
Penitence
A Novel
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $20.24
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Thérèse Plummer
-
By:
-
Kristin Koval
About this listen
For listeners of Ann Patchett and Celeste Ng, Penitence is a poignant exploration of love and forgiveness. It’s a suspenseful, addictive audiobook filled with literary insight that compels listeners to consider whether the worst thing we’ve ever done is all that defines us.
"A deeply engrossing listen that will have you reflecting on guilt and forgiveness.”—Booklist
“Plummer is a joy to listen to. She brings insight and emotional depth to the characters as they grapple with mistakes from their pasts. Plummer imbues her performance with the perfect amount of energy and tension.”—AudioFile
When a shocking murder occurs in the home of Angie and David Sheehan, their lives are shattered. Desperate to defend their family, they turn to small-town lawyer Martine Dumont for help, but Martine isn’t just legal counsel—she’s also the mother of Angie’s first love, Julian, a now-successful New York City criminal defense attorney. As Julian and Angie confront their shared past and long-buried guilt from a tragic accident years ago, they must navigate their own culpability and the unresolved feelings between them.
Spanning decades, from the ski slopes of rural Colorado to the streets of pre-9/11 New York City and back again, Kristin Koval’s debut novel Penitence is an examination of the complexities of familial loyalty, the journey of redemption, and the profound experience of true forgiveness.
A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Nesting
- A Novel
- By: Roisín O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Louisa Harland
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a bright spring afternoon, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes off the clothesline, she straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe—and that this time, when she leaves, she must stay away. On the surface, she has a perfect life: her husband, Ryan, is a good provider, sometimes even kind and attentive, from a nice Irish family, and they have another baby on the way.
-
-
Jarring narration at times
- By Anonymous User on 04-04-25
By: Roisín O'Donnell
-
The Death of Us
- A Novel
- By: Abigail Dean
- Narrated by: Claire Skinner, John Hopkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Together, Edward and Isabel move to London. They are young and in love, occupied by friends, work and fun. But late on a spring evening when they are thirty years old, their home is invaded by a serial killer. In the wake of this violation, each tries to come to terms with a night that changed everything—and their marriage begins to crumble. Twenty-five years later, their tormentor is caught, and Edward and Isabel reunite for his sentencing. Isabel has waited years for the man who nearly ended her life to be brought to justice. Edward has tried to think about anything else.
-
-
Enjoyed but Long!
- By M. Ryder on 07-07-25
By: Abigail Dean
-
Wild Dark Shore
- A Novel
- By: Charlotte McConaghy
- Narrated by: Cooper Mortlock, Katherine Littrell, Saskia Maarleveld, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.
-
-
Good, but not awesome.
- By Shannon on 05-03-25
-
Three Days in June
- A Novel
- By: Anne Tyler
- Narrated by: J. Smith-Cameron
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit. But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.
-
-
Simple, Enjoyable, performed 5 stars
- By PM on 02-14-25
By: Anne Tyler
-
The Bright Years
- By: Sarah Damoff
- Narrated by: Ferdelle Capistrano, Joy Osmanski, Lee Osorio
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Told from three intimate points of view, The Bright Years is a tender, true-to-life novel that explores the impact of each generation in a family torn apart by tragedy but, over time, restored by the power of grace and love.
-
-
Expected Much More!!!
- By M. Ryder on 05-22-25
By: Sarah Damoff
-
Count My Lies
- By: Sophie Stava
- Narrated by: Andrew Eiden, Devon Sorvari, Emily Tremaine
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sloane Caraway is a liar. Harmless lies, mostly, to make her self-proclaimed sad, little life a bit more interesting. So when Sloane sees a young girl in tears at a park one afternoon, she can't help herself—she tells the girl’s (very attractive) dad she’s a nurse and helps him pull a bee stinger from the girl’s foot. With this lie, and chance encounter, Sloane becomes the nanny for the wealthy, and privileged Jay and Violet Lockhart. The perfect New York couple, with a brownstone, a daughter in private school, and summers on Block Island.
