcher Christian and his crew stars Ralph Truman and Wilfred Babbage. Literary Walks: Laurie Lee – The poet and author takes Christopher Somerville on a stroll around Slad, where he grew up and where Cider with Rosie is set. Through My Window: Laurie Lee – Casting his eye over the countryside seen from his window, Laurie Lee waxes lyrical over the view that inspired his most famous work. Laurie Lee’s Long Sleep – This interview with Christopher Cooke from 1989 sees Lee discussing his own sense of mortality. These thoughts are accompanied by a reading of poems and tributes from his 1997 Thanksgiving Service. Laurie Lee’s final interview – In this last radio interview, recorded in 1997 by BBC Radio Gloucestershire's Mark Hurrell, Laurie Lee talks about the inspiration for Cider With Rosie, his epic walk from Stroud to Spain and his love for the landscape around his beloved home village. Text copyright © Laurie Lee 1959 (Cider with Rosie, I Call Me Adam), 1969 (As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning) Credits Written by Laurie Lee Cider with Rosie Dramatised by Nick Darke Music arranged and performed by Paul Burgess Directed by Viv Beeby and Jeremy Howe First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 12-19 Apr 1998 As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning Dramatised by Christopher Denys Music arranged and played by Chris Leslie Directed by Peter Leslie Wild First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 27 Aug 2000 I Call Me Adam Production by Louis MacNeice First broadcast BBC Third Programme, 1 Nov 1959 Literary Walks: Laurie Lee Produced by Jude Howells First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 22 Sep 1985 Through My Window: Laurie Lee Produced by John Harrison First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 5 Aug 1981 Laurie Lee’s Long Sleep Produced by Chris Eldon Lee First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 25 Oct 1997 Laurie Lee’s final radio interview First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 28 Apr 2014 © 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd"

Laurie Lee (Author), Emily Parish, Full Cast, Jonathan Keeble, Laurie Lee, Niamh Cusack, Ralph Truman, Sunny Leworthy, Tim Mcinnerny (Narrator)

Audiobook

Mouthing

"Brought to you by Penguin. Sharp-eyed and sharp-tongued, a multigenerational portrait of small-town life in Ireland from a refreshing new talent in literary fiction Welcome to Ballyrowan. This sleepy corner of rural Ireland may seem tranquil, but scratch the surface and you'll find a hotbed of gossip and intrigue - endless material for mouthing - and a town full of people only too happy to oblige in spreading the bad news. Narrated by several generations of villagers, Mouthing traces the fortunes of one small community from the mid-20th century to the early 21st, in a series of highly confessional and darkly hilarious monologues. The good people of Ballyrowan delight in twisting the knife, in tormenting one another, in perfecting the art of schadenfreude. And, it becomes clear, none of them are entirely reliable witnesses. As each character offers their version of 'the truth', upending our assumptions at every turn, we see how feuds are passed down through the generations, how families are estranged or reunited and fortunes made or lost, how strict social expectations can shift and loosen over decades (and how some things remain stubbornly unchanged). And we see how secret hopes and private sorrows, triumph and humiliation, pleasure and grief are all absorbed into the merciless chorus of mouthing. Mouthing is an acerbic, unsentimental love letter to rural Irish life, where everyone knows everyone else's business and everyone has an opinion on it - where 'community' is both a lifeboat and a life sentence. 'A bittersweet love letter to small-town Irish life over several generations, in the vein of Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge' Irish Times, 'Fiction to look out for in 2024' ©2024 Orla Mackey (P)2024 Penguin Audio"

Orla Mackey (Author), Jessica Regan, Stephen Hogan (Narrator)

Audiobook

Literary Fiction Audiobooks in Literature