A Good Hard Look Audiobook By Ann Napolitano cover art

A Good Hard Look

A Novel

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

A Good Hard Look

By: Ann Napolitano
Narrated by: Debra Monk
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $15.75

Buy for $15.75

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

From the New York Times bestselling author of Hello Beautiful and Dear Edward, a novel set in Flannery O'Connor's hometown of Milledgeville, and a tragedy that forever alters the town and the author herself

"A wholly believable world shaped by duty, small pleasures, and fateful choices."—O, The Oprah Magazine

Forced by illness to leave behind a successful life in New York, literary icon Flannery O'Connor has returned to her family farm in the small town of Milledgeville, Georgia. With her health and time both limited, all she wants is to be left alone to write.

But Flannery's plans are soon upended by Melvin Whiteson, a banker from Manhattan who has recently married the town belle. Melvin is at loose ends with his new life; though he has every opportunity, he's not sure where to begin. Flannery knows exactly what she wants, but is running out of time. Through their unusual and clandestine friendship, both will come to reflect on the decisions they have made and the paths they have chosen.

Literary history and fiction gracefully intersect in this emotionally charged novel of small town Southern life, which asks us all to consider how we can live our lives to the fullest.

©2011 Ann Napolitano (P)2011 Penguin Biographical Fiction Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Romance Biography Heartfelt Tearjerking

Critic reviews

“In A Good Hard Look, Ann Napolitano creates a fictional version of the life of the acclaimed southern writer that is as vibrantly colorful as the peacocks raised on the O’Connor family farm in Milledgeville, Georgia…Napolitano makes no attempt to mimic O’Connor’s singular style, but she does succeed in creating a wholly believable world shaped by duty, small pleasures, and fateful choices.”—O Magazine

“Napolitano’s protagonist is a marvelously outspoken, uncompromising force who becomes the impetus for several fictional Milledgeville residents to reassess and radically alter their lives…[Napolitano] has spun an absorbing, old-fashioned tale about how, as in Flannery O’Connor’s stories, ‘Grace changes a person….And change is painful.’”—The Washington Post

“To brand this a quaint period piece…would be doing Napolitano’s evocative tale of friendship and community a disservice.”—Entertainment Weekly
Beautiful Writing • Compelling Characters • Rich Storytelling • Emotional Impact • Masterful Performance
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
The story is good and it’s read well. Keeps you interested the whole way. Thanks.

Great

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An interesting look at the intertwined lives of big town and small town people in Milledgeville GA

Interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I really enjoy Ann Napolitano’s books. The characters in this one pull you in and feel so real. I finished listening to it in 2 days!! Like all her books, this one is excellent.

Another excellent novel

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved the analogy with the birds and very well narrated. Didn’t think I was going to like it at first but I really did! The author can tell a story very well!

Very good story!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The first half of the book is a slow go, but it is worth it

Beautiful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed this book but was disappointed at the end felt like author was just too tired to finish would have loved a more final sentiment after getting to know the characters.. I will miss them all

loved it but...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I love a story that gives me
A good view of a real person. Although this is
Story, the peek into this amazing author’s life was both entertaining and fulfilling. The characters built around her and how they touched each other’s lives is unwound with so much grace. I didn’t even see the plot twist coming until it hit me
Square on in te face.

Historical Historical Fiction

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I only read 4 1/2 stars and up, as a rule. I rarely give five stars. If I liked it, I give 4 stars and I usually don’t review books that I didn’t like a lot. I get five stars when a book is poignant and memorable and leaves a lasting impression. This book was amazing and brilliantly presented.

A rare five star

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A really engrossing story superbly narrated. Really brought Flannery O’Connor to life. Fully dimensional in the character development.

Amazing Story!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Loved the peacocks and small town brought to life. Sad and compelling characters. The author is very skilled at coveting rich stories of family drama.

Great listen with compelling story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews