
Instructions for a Heatwave
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Narrated by:
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John Lee
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By:
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Maggie O'Farrell
About this listen
Sophisticated, intelligent, impossible to put down, Maggie O’Farrell’s beguiling novels—After You’d Gone, winner of a Betty Trask Award; The Distance Between Us, winner of a Somerset Maugham Award; The Hand That First Held Mine, winner of the Costa Novel Award; and her unforgettable bestseller The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox—blend richly textured psychological drama with page-turning suspense. Instructions for a Heatwave finds her at the top of her game, with a novel about a family crisis set during the legendary British heatwave of 1976.
Gretta Riordan wakes on a stultifying July morning to find that her husband of forty years has gone to get the paper and vanished, cleaning out his bank account along the way. Gretta’s three grown children converge on their parents’ home for the first time in years: Michael Francis, a history teacher whose marriage is failing; Monica, with two stepdaughters who despise her and a blighted past that has driven away the younger sister she once adored; and Aoife, the youngest, now living in Manhattan, a smart, immensely resourceful young woman who has arranged her entire life to conceal a devastating secret.
Maggie O’Farrell writes with exceptional grace and sensitivity about marriage, about the mysteries that inhere within families, and the fault lines over which we build our lives—the secrets we hide from the people who know and love us best. In a novel that stretches from the heart of London to New York City’s Upper West Side to a remote village on the coast of Ireland, O’Farrell paints a bracing portrait of a family falling apart and coming together with hard-won, life-changing truths about who they really are.
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Critic reviews
"Acutely observed...revelatory, redemptive, and moving.... There is a deliciousness to this novel, a warmth and readability that render it unputdownable and will surely make it a hit. O’Farrell has done it again." (Joanna Briscoe, The Guardian)
"A literary event...evocative, articulate, and joyously readable.... O’Farrell’s talent for drawing intriguing but relatable characters is eclipsed only by a rare gift for description that is almost photographic in its imagery.... An author at the top of her game." (Charlotte Heathcote, The Sunday Express)
"Humorous, humane, and perceptive.... O’Farrell depicts relationships with piercing acuity in haunting, intense prose...a deliciously insightful writer...Her sharp but humane eye dissects every form of human interaction." (Leyla Sanai, The Independent on Sunday)
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Story
I Am, I Am, I Am is Maggie O'Farrell's astonishing memoir of the near-death experiences that have punctuated and defined her life. The childhood illness that left her bedridden for a year, which she was not expected to survive. A teenage yearning to escape that nearly ended in disaster. An encounter with a disturbed man on a remote path. And, most terrifying of all, an ongoing, daily struggle to protect her daughter - for whom this book was written - from a condition that leaves her unimaginably vulnerable to life's myriad dangers.
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Her prose is beautiful!
- By Judy on 03-25-18
By: Maggie O'Farrell
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This Must Be the Place
- By: Maggie O'Farrell
- Narrated by: Graham Rowat, Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Meet Daniel Sullivan, a man with a complicated life. A New Yorker living in the wilds of Ireland, he has children he never sees in California; a father he loathes in Brooklyn; and a wife, Claudette, who is a reclusive ex-film star given to shooting at anyone who ventures up their driveway. He is also about to find out something about a woman he lost touch with 20 years ago, and this discovery will send him off course, far away from wife and home. Will his love for Claudette be enough to bring him back?
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A good story spoiled
- By White rose on 03-24-17
By: Maggie O'Farrell
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The Boy Who Lost His Spark
- By: Maggie O'Farrell, Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini - illustrator
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 1 hr and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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When Jem and his family first move to a small town, he struggles with his new life. The unhappier he grows, the stranger things become—mischief and chaos seem to bloom everywhere. His sister Verity is sure it is the work of a “nouka,” an ancient creature that lives deep down inside the hill above the town—a creature forged from the sparks of a long-extinct volcano. Jem is adamant that there is no such thing. But it is through the magic and mayhem of this small mystical creature that Jem finally finds a sense of belonging, a sense of home—and once again discovers a spark of magic.
