Big Girl, Small Town
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Narrated by:
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Nicola Coughlan
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By:
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Michelle Gallen
About this listen
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD
FINALIST FOR THE IRISH BOOK AWARD FOR NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
FINALIST FOR THE COMEDY WOMEN IN PRINT PRIZE
“Darkly hilarious . . . Wildly entertaining.”—The Guardian
Meet Majella O’Neill, a heroine like no other, performed by Nicola Coughlan, star of Derry Girls.
Majella is happiest out of the spotlight, away from her neighbors’ stares and the gossips of the small town in Northern Ireland where she grew up just after the Troubles. She lives a quiet life caring for her alcoholic mother, working in the local chip shop, watching the regular customers come and go. She wears the same clothes each day (overalls, too small), has the same dinner each night (fish and chips, microwaved at home after her shift ends), and binge-watches old DVDs of the same show (Dallas, best show on TV) from the comfort of her bed.
But underneath Majella’s seemingly ordinary life are the facts that she doesn’t know where her father is and that every person in her town has been changed by the lingering divide between Protestants and Catholics. When Majella’s predictable existence is upended by the death of her granny, she comes to realize there may be more to life than the gossips of Aghybogey, the pub, and the chip shop. In fact, there just may be a whole big world outside her small town.
Told in a highly original voice, with a captivating heroine listeners will love and root for, Big Girl, Small Town will appeal to fans of Sally Rooney, Ottessa Moshfegh, and accessible literary fiction with an edge.
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Critic reviews
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Best Book of 2020
“An immensely lovable debut novel . . . Gallen manages to evoke in us a wave of complex feelings. It’s the kind of magic you’ll feel lucky to find.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post
“Irish newcomer Michelle Gallen debuts with a hysterically honest and moving portrait of a young girl on the autism spectrum, her irresponsible mother, and the residents of a small Irish village just after the Troubles.”—Parade
“An inventively foulmouthed gem of a novel . . . Majella, our clear-eyed protagonist, is far more than a gifted wisecracker . . . Majella is a welcome addition to the diverse family of protagonists that includes young Christopher Boone in Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Hesketh Lock in Liz Jensen’s The Uninvited, and Keiko in Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman, all of whom perceive reality through a similar lens . . . In this oddly affecting novel of everyday defeats, [Majella’s] triumph is more thrilling than any army’s victory.”—The Wall Street Journal
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Astrid Bell has known most of her roommates for years, but while they have a history together - romantic pairings, one-night stands, friendships - each of them also has a past. Astrid is on her way home one day when her neighbor knocks her off her bike. Seeing she is bruised but not broken, her roommates help her home. The next day, they learn that same neighbor was beaten to death hours later. Each of them tells the police what they know and are dismissed - until Astrid stumbles over another body.
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My First Nicci French Novel recommended Goodreads
- By Beverly on 12-18-11
By: Nicci French
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Earthly Delights
- By: Kerry Greenwood
- Narrated by: Louise Siversen
- Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Baking is an alchemical process for Corinna Chapman. At four am she starts work at Earthly Delights, her bakery in Calico Alley. But one morning Corinna receives a threatening note saying 'The wages of sin is death' and finds a syringe in her cat's paw. A blue-faced junkie has collapsed in the dark alley and a mysterious man with beautiful eyes appears with a plan for Corinna and her bread. Then it is Goths, dead drug addicts, witchcraft, a homeless boy and a missing girl and it seems she will never get those muffins cooked in time.
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Don't know why I waited so long.
- By S. Sarabasha on 09-13-13
By: Kerry Greenwood
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Pearl in a Cage
- By: Joy Dettman
- Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein
- Length: 20 hrs and 32 mins
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On a balmy midsummer's evening in 1923, a young woman - foreign, dishevelled and heavily pregnant - is found unconscious just off the railway tracks in the tiny logging community of Woody Creek. The town midwife, Gertrude Foote, is roused from her bed when the woman is brought to her door. Try as she might, Gertrude is unable to save her, but the baby lives.
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Pearl in a Cage
- By Verita on 06-16-17
By: Joy Dettman
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Vanishing Falls
- A Novel
- By: Poppy Gee
- Narrated by: Caroline Lee
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Deep within the lush Tasmanian rainforest is the remote town of Vanishing Falls, a place with a storied past. The town’s showpiece, built in the 1800s, is its Calendar House - currently occupied by Jack Lily, a prominent art collector and landowner; his wife, Celia; and their four daughters. The elaborate, eccentrically designed mansion houses one masterpiece and 52 rooms - and Celia Lily isn’t in any of them. She has vanished without a trace.… Joelle Smithton knows that a few folks in Vanishing Falls believe that she’s simple-minded.
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OK Story
- By Cindy House on 12-21-21
By: Poppy Gee
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Secret Smile
- By: Nicci French
- Narrated by: Anne Flosnik
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
Miranda's sister Kerri has a new boyfriend. He's a handsome charmer who seems to dote on Kerri. But Brendan isn't the man he says he is. Miranda should know. She broke off her own affair with him just a few weeks ago when she found him reading her diary.
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I want my 9 hours back
- By Ashley on 07-19-23
By: Nicci French
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Bad Debts
- A Jack Irish Thriller, Book 1
- By: Peter Temple
- Narrated by: Marco Chiappi
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Meet Jack Irish, criminal lawyer, debt collector, football lover, turf watcher, trainee cabinetmaker, and the best Australian crime character we've seen in years. When Jack receives a puzzling message from a jailed ex-client, he's too deep in misery over Fitzroy's latest loss to take much notice. Next thing Jack knows, the ex-client's dead and he's been drawn into a life-threatening investigation involving high-level corruption, dark sexual secrets, shonky property deals and murder.
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The story was all over the place
- By Beth on 07-22-24
By: Peter Temple
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The Killer Next Door
- By: Alex Marwood
- Narrated by: Imogen Church
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Everyone who lives at 23 Beulah Grove has a secret. If they didn't, they wouldn't be renting rooms in a dodgy old building for cash - no credit check, no lease. It's the kind of place you end up when you you've run out of other options.The six residents mostly keep to themselves, but one unbearably hot summer night, a terrible accident pushes them into an uneasy alliance. What they don't know is that one of them is a killer. He's already chosen his next victim, and he'll do anything to protect his secret.
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Incredible--but not for the faint of heart
- By Lesley on 01-11-15
By: Alex Marwood
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What listeners say about Big Girl, Small Town
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Eileen McGowan
- 12-19-20
Not my kind of story
This is more a character study than a story where something happens. It’s well written, but to me, ended rather abruptly with no catalyst for the final decisions that were made. I feel like I’ve wasted my time.
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- PHXJBK
- 01-28-21
Small town Northern Ireland growing up story
Tragic, funny, real. loved it. very easy to embrace young woman as real story teller
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1 person found this helpful
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- Lynne W
- 12-13-20
Extraordinary narration
This mystery is actually a sensitive if gritty novel of a quiet, unremarkable life. The decency and struggle of the main character is revealed through the accretion of small details and small actions . There is a lot of focus on body functions and the wretched food she prepares and consumes both at home and at the squalid pub where she serves as cook. But she inspires real sympathy and concern, and the reader cheers when life unexpectedly deals her a transformative reward. The marvelous narration is in an Irish accent so rich that phrases can be difficult for an American reader to catch . I listened twice through specifically because I just enjoyed hearing it.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Laura
- 01-14-21
So enjoyable!!
Loved this book. Got so many LOL moments with it. Very relatable. Nicola was brilliant!
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1 person found this helpful
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- N. Lawrence
- 12-09-20
Brilliant book, brilliant narrator
This story takes us away from our four walls and tidy lives. The narrator does such an amazing job, worthy of the incredible writing.
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1 person found this helpful
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- b. b.
- 09-19-24
Great performance makes it worth it
Loved the story as authentically narrated - laughed hard many times. But that ending?!?!? Wha? Felt like an deadline had to be met, and was left confused and unsatisfied.
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- liketolisten
- 03-21-21
Title sums it up in four words
I enjoyed listening to this recording. The story depicts the mind-numbing repetitiveness of life in a small Irish town, and the limited alternative options, as experienced by a heavy single girl who appears to be "on the spectrum". The broader context - sectarian strife, and colonization by the Brits,and the trauma they inflict on untold generations, is skilfully woven into to the protagonist's everyday.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Atlanta Woman
- 06-13-24
A truly brilliant writer
Paints the atmosphere of Ireland during the troubles and being trapped in a small town. She is brilliant. The book has humor without going overboard. This book lets you feel the situation and the character on an emotional level. The narrator is excellent.
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- Churchill
- 12-20-20
Marjella will stay with you long after you listen
Gallen has created a classic non heroine in a fictional town shaped by The Troubles. The characters from Mammy to the people who come into the Salt and Battered chipper live lives of not so quiet desperation. They have been through so much, expect nothing and look for the "crack" to get them through. The narration is art in itself. I have now bought the book and will give as gifts. Priceless.
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- Scott J. Wiser
- 04-05-21
Hard to follow
Hard time following the story. The accent of the voice performance was difficult for me.
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