A Spot of Bother
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Simon Vance
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By:
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Mark Haddon
About this listen
George Hall is an unobtrusive man. A little distant, perhaps, a little cautious, not quite at ease with the emotional demands of fatherhood or of manly bonhomie. “The secret of contentment, George felt, lay in ignoring many things completely.” Some things in life can’t be ignored, however: his tempestuous daughter Katie’s deeply inappropriate boyfriend Ray, for instance, or the sudden appearance of a red circular rash on his hip.
At 57, George is settling down to a comfortable retirement, building a shed in his garden and enjoying the freedom to be alone when he wants. But then he runs into a spot of bother. That red circular rash on his hip: George convinces himself it’s skin cancer. And the deeply inappropriate Ray? Katie announces he will become her second husband. The planning for these frowned-upon nuptials proves a great inconvenience to George’s wife, Jean, who is carrying on a late-life affair with her husband’s ex-colleague. The Halls do not approve of Ray, for vague reasons summed up by their son Jamie’s observation that Ray has “strangler’s hands.”
Jamie himself has his own problems—his tidy and pleasant life comes apart when he fails to invite his lover, Tony, to Katie’s wedding. And Katie, a woman whose ferocious temper once led to the maiming of a carjacker, can’t decide if she loves Ray, or loves the wonderful way he has with her son Jacob. Unnoticed in the uproar, George quietly begins to go mad. The way these damaged people fall apart—and come together—as a family is the true subject of Haddon’s hilarious and disturbing portrait of a dignified man trying to go insane politely.
A Spot of Bother is Mark Haddon’s unforgettable follow-up to the internationally beloved best seller The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. Once again, Haddon proves a master of a story at once hilarious, poignant, dark, and profoundly human. Here the madness—literally—of family life proves rich comic fodder for Haddon’s crackling prose and bittersweet insights into misdirected love.
©2006 Mark Haddon (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Fun and Absorbing
- By Jen Griffin on 10-15-15
By: Emily Barr
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The Scent of You
- By: Maggie Alderson
- Narrated by: Zara Ramm
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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A tale of perfumes, exploring life, love, loss and forgiveness - Maggie Alderson's new best seller. Are you still married if you haven't seen your husband for months? Polly's life is great. Her children are away at uni, her glamorous mother - still modelling at 85 - is happily settled in a retirement village, and her perfume blog is taking off. Then her husband announces he needs some space and promptly vanishes. As Polly grapples with her bewildering situation, she clings to a few new friends to keep her going.
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Okay for a light read
- By Robin on 10-26-17
By: Maggie Alderson
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After the Party
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Helen Duff
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In this irresistible novel from the author of Then She Was Gone, Jem and Ralph discover the power of starting over after 11 years together have left them drifting apart.
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Bitter, Anti-Christian Stereotyping Detracts.
- By Gretchen on 11-23-18
By: Lisa Jewell
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Obsession
- By: Amanda Robson
- Narrated by: Stephanie Racine, Helen Keeley, Thomas Judd, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Carly and Rob, Jenni and Craig. Two couples, four friends. Betraying each other. Wanting each other. All of them have access to prescription drugs through the medical practice where they work, and all of them are fighting their own demons. But can any of them be trusted? And when the lies begin, can they ever be silenced?
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Your old time religion
- By patricia williams on 01-23-18
By: Amanda Robson
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The Third Wife
- A Novel
- By: Lisa Jewell
- Narrated by: Joe Jameson
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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In the early hours of a summer morning, a young woman steps into the path of an oncoming bus. A tragic accident? Or suicide? At the center of this puzzle is Adrian Wolfe, a successful architect and grief-stricken widower, who, a year after his third wife's death, begins to investigate the cause. As Adrian looks back on their brief but seemingly happy marriage, disturbing secrets begin to surface. The divorces from his two previous wives had been amicable, or so it seemed; his children, all five of them, were resilient as ever, or so he thought.
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Not a mystery
- By Susan on 07-06-18
By: Lisa Jewell
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The Playdate
- By: Louise Millar
- Narrated by: Clare Corbett
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Single mother Callie has come to rely heavily on her best friend Suzy. But Callie suspects Suzy's life isn't as simple as it seems. It's time she pulled away - going back to work is just the first step towards rediscovering her old confidence. So why does she keep putting off telling Suzy about her new job? And who will care for her rather frail daughter, Rae, while she is gone?
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Very Good
- By Delah on 05-03-12
By: Louise Millar
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Us: A Novel
- By: David Nicholls
- Narrated by: David Haig
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that seduces beautiful Connie into a second date...and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades later, they live more or less happily in the London suburbs with their moody seventeen year-old son, Albie. Then Connie tells him she thinks she wants a divorce. The timing couldn’t be worse. Connie has planned a month-long tour of European capitals, a chance to experience the world’s greatest works of art as a family, and she can’t bring herself to cancel. And maybe going ahead is for the best anyway? Douglas is privately convinced that this landmark trip will rekindle the romance in the marriage, and might even help him to bond with Albie. Narrated from Douglas’s endearingly honest, slyly witty, and at times achingly optimistic point of view, Us is the story of a man trying to rescue his relationship with the woman he loves, and learning how to get closer to a son who’s always felt like a stranger.
