More than I Love My Life
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Gilli Messer
About this listen
INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE • A remarkable novel of suffering, love, and healing—the story of three generations of women on an unlikely journey to a Croatian island and a secret that needs to be told—from the internationally best-selling author of To the End of the Land
“A magnificent book . . . The way Grossman writes about these regions is unique, with a deep understanding of our experience.” —Josip Mlakić, Express (Croatia)
More Than I Love My Life is the story of three strong women: Vera, age ninety; her daughter, Nina; and her granddaughter, Gili, who at thirty-nine is a filmmaker and a wary consumer of affection. A bitter secret divides each mother and daughter pair, though Gili—abandoned by Nina when she was just three—has always been close to her grandmother.
With Gili making the arrangements, they travel together to Goli Otok, a barren island off the coast of Croatia, where Vera was imprisoned and tortured for three years as a young wife after she refused to betray her husband and denounce him as an enemy of the people. This unlikely journey—filtered through the lens of Gili’s camera, as she seeks to make a film that might help explain her life—lays bare the intertwining of fear, love, and mercy, and the complex overlapping demands of romantic and parental passion.
More Than I Love My Life was inspired by the true story of one of David Grossman’s longtime confidantes, a woman who, in the early 1950s, was held on the notorious Goli Otok (“the Adriatic Alcatraz”). With flashbacks to the stalwart Vera protecting what was most precious on the wretched rock where she was held, and Grossman’s fearless examination of the human heart, this swift novel is a thrilling addition to the oeuvre of one of our greatest living novelists, whose revered moral voice continues to resonate around the world.
©2021 David Grossman (P)2021 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE
“Cast[s] a spell that lingers . . . Grossman’s evocative gifts are in full force [and] his understanding of the opaque ways of love—sometimes subterranean, often unexpected or arbitrary—is unmatched . . . [His] novels have a cumulative power that subsumes mere plausibility. He succeeds in transcending the permutations of his plots and the localness of his settings—indeed, to make deliberate use of the Israeli template—to create themes of loss, the redemptive power of love, the immutable scars of history and the consoling effect of humor that resonate well beyond the world of the kibbutz or the background of the Holocaust . . . To read [Grossman] is to understand that there is a world beyond the political, even in these re-tribalized times, one in which there is room for recognition, however incomplete and often painful, of who we are in our own eyes and in one another’s.” —Daphne Merkin, The New York Times Book Review
“A somber and affecting tale without recourse to undue melodrama or psychobabble. This delicately crafted novel, crisply translated from the Hebrew by Jessica Cohen, is a fitting tribute to his friend.” —Houman Barekat, The Sunday Times (London)
“Another extraordinary novel from Grossman, a book as beautiful and sad as anything you’ll read this year . . . A book of secrets wrapped within secrets . . . It is a love story, a story about a family and their myriad individual tragedies. But it is also about the way that the personal can never be wholly separated from the political, about the lingering wounds of history, about how violence seeps into all the dark corners of a life. It is, in the end, about Israel. . . . Immaculately translated by Jessica Cohen.” —Alex Preston, The Observer
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It is 1959 in Wicklow, Ireland, and Annie and her cousin Sarah are living and working together to keep Sarah’s small farm running. Suddenly, Annie’s young niece and nephew are left in their care. Unprepared for the chaos that two children inevitably bring, but nervously excited nonetheless, Annie finds the interruption of her normal life and her last chance at happiness complicated further by the attention being paid to Sarah by a local man with his eye on the farm.
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Splendid
- By Shady on 06-21-23
By: Sebastian Barry
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Two Crosses
- Secrets of the Cross, Book 1
- By: Elizabeth Musser
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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The glimmering Huguenot cross she so innocently wears leads her deep into the shadows. When Gabriella Madison arrives in the French village of Castelnau in 1961 to continue her university studies, she doesn’t anticipate being drawn into the secretive world behind the Algerian war for independence from France. And the further she delves into the war efforts, the more her faith is challenged. The people who surround her bring a whirlwind of transforming forces.
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Faith, Romance, Spies, and Fascinating History
- By Amazon Customer on 05-02-19
By: Elizabeth Musser
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The Lindbergh Nanny
- By: Mariah Fredericks
- Narrated by: Penelope Rawlins
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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When the most famous toddler in America, Charles Lindbergh, Jr., is kidnapped from his family home in 1932, the case makes international headlines. Already celebrated for his flight across the Atlantic, his father, Charles, Sr., is the country’s golden boy, with his wealthy, lovely wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, by his side. But there’s someone else in their household—Betty Gow, a formerly obscure young woman, now known around the world by another name: the Lindbergh Nanny. Betty must find the truth in order to clear her own name—and to find justice for the child she loves.
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Excellent book and narration
- By Nancy on 01-16-23
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A Fraction of the Whole
- By: Steve Toltz
- Narrated by: Colin McPhillamy, Craig Baldwin
- Length: 25 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Stewing in an Australian prison, Jasper Dean reflects on his relationship with his dead father and recounts the many zany adventures they shared together.
