Literary Fiction Audiobooks | Literature

"Megan and Kit met in their early twenties. Their friendship was intense, wild and true. Years later, when Kit becomes desperately unwell, Megan tries to pull her old friend back from the precipice, navigating the difficulties of revisiting a relationship conceived in the great freedom of youth, whilst attempting to remain fully present in the messy beauty of her family life. Kit is a story of the sumptuous complication – and precariousness – of life and relationships. It describes a call to intimacy in a state of emergency. It is a story of one life disrupted as another moves toward its end. Told in a spare, winding prose-poem, with a voice reminiscent of Max Porter or Kae Tempest, Kit is a splintered, powerful work of empathy, friendship and unconditional love. "

Megan Barker (Author), Maxine Peake (Narrator)

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Renaissance: A Novel

"Elizabeth Fane is on the cusp of 50, but instead of celebrating with her family, she is on a plane to Italy alone, leaving behind her husband, three adult sons, and the profound rift between them. In Italy Liz plans to prune olive trees at a convent, explore the city of Florence, and visit its ancient cathedrals. There she meets four women— five if you count the large painting of the Virgin Mary— with whom she converses regularly. While at first these conversations with the painting are ironic (and are always one-sided), eventually they turn to become another way for Liz to consider the rift between her and her family. Liz gradually reveals why she left home and sorts out what it will take for her to return. Renaissance is a story about a woman of a certain age — a novel about the end of motherhood as Liz steps out of longstanding domestic roles to find her own place in the world."

Susan Fish (Author), Rachel McKendree (Narrator)

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[Portuguese] - Querido você,

"Quem é você quando não estão te olhando? Uma proposta feita por um professor para explicar as interações sociais na internet vem com um exercício inusitado: que os alunos se correspondam anonimamente em um ambiente virtual. Alunos que mal se conhecem fora da escola. Gaia e Nix, dois pseudônimos de estudantes que não sabem nada um do outro, passam a trocar mensagens profundas e a descobrir sentimentos em comum. Então, uma amizade virtual surge, um ponto de confiança e apoio na vida de ambos. Mas quem é Gaia e quem é Nix fora da internet? A conexão é verdadeira e capaz de sair das redes para a vida real? Até onde o nosso afeto não depende da imagem, toque e presença? Com sensibilidade e criatividade, Chris Melo, nos fará pensar sobre as várias pessoas que costumamos ser para conseguirmos viver em sociedade e os escudos que criamos para nos sentirmos seguros nessa convivência. Refletiremos sobre como nascem nossos amores, como os mantemos e, principalmente, porque as relações — virtuais ou não — acabam."

Chris Melo (Author), Sanny Alves (Narrator)

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[Spanish] - Pinata

"Carmen Sánchez está de regreso en su país de origen, México, supervisando la renovación de una antigua catedral en un hotel boutique. Sus hijas adolescentes, Izel y Luna, están con ella durante el verano y se fueron a pasar las tardes sin supervisión en una ciudad extranjera. Los lugareños tratan a las mujeres Sánchez como forasteras, mientras que los contratistas de Carmen desafían y sabotean abiertamente su trabajo. Después de un accidente desastroso en el sitio de construcción que casi hiere a Luna, Carmen ya tuvo suficiente. Se ven de vuelta en Nueva York, Luna comienza a actuar de manera extraña, y solo Izel nota los escalofriantes cambios que le ocurren a su hermana menor. Pero podría ser demasiado tarde para que la familia Sánchez escape de lo que ha despertado... Piñata es una historia escalofriante sobre cómo las siniestras repercusiones de nuestro pasado pueden volver a atormentarnos."