-
-
It’s boring
- By Anonymous User on 03-08-25
By: Sophie Stava
-
Nesting
- A Novel
- By: Roisín O'Donnell
- Narrated by: Louisa Harland
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On a bright spring afternoon, Ciara Fay makes a split-second decision that will change everything. Grabbing an armful of clothes off the clothesline, she straps her two young daughters into her car and drives away. Head spinning, all she knows for certain is that home is no longer safe—and that this time, when she leaves, she must stay away. On the surface, she has a perfect life: her husband, Ryan, is a good provider, sometimes even kind and attentive, from a nice Irish family, and they have another baby on the way.
-
-
Jarring narration at times
- By Anonymous User on 04-04-25
By: Roisín O'Donnell
-
The Death of Us
- A Novel
- By: Abigail Dean
- Narrated by: Claire Skinner, John Hopkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Together, Edward and Isabel move to London. They are young and in love, occupied by friends, work and fun. But late on a spring evening when they are thirty years old, their home is invaded by a serial killer. In the wake of this violation, each tries to come to terms with a night that changed everything—and their marriage begins to crumble. Twenty-five years later, their tormentor is caught, and Edward and Isabel reunite for his sentencing. Isabel has waited years for the man who nearly ended her life to be brought to justice. Edward has tried to think about anything else.
-
-
Enjoyed but Long!
- By M. Ryder on 07-07-25
By: Abigail Dean
-
Wild Dark Shore
- A Novel
- By: Charlotte McConaghy
- Narrated by: Cooper Mortlock, Katherine Littrell, Saskia Maarleveld, and others
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers, but with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants. Until, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman mysteriously washes ashore.
-
-
Good, but not awesome.
- By Shannon on 05-03-25
-
Three Days in June
- A Novel
- By: Anne Tyler
- Narrated by: J. Smith-Cameron
- Length: 4 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Gail Baines is having a bad day. To start, she loses her job—or quits, depending on whom you ask. Tomorrow her daughter, Debbie, is getting married, and she hasn’t even been invited to the spa day organized by the mother of the groom. Then, Gail’s ex-husband, Max, arrives unannounced on her doorstep, carrying a cat, without a place to stay, and without even a suit. But the true crisis lands when Debbie shares with her parents a secret she has just learned about her husband to be. It will not only throw the wedding into question but also stir up Gail and Max’s past.
-
-
Simple, Enjoyable, performed 5 stars
- By PM on 02-14-25
By: Anne Tyler
-
The Bright Years
- By: Sarah Damoff
- Narrated by: Ferdelle Capistrano, Joy Osmanski, Lee Osorio
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Told from three intimate points of view, The Bright Years is a tender, true-to-life novel that explores the impact of each generation in a family torn apart by tragedy but, over time, restored by the power of grace and love.
-
-
Expected Much More!!!
- By M. Ryder on 05-22-25
By: Sarah Damoff
-
Count My Lies
- By: Sophie Stava
- Narrated by: Andrew Eiden, Devon Sorvari, Emily Tremaine
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sloane Caraway is a liar. Harmless lies, mostly, to make her self-proclaimed sad, little life a bit more interesting. So when Sloane sees a young girl in tears at a park one afternoon, she can't help herself—she tells the girl’s (very attractive) dad she’s a nurse and helps him pull a bee stinger from the girl’s foot. With this lie, and chance encounter, Sloane becomes the nanny for the wealthy, and privileged Jay and Violet Lockhart. The perfect New York couple, with a brownstone, a daughter in private school, and summers on Block Island.
-
-
It’s boring
- By Anonymous User on 03-08-25
By: Sophie Stava
-
Broken Country
- By: Clare Leslie Hall
- Narrated by: Hattie Morahan
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beth and her gentle, kind husband Frank are happily married, but their relationship relies on the past staying buried. But when Beth’s brother-in-law shoots a dog going after their sheep, Beth doesn’t realize that the gunshot will alter the course of their lives. For the dog belonged to none other than Gabriel Wolfe, the man Beth loved as a teenager—the man who broke her heart years ago. Gabriel has returned to the village with his young son Leo, a boy who reminds Beth very much of her own son, who died in a tragic accident.