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A Funny and Thought-provoking Tale of Human Nature
- By Asha Ember on 01-27-10
By: Steve Toltz
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Above Us Only Sky
- By: Michele Young-Stone
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Prudence Eleanor Vilkas was born with a pair of wings molded to her back. Considered a birth defect, her wings were surgically removed, leaving only the ghost of them behind. Growing up in Los Vientos, Florida, Prudence meets her long-estranged Lithuanian grandfather and discovers a miraculous lineage beating and pulsing with past Lithuanian bird-women.
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I'm So Glad I Listened to It!
- By Elizabeth on 08-22-16
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A Phoenix First Must Burn
- Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope
- By: Patrice Caldwell - editor
- Narrated by: York Whitaker
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Evoking Beyoncé’s Lemonade for a teen audience, these authors who are truly Octavia Butler’s heirs have woven worlds to create a stunning narrative that puts Black women and gender-nonconforming individuals at its center. A Phoenix First Must Burn will take you on a journey from folktales retold to futuristic societies and everything in between. Filled with stories of love and betrayal, strength and resistance, this collection contains an array of complex and true-to-life characters through which you cannot help but see yourself reflected.
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Absolutely brilliant
- By Ruthi on 03-11-20
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Lifted by the Great Nothing
- By: Karim Dimechkie
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Max doesn't remember his mother, who was murdered by burglars before they emigrated from Beirut to New Jersey. He lives with his father, Rasheed, who is enamored of his concept of American culture - baseball and barbeques - and tries to shed his Lebanese heritage completely.
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Excellent
- By Cheyenne on 06-13-15
By: Karim Dimechkie
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What Storm, What Thunder
- By: Myriam J.A. Chancy
- Narrated by: Ella Turenne
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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The Earth had buckled, and, in that movement, all that was not in its place fell upon the Earth’s children, upon the blameless as well as the guilty, without discrimination. At the end of a long sweltering day, as markets and businesses begin to close for the evening, an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude shakes the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince. Award-winning author Myriam J. A. Chancy masterfully charts the inner lives of the characters affected by the disaster
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We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.
- By AuthorAnnaBella on 03-15-22
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Fault Lines
- A Novel
- By: Emily Itami
- Narrated by: Lydia Wilson
- Length: 5 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Mizuki is a Japanese housewife. She has a hardworking husband, two adorable children, and a beautiful Tokyo apartment. It’s everything a woman could want, yet sometimes she wonders whether she would rather throw herself off the high-rise balcony than spend another evening not talking to her husband and hanging up laundry.
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Confused by the choice of narrator
- By Bri T. on 02-13-22
By: Emily Itami
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The Girl from the Train
- By: Irma Joubert
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 11 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Six-year-old Gretl Schmidt is on a train bound for Auschwitz. Jakób Kowalski is planting a bomb on the tracks. As World War II draws to a close, Jakób fights with the Polish resistance against the crushing forces of Germany and Russia. They mean to destroy a German troop transport, but Gretl's unscheduled train reaches the bomb first. Gretl is the only survivor.
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Excellent story covering the middle of the 20th C.
- By john on 04-12-16
By: Irma Joubert
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The Paper Girl of Paris
- By: Jordyn Taylor
- Narrated by: Liza Seneca
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Sixteen-year-old Alice is spending the summer in Paris, but she isn't there for pastries and walks along the Seine. When her grandmother passed away two months ago, she left Alice an apartment in France that no one knew existed. An apartment that has been locked for more than 70 years. Alice is determined to find out why the apartment was abandoned and why her grandmother never once mentioned the family she left behind when she moved to America after World War II. With the help of Paul, a charming Parisian student, she sets out to uncover the truth.
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A new favorite of mine
- By Rachael on 06-23-20
By: Jordyn Taylor
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The Parisian
- By: Isabella Hammad
- Narrated by: Fiona Button
- Length: 20 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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A masterful debut novel by Plimpton Prize winner Isabella Hammad, The Parisian illuminates a pivotal period of Palestinian history through the journey and romances of one young man, from his studies in France during World War I to his return to Palestine at the dawn of its battle for independence.
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Overly ambitious
- By Placeholder on 06-16-19
By: Isabella Hammad
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Everything Is Illuminated
- By: Jonathan Safran Foer
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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With only a yellowing photograph in hand, a young man—also named Jonathan Safran Foer—sets out to find the woman who might or might not have saved his grandfather from the Nazis. Accompanied by an old man haunted by memories of the war, an amorous dog named Sammy Davis, Junior, Junior, and the unforgettable Alex, a young Ukrainian translator who speaks in a sublimely butchered English, Jonathan is led on a quixotic journey over a devastated landscape and into an unexpected past.
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Astounding reading
- By bookworm123abc on 02-10-23
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A Nail Through The Heart
- A Poke Rafferty Thriller
- By: Timothy Hallinan
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Poke Rafferty was writing offbeat travel guides for the young and terminally bored when Bangkok stole his heart. Now the American expat is assembling a new family with Rose, the former go-go dancer he wants to marry, and Miaow, the tiny, streetwise urchin he wants to adopt. But trouble in the guise of good intentions comes calling just when everything is beginning to work out.