Leopoldo Gout (Author), Patricia Loranca Ochoa (Narrator)

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Witness

"‘Brinkley’s sentences are daggers’ RAVEN LEILANI ‘Extraordinary … moving, compelling and virtuosic’ OBSERVER ‘A triumph’ COLIN BARRETT An electric collection of stories set in contemporary New York, from the award-winning author of A Lucky Man and National Book Award finalist, Jamel Brinkley. What does it mean to take action? To bear witness? What does it cost? These stories take us into the heart of contemporary New York City and its residents’ lives. We meet children, grandmothers and even ghosts as they strive to connect, to stand up for, and to really see each other. Their relationships shape not only their own futures but those of their families and their city. In its portraits of families and friendships, Witness enacts its own testimony. Here is a world where fortunes can be made and stolen in a generation, where strangers sometimes show kindness while those we trust—doctors, employers, siblings—too often turn away, where joy comes in snatches. With prose as upendingly beautiful as it is artfully crafted, Jamel Brinkley offers nothing less than the full scope of life and death and change in the great, unending drama of the city. ‘Exhilarating and impactful … Each story is a gift’ New York Times ‘A dazzling collection by a masterful storyteller’ Yiyun Li, author of The Book of Goose ‘Read everything this man writes, and regard the world anew’ Justin Torres, author of We the Animals ‘Jamel Brinkley is brilliant, the real thing, a revelation’ Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You ‘These are stories of rare beauty and insight, that glitter with humour and hurt, written with lambent clarity and tenderness’ David Hayden, author of Darker With the Lights On ‘There is all the involvedness and complexity of a novel in each story, which makes Witness so abundant and wise. A brilliant writer’ Caoilinn Hughes, author of The Wild Laughter ‘Read Witness and allow yourself the pleasure of seeing the world as Brinkley sees it' Angela Flournoy, author of The Turner House"

Jamel Brinkley (Author), Greg Lockett (Narrator)

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The Keeper of Hidden Books: A Novel

"A NATIONAL BESTSELLER-for fans of All the Light We Cannot See and The Tattooist of Auschwitz! A BookBub Pick for Best Historical Fiction of Summer 2023 A heartwarming story about the power of books to bring us together, inspired by the true story of the underground library in WWII Warsaw, by the New York Times bestselling author of The Last Bookshop in London. All her life, Zofia has found comfort in two things during times of hardship: books and her best friend, Janina. But no one could have imagined the horrors of the Nazi occupation in Warsaw. As the bombs rain down and Hitler's forces loot and destroy the city, Zofia finds that now books are also in need of saving. With the death count rising and persecution intensifying, Zofia jumps to action to save her friend and salvage whatever books she can from the wreckage, hiding them away, and even starting a clandestine book club. She and her dearest friend never surrender their love of reading, even when Janina is forced into the newly formed ghetto. But the closer Warsaw creeps toward liberation, the more dangerous life becomes for the women and their families - and escape may not be possible for everyone. As the destruction rages around them, Zofia must fight to save her friend and preserve her culture and community using the only weapon they have left - literature. "Readers will be on the edge of their seats as they are transported…with Madeline Martin's vivid and inspiring characters." -Kelly Rimmer, author of The Warsaw Orphan "Madeline Martin immerses us in the expertly rendered and fascinating worlds." -Natasha Lester, author of The Riviera House Don't miss Madeline Martin's next heartwarming historical novel, The Booklover's Library! Also by Madeline Martin: - The Librarian Spy - The Last Bookshop in London"

Madeline Martin (Author), Saskia Maarleveld (Narrator)

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Western Alliances: A Novel

"'Caroline Hewitt narrates this tale of the wealthy Costa family so intimately that listeners will be convinced she has insider status with this dysfunctional group.'- AudioFile From the New York Times-bestselling author of Lookaway, Lookaway, Wilton Barnhardt’s Western Alliances is a vivid portrait of a wealthy family set against the backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis. This laugh-out-loud, darkly funny novel follows the Costa family—whose members are every bit as richly absurd as the characters in HBO’s Succession. Salvador, the patriarch, runs one of Wall Street’s biggest banks the summer before everything collapses; Roberto and Rachel, his two children, have never worked a day in their lives; and Lena, his ex-wife, is a scheming hypochondriac. Part travelogue, part epic family drama, the novel follows Roberto and Rachel across Europe as the two dilettantes come to terms with their father’s choices and the repercussions of his actions. Oozing with his signature satire and biting wit, Barnhardt invites listeners on a literary romp from an elegant Paris apartment to a hilariously-inept London hotel, ancient churches and crypts to gleaming Mediterranean coasts, hot dog stands in Providence, Rhode Island to the best places in Manhattan, and terrifying encounters in the Serbian countryside to dangerous liaisons in Moscow, as two grown-up rich kids are forced to come of age at last. In Western Alliances Barnhardt he delivers a riveting saga examining privilege, loyalty, ambition, and what family members owe to one another. A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press."