-
-
Best book of the year
- By Carolyn on 03-27-25
-
My Friends
- A Novel
- By: Fredrik Backman
- Narrated by: Marin Ireland
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Most people don’t even notice them—three tiny figures sitting at the end of a long pier in the corner of one of the most famous paintings in the world. Most people think it’s just a depiction of the sea. But Louisa, an artist herself, knows otherwise and she is determined to find out the story of these three enigmatic figures. Twenty-five years earlier, in a distant town, a group of teenagers find refuge from their difficult home lives by spending their days laughing and telling stories out on a pier.
-
-
How can he keep doing this? Another masterpiece!
- By Blue on 05-08-25
By: Fredrik Backman
-
Pictures of You
- A Novel
- By: Emma Grey
- Narrated by: Kristy Best, Nic English
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of the global breakout bestseller The Last Love Note comes the story of a young woman struggling to piece her life back together in the wake of a tragic accident, and the man who gives up everything to help her. When Evie Hudson wakes in an unfamiliar hospital room, she thinks she’s fresh out of a teenage party with her best friend, Bree. Except, Bree isn’t around anymore and high school was years ago. Evie had just survived the crash that killed her husband, Oliver—whom she can't remember either.
-
-
Intricate, thought provoking but still a fun ride.
- By cnrkrc on 12-01-24
By: Emma Grey
-
The Summer We Ran
- A Novel
- By: Audrey Ingram
- Narrated by: Anna Caputo, Andrew Gibson
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1996, teenage Tess Murphy’s mom gave her two rules to abide by: keep quiet and stay out of trouble. Her mother landed a new job as a cook at an affluent Virginia estate and didn’t want anything to risk the opportunity, least of all her outspoken daughter. What no one saw coming was Tess falling deeply in love with the boy next door, high-society Grant Alexander.
-
-
Unique Love Story
- By M. C. Holmes on 07-02-25
By: Audrey Ingram
-
You Deserve to Know
- By: Aggie Blum Thompson
- Narrated by: Alex Picard
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Neighbors Gwen, Aimee, and Lisa share more than playdates and coffee mornings on their tranquil street in East Bethesda. They confide their deepest secrets, navigate the challenges of motherhood together, and provide a support system that seems unbreakable. But when Gwen's husband is found murdered after one of their weekly Friday night dinners, the peaceful quiet of their cul-de-sac shatters. The seemingly idyllic world of the three close-knit mom friends becomes a web of deception, betrayal, and revenge.
-
-
The ending
- By April May on 06-02-25
-
Migrations
- A Novel
- By: Charlotte McConaghy
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Franny Stone has always been the kind of woman who is able to love but unable to stay. Leaving behind everything but her research gear, she arrives in Greenland with a singular purpose: to follow the last Arctic terns in the world on what might be their final migration to Antarctica. Franny talks her way onto a fishing boat, and she and the crew set sail, traveling ever further from shore and safety. But as Franny’s history begins to unspool - a passionate love affair, an absent family, a devastating crime - it becomes clear that she is chasing more than just the birds.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Susan A Koch on 08-20-20
-
Black Woods, Blue Sky
- A Novel
- By: Eowyn Ivey
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birdie’s keeping it together; of course she is. So she’s a little hungover, sometimes, and she has to bring her daughter, Emaleen, to her job waiting tables at an Alaskan roadside lodge, but she’s getting by as a single mother in a tough town. Still, Birdie can remember happier times from her youth, when she was free in the wilds of nature. Arthur Neilsen, a soft-spoken and scarred recluse who appears in town only at the change of seasons, brings Emaleen back to safety when she gets lost in the woods. Most people avoid him, but to Birdie, he represents everything she’s ever longed for.
-
-
The mixture of fantasy and reality
- By Amazon Customer on 03-23-25
By: Eowyn Ivey
-
Heartwood
- By: Amity Gaige
- Narrated by: Justine Lupe, Alma Cuervo, Rebecca Lowman, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the heart of the Maine woods, an experienced Appalachian Trail hiker goes missing. She is forty-two-year-old Valerie Gillis, who has vanished 200 miles from her final destination. Alone in the wilderness, Valerie pours her thoughts into fractured, poetic letters to her mother as she battles the elements and struggles to keep hoping. At the heart of the investigation is Beverly, the determined Maine State Game Warden tasked with finding Valerie, who leads the search on the ground.