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Ever been to Bangkok?
- By Richard Delman on 12-11-11
By: Timothy Hallinan
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Impossible
- By: Nancy Werlin
- Narrated by: Emily Durante
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Lucy Scarborough is 17 when she discovers that the women of her family have been cursed through the generations, forced to attempt three seemingly impossible tasks or to fall into madness upon their child's birth. How can Lucy succeed when all of her ancestors have tried and failed? But Lucy is the first girl who won't be alone as she tackles the list. She has her fiercely protective foster parents beside her. And she has Zach, whose strength amazes her more each day. Do they have enough love and resolve to overcome an age-old evil?
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Amazing!!
- By S. McGowan on 04-03-11
By: Nancy Werlin
What listeners say about More than I Love My Life
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Bella M.
- 05-21-23
Life is not white and black
It is usually grey. Great story, not sure how close to reality. Vera character probably some representation of generation. Made me very mad. Men are also somewhat imaginable, but I read it to the end. Means, it is a good story.
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- Danielle
- 11-02-21
Great story
The book kept my attention. I finished it within the week.The narrator did a great job bringing the story to life.
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- Barbara S
- 09-04-21
Gilli Messer is fantastic!
I highly recommend the audio of “More Than I Love My Life” by David Grossman, translated by Jessica Cohen and performed by Gilli Messer. Messer narrates the voices with aplomb and skill. Her eastern European accented English lends the audio authenticity to this rich and involved story. If I allowed a criticism, it would be that it was overly ambitious…..there is a lot going on. So much, that after finishing the audio, I needed to go back to the beginning to remember how this all started. There are an abundant of tangents that throw the story at times.
This is a story of three generations of women who suffered loss which resulted in abandonment. It’s a story of women attempting to find forgiveness and understanding of each other. The story begins with a birthday party for 90-year-old Vera. Gili, Vera’s granddaughter, is now a documentary filmmaker, decides to document Vera’s life. Vera was sent to Goli Otok, the Adriatic prison island, after refusing to renounce her dead husband as being a Stalinist. Her daughter Nina, Gili’s mother, felt abandoned by both parents because at age 6, she was sent to live with her hateful aunt. What Vera endured is unfathomable.
Vera is released after 3 years and moves to a kibbutz in Israel with Nina. Nina never rebounds from her feelings of abandonment and her story is almost as tragic as Vera’s. Nina marries, has Gili, and abandons Gili. Luckily for Gili, Vera raises her along with Gili’s father.
The three women, plus Gili’s father, also a filmmaker, venture to record Vera’s story. Nina adds her tragic parts, and Gili struggles to understand motive and revelations. Generations of suffering, grief, loss, and trauma snowball into a heartbreaking story.
Adding impact is that this story is loosely based on a Yugoslavian partisan fighter.
Even with all the tangents, which were close to being a distraction, this is a fantastic audio.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Chana Messer
- 09-01-21
More Than I love this Book!
David Grossman you are fascinating. Jessica Cohen you a poet. Gilli Messer, your narration brought the book alive.
I read the book in Hebrew. I loved it. I listened to the book this week and I was fascinated by the translation and the narration. Gilli Messer is a true actor. She brought the characters to life. I was transported with her to the Kibbutz, to "Goli Otack" and to the lives the characters lived.
I did not want it to end. I wanted to continue and listen to Vera telling her stories. Rafi suffering, and Nina's tragic life.
I also loved that the storyteller in the book is Gili, and the narrator;s name is Gilli. I felt that the narrator felt and immersed herself in the story.
Kudus!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Md95062
- 06-27-23
Good Book with lots of potential for a movie
Writing a good book is never easy. This is a curious and intriguing storyline, an interesting, yet complex set of characters, with characterizations that leave me the reader what it for more. I listened to this via audio, so I wonder if some of the transitions between chapters got lost, because I did for a bit. This feels like the book was written more for a movie script, allowing for injections of scenes that in a movie makes sense, but in a book felt disjointed. however, it’s still worth the read and I went to read the authors other books.
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- Marcy
- 05-28-24
Historical Fiction
Really enjoyed this story of an era Tito regime, I was not knowledgeable about. I question that a mother could love her child less than her husband, but guess anything is possible
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- jean-louis jaumin
- 07-20-24
Brilliant and beautiful story.
Can’t add a lot just a fantastic promenade as the reader takes you in places that resonate powerfully in me.
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- Diana Vargo
- 05-11-22
Disappointing
The characters, though based on reality, never came fully alive for me, so the secrets and revelations never touched me as I’m sure David Grossman intended.
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- T. Imaging
- 11-30-21
Disappointing
I got this book because of the great reviews and because David Grossman is a revered Israeli writer whose work I have never read. None of the characters are portrayed in a way that makes the listener empathize with them or become concerned about their fate. Their "reconciliation" seems contrived and doesn't merit hours of listening. The descriptive writing and dialogue are not in any way compelling and I don't think this is the fault of the translation. I generally don't like to post negative reviews, but to me this book is a case of "an emperor who has no clothes."
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3 people found this helpful