By: Maggie O'Farrell, and others
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The Distance Between Us
- A Novel
- By: Maggie O'Farrell
- Narrated by: Susie Riddell
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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On a cold February afternoon, Stella catches sight of a man she hasn't seen for many years, but instantly recognises. Or thinks she does. At the same moment on the other side of the globe, in the middle of a crowd of Chinese New Year revellers, Jake realises that things are becoming dangerous. They know nothing of one another's existence, but both Stella and Jake flee their lives: Jake in search of a place so remote it doesn't appear on any map, and Stella for a destination in Scotland, the significance of which only her sister, Nina, will understand.
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Not my favorite Maggie O’Farrell novel…
- By serene ghazi on 03-05-24
By: Maggie O'Farrell
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My Lover’s Lover
- By: Maggie O'Farrell
- Narrated by: Elle Newlands
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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When Lily slips on the sidewalk outside a London gallery and literally falls at the feet of a stranger, Marcus, the attraction is instant and electric. Within a week, she is sharing this magnetic yet elusive architect’s waterfront loft and sleeping in the room that belonged to his girlfriend, Sinead, about whom he will only say that “she’s no longer...with us”. But there lingers a distinct presence, of a woman who seems to have disappeared abruptly - leaving behind a single sexy dress in the closet, a puzzling mark on the wall, and the suffocating scent of jasmine.
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I wouldn’t recommend
- By j b lacy on 12-01-24
By: Maggie O'Farrell
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The Marriage Portrait
- A Novel
- By: Maggie O'Farrell
- Narrated by: Genevieve Gaunt, Maggie O'Farrell
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Florence, the 1550s. Lucrezia, third daughter of the grand duke, is comfortable with her obscure place in the palazzo: free to wonder at its treasures, observe its clandestine workings, and to devote herself to her own artistic pursuits. But when her older sister dies on the eve of her wedding, Lucrezia is thrust into the limelight: the duke is quick to request her hand in marriage, and her father just as quick to accept on her behalf. Having barely left girlhood behind, Lucrezia must make her way in a court whose customs are opaque and where her arrival is not universally welcomed.
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If You Love Alternate Histories, Get This
- By Jim on 09-26-22
By: Maggie O'Farrell
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When the Stammer Came to Stay
- By: Maggie O'Farrell
- Narrated by: Aoife McMahon
- Length: 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Quiet Bea keeps her shoes polished, folds her clothes every night, and alphabetizes her books. Her rambunctious sister Min wears torn trousers and wades into ponds to collect frogspawn. Above all, Min is a storyteller who loves to chat with everyone. But one day she chokes, and the words forming in her mouth never make it out. Words suddenly feel dangerous, unwieldy. Min is no longer herself—not with some strange creature stealing her words, a creature not even her sister can see. But that doesn’t matter, because Bea sees Min.
By: Maggie O'Farrell
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Hamnet
- By: Maggie O'Farrell
- Narrated by: Ell Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Agnes is a wild creature who walks her family’s land with a falcon on her glove and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer, understanding plants and potions better than she does people. Once she settles with her husband on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, she becomes a fiercely protective mother and a steadfast, centrifugal force in the life of her young husband, whose career on the London stage is taking off when his beloved young son succumbs to sudden fever.
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A masterpiece
- By Molly-o on 08-03-20
By: Maggie O'Farrell
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The Forgotten Waltz
- By: Anne Enright
- Narrated by: Heather O'Neill
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Irish novelist Anne Enright won the coveted Man Booker Prize for her eloquent novel The Gathering. In The Forgotten Waltz, Enright crafts a stunning tale about a Dublin woman’s affair and its heartrending consequences. Gina Moynihan is already married when she meets Seán Vallely. But longing and desire soon overtake them - and their lives begin to crumble shortly after.