-
-
The suspense
- By Amy B. McVey on 04-11-25
By: Amity Gaige
-
The Correspondent
- A Novel
- By: Virginia Evans
- Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed, Jane Oppenheimer, Carly Robins, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.
-
-
What a story!
- By Greg Stephenson on 06-17-25
By: Virginia Evans
-
A Family Matter
- A Novel
- By: Claire Lynch
- Narrated by: Miranda Raison
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1982. Dawn is a young mother, still adjusting to life with her husband, when Hazel lights up her world like a torch in the dark. Theirs is the kind of connection that’s impossible to resist, and suddenly life is more complicated, and more joyful, than Dawn ever expected. But she has responsibilities and commitments. She has a daughter. 2022. Heron has just received news from his doctor that turns everything upside down. He’s an older man, stuck in the habits of a quiet existence. Telling Maggie, his only child—the person around whom his life has revolved—seems impossible.
-
-
Powerful presentation
- By Diane M. Schiff on 07-01-25
By: Claire Lynch
-
Tilt
- A Novel
- By: Emma Pattee
- Narrated by: Ariel Blake
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Annie is nine months pregnant and shopping for a crib at IKEA when a massive earthquake hits Portland, Oregon. With no way to reach her husband, no phone or money, and a city left in chaos, there’s nothing to do but walk.
-
-
Over enthusiastic, snarky narrator who can't...
- By NMwritergal on 03-27-25
By: Emma Pattee
-
Every Sweet Thing Is Bitter
- By: Samantha Crewson
- Narrated by: Lindsey Dorcus
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thirteen years ago, Providence Byrd threw the family car in reverse and ran over her mother. Even though her mother survived, that single instant of teenage madness made Providence a felon and irrevocably altered her life. When her mother disappears years later under suspicious circumstances, Providence tells herself that returning home is her chance to find closure after a prolonged estrangement from her family. Never mind that this is only half of the truth: she’s also returning to finally confront her abusive father, Tom Byrd.
-
-
Narrator did a fantastic job
- By Danielle Lynn on 05-26-25
By: Samantha Crewson
Critic reviews
"Koval maintains the pacing of a thriller while going deep on themes of guilt, forgiveness, and the toll of keeping secrets. Readers won’t be able to look away."—Publishers Weekly
"While exploring the complexities of personal and family relationships, this engrossing, emotionally charged novel also examines the way forgiveness comes from acceptance that 'each one of us is more than the worst we’ve ever done.' An intelligent, deftly crafted suspense debut."—Kirkus
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
What Happened to the McCrays?
- A Novel
- By: Tracey Lange
- Narrated by: Stephanie Németh-Parker, William DeMeritt
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Kyle McCray gets word his father has suffered a debilitating stroke, he returns to his hometown of Potsdam, New York, where he doesn’t expect a warm welcome. Kyle left suddenly two and a half years ago, abandoning people who depended on him: his father, his employees, his friends—not to mention Casey, his wife of sixteen years and a beloved teacher in town. He plans to lie low and help his dad recuperate until he can leave again, especially after Casey makes it clear she wants him gone.
-
-
The characters are interesting
- By Denise Nelson on 05-19-25
By: Tracey Lange
-
Black Woods, Blue Sky
- A Novel
- By: Eowyn Ivey
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birdie’s keeping it together; of course she is. So she’s a little hungover, sometimes, and she has to bring her daughter, Emaleen, to her job waiting tables at an Alaskan roadside lodge, but she’s getting by as a single mother in a tough town. Still, Birdie can remember happier times from her youth, when she was free in the wilds of nature. Arthur Neilsen, a soft-spoken and scarred recluse who appears in town only at the change of seasons, brings Emaleen back to safety when she gets lost in the woods. Most people avoid him, but to Birdie, he represents everything she’s ever longed for.
