Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
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 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Lark Ascending

By: Silas House
Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.49

Buy for $19.49

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

Publisher's summary

A riveting story of survival and hope, set in the not-too-distant future, about a young man forced to flee the United States and seek refuge across the Atlantic.

As fires devastate most of the United States, Lark and his family secure a place on a refugee boat headed to Ireland, the last country not yet overrun by extremists and rumored to be accepting American refugees. But Lark is the only one to survive the trip, and once ashore, he doesn’t find the safe haven he’d hoped for. As he runs for his life, Lark finds an abandoned dog who becomes his closest companion, and then a woman in search of her lost son. Together they form a makeshift family and attempt to reach Glendalough, a place they believe will offer protection. But can any community provide the safety that they seek?

For fans of novels such as Station Eleven, The Dog Stars, and Migrations, Lark Ascending is a moving and unforgettable story of friendship, family, and healing.

©2022 Silas House (P)2022 Algonquin Books
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: LGBTQ+
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

“Just astonishing . . . Terrifying, moving, beautiful, instructive, and haunting. I have never been more deeply moved by a novel.”—Lee Smith, author of Dimestore

“In Lark Ascending, Silas House casts an irresistible spell, conjuring a near future that is both familiar and unbearable, illuminating the brutality and suffering that our own thoughtless age seems determined to invoke. But Lark Ascending is not merely, or even mainly, a tale of pain and grief. This beautiful book is shot through with such tenderness and humanity, such love and courage and beauty and hope, that it feels almost like a prayer.”—Margaret Renkl, author of Late Migrations

“A dystopian classic, finding new notes of peril and possibility in the once-and-future homeland of Ireland and giving us the kind of richly observed alternative family that humanity of any era would call savior. It also has the best dog ever, excepting my own. Don’t miss this one.”—Louis Bayard, author of Jackie & Me

What listeners say about Lark Ascending

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    107
  • 4 Stars
    21
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    4
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    108
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    97
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    3

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful story

Silas House has done it again and written a masterpiece. I encourage everyone to listen to it; it is moving and draws the listener into the to story, as does all of his work.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

My first dystopian novel and I loved it

Silas House is a fellow Kentuckian so I have this a listen. I’m not much for dystopian tales of future woes but I genuinely loved this story. They dystopia doesn’t overshadow real human relationships and emotions. It was quite masterful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful, timely book

The near-future setting feels remarkably, frighteningly real and possible. But as always in Silas House’s works, it’s the human story that is at the heart of the book - the relationships, the chosen family, the sweetness of love. And the beagle’s story is so tender.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Pulitzer Prize worthy

Silas has once again written a book of serious substance. He’s captured the possibility of what may truly happen if we’re not vigilant in our society.
Rich, moving, seriously thought provoking and horrifying at the same time.
It’s a masterpiece. Thank you for being you Silas.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A man's misguided fears rolled into a story.

A gay author pushes his fears of persecution of the church into a story. I was forced to read this in college and regret doing so.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful!

I listened all in one day and really enjoyed the narration and of course the story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great read for dog lovers

As a dog lover, this book pulled all my heart strings. I loved it ten stars worth! Will read again it’s a book you’ll want to keep in your library. There’s love and loss and anger and danger, all the elements of a great story. I listened straight through.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A desperate pursuit to survive

A beautifully written tale of the wild endurance of nature and the human spirit, and a solemn warning of a world recreated by the binding of cruel ideology and destructive power.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

An amazing tale from a master story teller

I’ve read Silas’ works for years. This is such a departure from what he normally pens, and shows the true genius of his writing. The story is set in a post apocalyptic world and it follows the life of a young man named Lark.

The relationships in this book are amazing between man to man, man to woman, and how a dog really is man’s best friend. I am blown away at how great the story is and cannot wait for his next work. Thank you Silas for being such an amazing story teller and I am so proud to be from the Commonwealth as you.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Poignant

This was not the book Silas wanted to write, this was a book he had to right; the themes in this story are so disturbing but so pervasive a writer like Mr House feels duty bound to respond; the sense of anger, disappointment and faint hope that resonates with this story will remain to be issues all must confront; Silas is a modern day master at capturing the mood of a place and time and this book is a powerful piece that was difficult but necessary for him to write

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!