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Great novel - my favorite in years
- By Mark on 07-21-15
By: David Nicholls
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Walking Back to Happiness
- By: Lucy Dillon
- Narrated by: Jilly Bond
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Juliet’s been in hiding - from her family, from her broken life, but most of all from the fact that Ben’s not around anymore. Her mother, Diane, has run out of advice. But then she insists Juliet look after her elderly Labrador and it becomes apparent that Coco the dog might actually be the one who can rescue her daughter. Especially when it leads to her walking dogs for a few other locals too, including a spaniel, Damson, who belongs to a very attractive man.... Before she knows it, Juliet realizes she has somehow become the town’s unofficial pet-sitter.
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Great Read - makes you appreciate what you have
- By Leisha on 12-10-12
By: Lucy Dillon
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Putney
- A Novel
- By: Sofka Zinovieff
- Narrated by: Michelle Ford
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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In the spirit of Zoë Heller’s Notes on a Scandal and Tom Perrotta’s Mrs. Fletcher, an explosive and thought-provoking novel about the far-reaching repercussions of an illicit relationship between a young girl and a man 20 years her senior. Masterfully told from three diverse viewpoints - victim, perpetrator, and witness - Putney is a subtle and enormously powerful novel about consent, agency, and what we tell ourselves to justify what we do, and what others do to us.
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One of the greatest stories of all time!
- By Valarie on 06-17-20
By: Sofka Zinovieff
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Land of the Living
- By: Nicci French
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Abbie Devereaux lies flat on her back, her arms and legs tied down, her head covered with a hood. She senses the eyes that watch her. She feels the unknown hands that touch her in the dark. She knows she has been kidnapped but has little memory of her recent past. And she knows that all she has to do is stay alive, even though everything she is experiencing tells her she won't.
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A good yarn
- By Jacque on 09-15-15
By: Nicci French
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Sister Sister
- A truly absorbing psychological thriller
- By: Sue Fortin
- Narrated by: Helen Keeley
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Alice: beautiful, kind, manipulative, liar. Clare: intelligent, loyal, paranoid, jealous. Clare thinks Alice is a manipulative liar who is trying to steal her life. Alice thinks Clare is jealous of her long-lost return and place in their family. One of them is telling the truth. The other is a maniac. Two sisters. One truth.
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Wow, that was intense!
- By Wayne on 04-21-17
By: Sue Fortin
What listeners say about A Spot of Bother
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Jingle
- 06-27-11
absolutely hysterical!
great imagery and the narrator is spot on. i never laugh out loud at books....this is the exception.
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Overall
- Book Club Gal
- 09-29-06
Bother with this one
Bother with it. This very nicely written and excellently narrated novel details the events of yet another dysfunctional British family as the days peel away toward the matriarchal daughter's second wedding. The father, George, is rapidly deteriorating into a pleasantly numb malaise, while his wife sleeps with an ex-colleague, his gay son's relationship falls apart and his daughter veers away from then back to marriage.
A good read with wonderful descriptions and details of this family's life. Oddly, the story occasionally drifts into nearly graphic sex, focusing mostly on Jamie's gay relationship. On the whole, however, full of laughs and pathos and insights. Read it, especially for the narrator's brilliant voice characterizations.
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10 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Kathy
- 11-17-09
Very dry very funny
Enjoyed this thoroughly. Notwithstanding the main character's life is falling apart and he is experiencing some life-wrenching events, many of the descriptions are laugh out loud funny. Very different from Curious Dog but equally well done.
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- martini
- 11-19-20
One of my top 10 favorite books! Of all time.
I listened to this book when it came out and have listened to it probably every year since then. I LOVE this book - story, narrator, the whole enchilada! Each time I listen, I hear it in a new way. Some years it is sad watching George go through his anxiety, some years I cannot stop laughing at the absurdity of the whole situation! Last year I hosted our daughters wedding at our home... funny! Different characters speak to me when I’m going through different things and I have found all of them to be so real and flawed and wonderful. Anyone who has had anxiety throw them for a loop will recognize the circular thinking and ridiculous logic. And the book/narrator just puts it out there... it’s not judging, solving or explaining, it’s just telling it as it rolls through the characters heads. Hilarious, sad and comforting. “A wonderful, wonderful” book.
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- Cindy
- 11-28-22
Wonderful
Lots of fun and Mr Vance does a fabulous narration. I have listened many times and continue to enjoy it.
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Overall
- Matthea
- 04-18-08
Fun and poignant
I wasn't sure what to expect after listening to The Curious Incident, which I *loved*, but Harmon delivered on this one, too. Narrated from several characters' viewpoints, the listener gets inside a British family's joys and flaws, laughing and sympathizing the whole way through. When my iPod runs out of whatever's new in the car, I've returned to this story with pleasure. Enjoyable.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Mary McKinney
- 01-17-11
Wonderful Characters, Sweet Story
Although "A Spot of Bother" can't compare to Hadden's fabulous "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" it is still an entertaining and endearing story. This book reminds me a lot of the work of Nick Hornby with it's quirky British characters and laugh-out-loud details.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Loves2Read
- 06-23-19
Hilarious and Poignant
I couldn't stop listening to this book because I had to know how it all worked itself out.
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- Jess
- 08-03-17
morose characters lacking development
for being a book centered on drama, it was surprisingly mundane.
Highlights: The author kneads the tension and discomfort of the characters methodically.
Low points: no character development.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Johnna
- 07-24-08
Excellent!
This is a great story from beginning to end. Highly recommended.
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