-
-
The mixture of fantasy and reality
- By Amazon Customer on 03-23-25
By: Eowyn Ivey
-
The Singer Sisters
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Seltzer
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik, Helen Laser, Stephanie Németh-Parker
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1996, and alt-rocker Emma Cantor is on tour, with her sights trained on a record deal. Emma’s got no lack of inspiration for her music — chiefly her mother Judie, a 1960s folk legend whose confessional songs made her an icon before her mysterious withdrawal from the public eye. Emma is baffled by Judie's coldness, and is deeply shaken when she learns a long-kept secret about their family. When Emma uncovers more about her mother's past, she is vaulted to new heights as a performer.
-
-
Gorgeous Book- LOVED.
- By Miriam on 10-31-24
By: Sarah Seltzer
-
A Dangerous Business
- By: Jane Smiley
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Monterey, 1851. Ever since her husband was killed in a bar fight, Eliza Ripple has been working in a brothel. It seems like a better life, at least at first. The madam, Mrs. Parks, is kind, the men are (relatively) well behaved, and Eliza has attained what few women have: financial security. But when the dead bodies of young women start appearing outside of town, a darkness descends that she can’t resist confronting.
-
-
Just dumb
- By J wilson on 12-14-22
By: Jane Smiley
-
A Season of Light
- By: Julie Iromuanya
- Narrated by: Yinka Ladeinde, Leo Anifowose
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When 276 schoolgirls are abducted from their school in Nigeria, Fidelis Ewerike, a Florida-based barrister, poet, and former POW of the Nigerian Civil War, begins to go mad, consumed by memories of his younger sister Ugochi, who went missing during that conflict. Consumed by survivor’s guilt and fearful that the same fate awaits Amara, his sixteen-year-old daughter who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ugochi, Fidelis locks her in her bedroom, offering no words of explanation, only lovingly—if poorly—made meals and sweets.
By: Julie Iromuanya
-
Good Dirt
- A Novel
- By: Charmaine Wilkerson
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart, that's exactly what they get.
-
-
Moments of brilliance
- By MyLastRomanceNovel on 03-01-25
-
What Happened to the McCrays?
- A Novel
- By: Tracey Lange
- Narrated by: Stephanie Németh-Parker, William DeMeritt
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Kyle McCray gets word his father has suffered a debilitating stroke, he returns to his hometown of Potsdam, New York, where he doesn’t expect a warm welcome. Kyle left suddenly two and a half years ago, abandoning people who depended on him: his father, his employees, his friends—not to mention Casey, his wife of sixteen years and a beloved teacher in town. He plans to lie low and help his dad recuperate until he can leave again, especially after Casey makes it clear she wants him gone.
-
-
The characters are interesting
- By Denise Nelson on 05-19-25
By: Tracey Lange
-
Black Woods, Blue Sky
- A Novel
- By: Eowyn Ivey
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Birdie’s keeping it together; of course she is. So she’s a little hungover, sometimes, and she has to bring her daughter, Emaleen, to her job waiting tables at an Alaskan roadside lodge, but she’s getting by as a single mother in a tough town. Still, Birdie can remember happier times from her youth, when she was free in the wilds of nature. Arthur Neilsen, a soft-spoken and scarred recluse who appears in town only at the change of seasons, brings Emaleen back to safety when she gets lost in the woods. Most people avoid him, but to Birdie, he represents everything she’s ever longed for.
-
-
The mixture of fantasy and reality
- By Amazon Customer on 03-23-25
By: Eowyn Ivey
-
The Singer Sisters
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Seltzer
- Narrated by: Barrie Kreinik, Helen Laser, Stephanie Németh-Parker
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1996, and alt-rocker Emma Cantor is on tour, with her sights trained on a record deal. Emma’s got no lack of inspiration for her music — chiefly her mother Judie, a 1960s folk legend whose confessional songs made her an icon before her mysterious withdrawal from the public eye. Emma is baffled by Judie's coldness, and is deeply shaken when she learns a long-kept secret about their family. When Emma uncovers more about her mother's past, she is vaulted to new heights as a performer.
-
-
Gorgeous Book- LOVED.
- By Miriam on 10-31-24
By: Sarah Seltzer
-
A Dangerous Business
- By: Jane Smiley
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Monterey, 1851. Ever since her husband was killed in a bar fight, Eliza Ripple has been working in a brothel. It seems like a better life, at least at first. The madam, Mrs. Parks, is kind, the men are (relatively) well behaved, and Eliza has attained what few women have: financial security. But when the dead bodies of young women start appearing outside of town, a darkness descends that she can’t resist confronting.