Wilton Barnhardt (Author), Caroline Hewitt (Narrator)

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The Peach Seed: A Novel

"'Anita Gail Jones's narration transports listeners across centuries and continents as she details the complex history of a Southern Black family.'- AudioFile This program is read by the author, who brings more than twenty-five years of experience as a professional oral-tradition storyteller of global folklore as well as original and personal stories from her southwest Georgia upbringing. Fletcher Dukes and Altovise Benson reunite after decades apart—and a mountain of secrets—in this debut exploring the repercussions of a single choice and how an enduring talisman challenges and holds a family together. On a routine trip to the Piggly Wiggly in Albany, Georgia, widower Fletcher Dukes smells a familiar perfume, then sees a tall woman the color of papershell pecans with a strawberry birthmark on the nape of her neck. He knows immediately that she is his lost love, Altovise Benson. Their bond, built on county fairs, sit-ins, and marches, once seemed a sure and forever thing. But their marriage plans were disrupted when the police turned a peaceful protest violent. Before Altovise fled the South, Fletcher gave her a peach seed monkey with diamond eyes. As we learn via harrowing flashbacks, an enslaved ancestor on the coast of South Carolina carved the first peach seed, a talisman that, ever since, each father has gifted his son on his thirteenth birthday. Giving one to Altovise initiated a break in tradition, irrevocably shaping the lives of generations of Dukeses. Recently, Fletcher has made do on his seven acres with his daughter Florida’s check-ins, his drop biscuits, and his faithful dog. But as he begins to reckon with long-ago choices, he finds he isn’t the only one burdened with unspoken truths. An indelible portrait of a family, The Peach Seed explores how kin pass down legacies of sorrow, joy, and strength. And it is a parable of how a glimmer of hope as small as a seed can ripple across generations. A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt & Company."

Anita Gail Jones (Author), Anita Gail Jones (Narrator)

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The Great Transition: A Novel

"This richly imaginative, immersive, and "electrifyingly relevant" (William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author) debut novel follows a shocking disappearance amid the climate crisis of our near future—perfect for fans of Station Eleven and The Last Thing He Told Me. Emi Vargas, whose parents helped save the world, is tired of being told how lucky she is to have been born after the climate crisis. But following the public assassination of a dozen climate criminals, Emi's mother, Kristina, disappears as a possible suspect, and Emi's illusions of utopia are shattered. A determined Emi and her father, Larch, journey from their home in Nuuk, Greenland to New York City, now a lightly populated storm-surge outpost built from the ruins of the former metropolis. But they aren't the only ones looking for Kristina. Thirty years earlier, Larch first came to New York with a team of volunteers to save the city from rising waters and torrential storms. Kristina was on the frontlines of a different battle, fighting massive wildfires that ravaged the western United States. They became part of a movement that changed the world—The Great Transition—forging a new society and finding each other in process. Alternating between Emi's desperate search for her mother and a meticulously rendered, heart-stopping account of her parents' experiences during The Great Transition, this novel beautifully shows how our actions today determine our fate tomorrow. A triumphant debut, The Great Transition is "a book for the present and the future—read this and you will be changed" (Michelle Min Sterling, New York Times bestselling author)."

Nick Fuller Googins (Author), Stacy Carolan, Stacy Gonzalez (Narrator)

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The Good Daughter

"Brought to you by Penguin. A gripping novel set inside a cult, where the obedient daughter of the Pastor is the only survivor of a tragedy Perfect for fans of Louise O’Neill, Girl A and Good me, Bad Me by Ali Land A fire burns Abigail’s parents’ house to the ground. Takes her parents too. She’s the only survivor. The congregation of South Carolina’s New America Baptist Church rallies round. They won’t let troublemakers near: gawkers, outsiders, the police. All they ever wanted was to protect innocents like Abigail from a corrupt world. And hasn’t Abigail always been perfect? A good daughter? So why have the police got questions? Why doesn’t Abigail’s story add up? And when did the church get so suspicious? Abigail survived the fire. But can she survive the coming storm? 'A stark, stunning and deeply affecting thriller. I loved it' Chris Whitaker 'A powerful Southern Gothic thriller about the dangers of blind faith, the strength of women, and the deceptive nature of memory' Anna Bailey ‘An eerie, chilling, gorgeously written novel that is unafraid to challenge and question its subject matter' Laurie Elizabeth Flynn ‘Thrilling’ Prima ©2023 Laure Van Rensburg (P)2023 Penguin Audio"

Laure Van Rensburg (Author), Carl Prekopp, Christopher Thompson, Ina Marie Smith, Kate Handford (Narrator)

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A Council of Dolls: A Novel

"LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD The long-awaited, profoundly moving, and unforgettable new novel from PEN Award–winning Native American author Mona Susan Power, spanning three generations of Yanktonai Dakota women from the 19th century to the present day. From the mid-century metropolis of Chicago to the windswept ancestral lands of the Dakota people, to the bleak and brutal Indian boarding schools, A Council of Dolls is the story of three women, told in part through the stories of the dolls they carried…. Sissy, born 1961: Sissy’s relationship with her beautiful and volatile mother is difficult, even dangerous, but her life is also filled with beautiful things, including a new Christmas present, a doll called Ethel. Ethel whispers advice and kindness in Sissy’s ear, and in one especially terrifying moment, maybe even saves Sissy’s life. Lillian, born 1925: Born in her ancestral lands in a time of terrible change, Lillian clings to her sister, Blanche, and her doll, Mae. When the sisters are forced to attend an “Indian school” far from their home, Blanche refuses to be cowed by the school’s abusive nuns. But when tragedy strikes the sisters, the doll Mae finds her way to defend the girls. Cora, born 1888: Though she was born into the brutal legacy of the “Indian Wars,” Cora isn’t afraid of the white men who remove her to a school across the country to be “civilized.” When teachers burn her beloved buckskin and beaded doll Winona, Cora discovers that the spirit of Winona may not be entirely lost… A modern masterpiece, A Council of Dolls is gorgeous, quietly devastating, and ultimately hopeful, shining a light on the echoing damage wrought by Indian boarding schools, and the historical massacres of Indigenous people. With stunning prose, Mona Susan Power weaves a spell of love and healing that comes alive on the page."

Mona Susan Power (Author), Isabella Star Lablanc (Narrator)

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What You Are Looking for is in the Library

"Brought to you by Penguin. The heartwarming Japanese bestseller for fans of Matt Haig, Fredrik Backman and THE CAT WHO SAVED BOOKS 'Library. What a nice-sounding word. So comforting. I feel like I'm a student again. Library ... Am I allowed to borrow books?' 'What are you looking for?' asks Tokyo's most enigmatic librarian, Sayuri Komachi. She is no ordinary librarian. Naturally, she has read every book on her shelf, but she also has the unique ability to read the souls of anyone who walks through her door. Sensing exactly what they're looking for in life, she provides just the book recommendation they never knew they needed to help them find it. Every borrower in her library is at a different crossroads, from the restless retail assistant - can she ever get out of a dead-end job? - to the juggling new mother who dreams of becoming a magazine editor, and the meticulous accountant who yearns to own an antique store. The surprise book Komachi lends to each will have transformative consequences. Magical and uplifting, What You Are Looking for is in the Library is about the wondrousness of libraries and the power of books for change. Highlighting all the tiny comforts of being alive, it is a story that no reader will ever forget. ©2023 Michiko Aoyama (P)2023 Penguin Audio"

Michiko Aoyama (Author), Hanako Footman, Kenichiro Thomson, Shiro Kawai, Susan Momoko Hingley, Winson Ting (Narrator)

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Literary Fiction Audiobooks in Literature