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- By Amazosity on 04-30-24
By: Anne Enright
What listeners say about Instructions for a Heatwave
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- andrea
- 07-04-22
Charming story …
But doesn’t hold a candle to the story of Esme Lennox in depth or surprise.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-23-24
Choppy
Not my favorite book by this author Too choppy. I was never sure if the narrator was talking about the present or the past. Story line was a bit weak but the narrator had a pleasant voice.
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- LizM
- 10-09-18
Just ok
This was a pretty easy read. There weren't any characters that I really loved though. Overall it was ok but nothing to write home about.
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- Jenny D.
- 07-20-23
Not Hamnet, but still a good story
I believe I have read almost all the books written by O'Farrell available on Audible. She's an amazing story teller. While this is a different type of story from Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait - it's set in the mid-1970s and focused on the dynamics of one family - it's still incredibly well written and engaging.
I appreciate that it's read by John Lee, too. He can be so over the top sometimes, but I prefer it to the author reading her own work (usually).
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- Cariola
- 07-17-13
Another Gem from O'Farrell
Once again, Maggie O'Farrell creates a set of well-developed characters and turns her focus to complex family dynamics. The year is 1976, and England is in the midst of a heatwave. While his wife Gretta follows her usual morning bread baking routine, recent retiree Robert Riordan goes for his morning walk--and doesn't return. As most of us would do in a time of crisis, Gretta calls the family together for support. There's her favorite, Monica, a childless woman married to a second husband whose daughters despise her; Michael Francis, a high school history teacher who hates his job and whose ideal family may not be so ideal behind closed doors; and Aiofe, the so-called black sheep, who never seemed to get anything right and had moved to New York eight years earlier to escape the constant criticism and disappointments.
As they reunite to decide how to proceed in finding Robert, repressed emotions, individual frailties, and long-held secrets come to the surface. O'Farrell does a masterful job of moving from one perspective to another and between past and present, showing us the truth within each character and the source of their misperceptions about one another. Towards the end, we learn that the children aren't the only ones living lives built of facades: Gretta and Robert have their own buried secrets.
In the end, many threads are left to be untangled. The lack of a neatly tied-up conclusion might be considered a flaw, but it also highlights the fact that the relationships among the Riordans and her characters' psyches are O'Farrell's intended focus, more so than the story of a missing person. The writing here is quite fine; not only are the descriptions vivid and the dialogue believable, but the author has a gift for subtly evoking a reader's empathy even for characters who may not be on their best behavior. Instructions for a Heatwave may not be the best Maggie O'Farrell novel I've read, but it comes pretty close.
John Lee is one of my all-time favorite narrators, and he gets to use his wonderful brogue in this one--a delight to listen to!
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12 people found this helpful
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- Slopeggy
- 02-25-21
Superb narration
The narrator is excellent. What a talent. Amazing character development and I’ll miss hearing about the ongoing conversations and interactions with this family. Maggie O can spin a story!
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- Regina
- 11-29-23
Compelling
…Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
Maggie O'Farrell is such a talent. Outstanding characters told with love and kindness. So well written.
Outstanding narration; simply perfection.
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- Cindy J Scribner
- 12-09-23
Left wanting more
MOF does not disappoint- downright normal lives containing everything from tedium to tragedy, portrayed in delicious details. She plays on a sense of time that is simultaneously slowed way down and speeded up. Delightful.
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- Icelandia
- 10-07-22
Another Wonderful Tale
Maggie O’Farrell is my favorite writer. This story of a family is woven expertly and never disappoints. The characters are at once lovable and exasperating, perfectly flawed. Her depiction of the character’s internal monologues is engaging and believable. Like her other stories, this one was unputdownable.
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- Janet G
- 02-09-23
What a story
Maggie O’Farrell has written a wonderful story of a family with all of its nuances. I loved the relationship between the siblings in particular. And the mother was such a funny character too. And although they were all brought together by a missing father he was not really a big part of the story. This was just beautifully written and Extremely well read by the narrator.
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