-
-
Just dumb
- By J wilson on 12-14-22
By: Jane Smiley
-
A Season of Light
- By: Julie Iromuanya
- Narrated by: Yinka Ladeinde, Leo Anifowose
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When 276 schoolgirls are abducted from their school in Nigeria, Fidelis Ewerike, a Florida-based barrister, poet, and former POW of the Nigerian Civil War, begins to go mad, consumed by memories of his younger sister Ugochi, who went missing during that conflict. Consumed by survivor’s guilt and fearful that the same fate awaits Amara, his sixteen-year-old daughter who bears an uncanny resemblance to Ugochi, Fidelis locks her in her bedroom, offering no words of explanation, only lovingly—if poorly—made meals and sweets.
By: Julie Iromuanya
-
Good Dirt
- A Novel
- By: Charmaine Wilkerson
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, time stopped. And when she saw her brother, Baz, lying on the floor surrounded by the shattered pieces of a centuries-old jar, life as Ebby knew it shattered as well. The crime was never solved—and because the Freemans were one of the only Black families in a particularly well-to-do enclave of New England—the case has had an enduring, voyeuristic pull for the public. The last thing the Freemans want is another media frenzy splashing their family across the papers, but when Ebby's high profile romance falls apart, that's exactly what they get.
-
-
Moments of brilliance
- By MyLastRomanceNovel on 03-01-25
-
Those Fatal Flowers
- A Novel
- By: Shannon Ives
- Narrated by: E A Castillo
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Greco-Roman mythology and the mystery of the vanished Roanoke colony collide in this epic adventure filled with sapphic longing and female rage—a debut novel for fans of Madeline Miller, Jennifer Saint, and Natalie Haynes.
-
-
from a certain point of view
- By theresah on 02-05-25
By: Shannon Ives
-
The Charmed Friends of Trove Isle
- By: Annie Rains
- Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful, uplifting story of female friendship and resilience—with just a hint of magic—as three young women whose bond was shattered years before by tragedy rediscover their connection, with the help of a long-lost gift they were meant to share.
By: Annie Rains
-
The Family Inside
- By: Katie Garner
- Narrated by: Emily Lawrence, Ashley Klanac
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since her husband’s unsolved murder three years ago, Iris Blodgett’s life has unraveled. Awash in grief and buried in debt, she can’t pay her mortgage—and now that she’s lost her job, she has no idea how she’ll provide for her unruly teenage daughter, Ellory. Facing eviction, Iris turns to her new beau, prominent architect Hugh Smoll, for a shoulder to cry on. But the seemingly perfect Hugh offers her something more: an invitation to move in to his mother’s centuries-old mansion while he renovates the property.
-
-
Slow, boring
- By May H. Buchanan on 07-08-25
By: Katie Garner
-
When We Grow Up
- A Novel
- By: Angelica Baker
- Narrated by: Imani Jade Powers
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Clare is supposed to be the grown-up one. Married to the love of her life, with a major deal for her first novel, she has everything she thought she wanted. So then why does it all feel so wrong? When she agrees to a weeklong vacation in Hawai'i with five of her oldest friends as they each approach thirty, she is hoping for an escape with the people who know her best. But when a terrifying news alert shatters their peace, it becomes harder to ignore how much the world has changed since they were teenagers.
By: Angelica Baker
-
Dream State
- A Novel
- By: Eric Puchner
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews
- Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cece is in love. She has arrived early at her in-laws’ beautiful lake house in Salish, Montana, to finish planning her wedding to Charlie, a medical student with a brilliant future. Charlie asks Garrett, his best friend from college, to officiate, though Cece can’t imagine anyone less appropriate for the task; Garrett doesn’t believe in love, much less marriage. But as she spends time with Garrett, and his gruff mask slips, her long-held expectations for her life with Charlie begin to crumble, her feelings for Garrett—haunted by a tragic event from his past—become impossible to bury.
-
-
An Enthralling Listen
- By Regina on 02-20-25
By: Eric Puchner
-
Honey
- A Novel
- By: Isabel Banta
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is 1997, and Amber Young has received a life-changing call. It’s a chance thousands of girls would die for: the opportunity to join girl group Cloud9 in Los Angeles and escape her small town. She quickly finds herself in the orbits of fellow rising stars Gwen Morris, a driven singer-dancer, and Wes Kingston, a member of the biggest boy band in the world, ETA. As Amber embarks on her solo career and her fame intensifies, her rich interior life is frequently reduced.
-
-
Fun and quick read - 90s child stars make their career
- By Sam on 06-16-25
By: Isabel Banta
-
The Lost House
- A Novel
- By: Melissa Larsen
- Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Melissa Larsen's The Lost House comes the mesmerizing story of a young woman with a haunting past who returns to her ancestral home in Iceland to investigate a gruesome murder in her family.
-
-
moody and transportative
- By Kelly on 06-17-25
By: Melissa Larsen
-
Count My Lies
- By: Sophie Stava
- Narrated by: Andrew Eiden, Devon Sorvari, Emily Tremaine
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sloane Caraway is a liar. Harmless lies, mostly, to make her self-proclaimed sad, little life a bit more interesting. So when Sloane sees a young girl in tears at a park one afternoon, she can't help herself—she tells the girl’s (very attractive) dad she’s a nurse and helps him pull a bee stinger from the girl’s foot. With this lie, and chance encounter, Sloane becomes the nanny for the wealthy, and privileged Jay and Violet Lockhart. The perfect New York couple, with a brownstone, a daughter in private school, and summers on Block Island.
-
-
It’s boring
- By Anonymous User on 03-08-25
By: Sophie Stava
-
The Things We Didn't Know
- By: Elba Iris Pérez
- Narrated by: Marisa Blake
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Andrea Rodríguez is nine years old when her mother whisks her and her brother, Pablo, away from Woronoco, the tiny Massachusetts factory town that is the only home they’ve known. With no plan and no money, she leaves them with family in the mountainside villages of Puerto Rico and promises to return.
-
-
Everything but the kitchen sink PRican version
- By TaniaCC on 10-21-24
By: Elba Iris Pérez
-
The Heart of Winter
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Evison
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Abe Winter and Ruth Warneke were never meant to be together—at least if you ask Ruth. Yet their catastrophic blind date in college evolved into a seventy-year marriage and a life on a farm on Bainbridge Island with their hens and beloved Labrador, Megs. Through the years, the Winters have fallen in and out of lockstep, and from their haunting losses and guarded secrets, a dependable partnership has been forged.
-
-
Stereotypical characters, yawn
- By yo on 02-14-25
By: Jonathan Evison
-
A Sea of Unspoken Things
- A Novel
- By: Adrienne Young
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
James and Johnny Golden were once inseparable. For as long as she can remember, James shared an almost supernatural connection with her twin brother, Johnny, that went beyond intuition—she could feel what he was feeling. So, when Johnny is killed in a tragic accident, James knows before her phone even rings that her brother is gone and that she’s alone—truly alone—for the first time in her life.
-
-
Atmospheric and emotional
- By Aarian Chappell on 01-10-25
By: Adrienne Young
-
The Strange Case of Jane O.
- A Novel
- By: Karen Thompson Walker
- Narrated by: Jay Myers, Alex Sarrigeorgiou
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A year after her child is born, Jane suffers a series of strange episodes: amnesia, premonitions, hallucinations, and an inexplicable sense of dread. Three days after her first visit to a psychiatrist, Jane suddenly goes missing. A day later she is found unconscious in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, in the midst of what seems to be an episode of dissociative fugue; when she comes to, she has no memory of what has happened to her.
-
-
The performances were soul-reaching
- By Laurie E. Barshay on 03-29-25
While it was pretty easy to piece things together fairly early on, the premise was interesting. Overall, it's a decent listen but the story started to drag on.
Unexpected
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I need another!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Don’t compare to Patchett or Ng
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Amazing Debut Novel
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Predictable storyline
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Impressive. Heartbreaking. Satisfying.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Couldn’t stop listening!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
the rawness of the story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Lovely, Human Story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I was immediately immersed in the story
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.